T&MZONE Products for the week of February 14, 2005
Agilent Technologies Says . . .
Agilent Technologies Introduces Breakthrough in Jitter
Measurement Accuracy
Agilent 83496A clock recovery module is first to offer multi-rate
compliance testing
Agilent Technologies Inc. has introduced the 83496SA multi-rate optical/electrical clock recovery module for the Agilent 86100C Infiniium digital communications analyzer (DCA-J). The single, plug-in module performs clock extraction for waveform analysis with continuous unbanded tuning from 50 Mbits/s to 13.5 Gbits/s, ultra-low residual jitter and Golden PLL (phase-locked loop) operation. Now, optical and electrical component and system designers in high-speed digital communications can achieve higher measurement accuracy and increased performance margins in industry-standard compliance testing.
In today's competitive environment, it is critical to avoid obscuring true product performance caused by inadequate instrumentation. The 83496A is not only a tool to extract a timing reference, but an essential element in a compliant test system. With the widest range of telecom/datacom rates and lowest intrinsic jitter in the industry, the 83496A will provide the necessary test-system flexibility as new rates emerge.
"The Agilent 83946A represents a significant technology breakthrough in test instrumentation," said Siegfried Gross, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Digital Verification Solutions Division. "Increased eye mask and jitter measurement accuracy is critically important to designers and manufacturers of high-speed transmission devices."
The 83496A was developed in close collaboration with Agilent Labs -- Agilent's central research organization -- and Agilent's test and measurement business. It is the industry's first clock-recovery module with the necessary accuracy for high-speed waveform analysis at any data rate. Its unique, continuously adjustable loop bandwidth from 30 kHz to 6 MHz makes the 83496A ideal for jitter compliance tests across a wide range of industry standards.
The 83496A can function as a Golden PLL by setting the loop bandwidth to the exact value required for any data rate within its operating range, making it a key component for standards-compliant jitter tests. Its ultra-low jitter performance removes the limitations of traditional test equipment, allowing designers to measure the true jitter of devices.
The Agilent 83496A clock recovery module sets new standards for flexibility, precision and accuracy:
analogZONE Says...
An instrument like Agilent's 83496A plug-in module is no doubt mandatory for those designers working on leading-edge high-speed serial bus systems like PCI Express, Hypertransport, etc. But at what price does this hold? Note that the price for the plug-in is more than that of the mainframe oscilloscope. Then again, there may be no choice for the designer since leading-edge designs require leading-edge instrument accessories which usually means high prices. And judging from past performances, Agilent has done a superb job of keeping up with state-of-the-art T&M instrument performance needs. Ring up one more notch in Agilent's claim to fame list.
The Agilent 83496A is available for ordering now. Pricing starts at $18,000, and the product is expected to ship in April, 2005. Pricing for the Infiniium DCA-J oscilloscope mainframes starts at $17,500.
Module data sheet
Module details
The DCA family