Anritsu has announced that its Signal Quality Analyzer MP1800A BERT and ShockLine™ Economy Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) MS46322A are recommended instruments of the Thunderbolt™ CTS (Compliance Test Specification). The MP1800A can support device under test (DUT) Rx receiver tests and the MS46322A supports DUT Tx/Rx return loss tests by a VNA. The test solutions were shown during the Thunderbolt 3 Developer Plugfest July 11 in Taiwan and will be on display at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, August 16-18.
As part of its commitment to providing Thunderbolt test solutions, Anritsu has also collaborated with Granite River Labs (GRL) to develop a Thunderbolt Receiver Test Solution featuring the GRL-TBT3-RXA calibration and receiver test software and the MP1800A. The solution, based on the Thunderbolt 3 standard, simplifies receiver test calibration with good reproducibility to improve device evaluation efficiency. Because the Thunderbolt 3 standard increases the bit rate per lane to 20.625 Gbit/s, extremely high precision calibration and measurements, such as those supported by the Thunderbolt Receiver Test Solution, are required.
The GRL-TBT3-RXA for the Anritsu MP1800A BERT provides an automated, simple, and efficient method to test Thunderbolt 3 Receiver CTS. GRL-TBT3-RXA automates the MP1800A BERT and a real-time oscilloscope to calibrate the stressed parameters and test Rx BER conformance. GRL-TBT3-RXA provides a simple user interface to automate complex Thunderbolt testing, significantly reducing the time necessary for equipment calibration, thereby shortening overall test times and lightening the workload of test engineers.
The MP1800A is a wideband BERT with the high performance required for verifying Thunderbolt designs. It has 200 fs RMS intrinsic jitter and 10 ps fast Tr/Tf to produce best-in-class high-quality waveforms for highly accurate signal integrity measurements. The MP1800A platform features a modular design that allows for easy, cost-efficient expandability, allowing it to be upgraded for 64G NRZ/PAM4 testing with PAM4 BERT capability.
Calibration of receiver test signals uses complex procedures to control multiple parameters, including emphasis control of test signals, addition of multiple jitter types such as SJ, RJ, and SSC, and addition of common-mode noise. Additionally, at device verification, it is important to control these functions within a specified range assuring good reproducibility. Consequently, reducing the complexity of test signal calibration at receiver tests not only requires automated control in accordance with test specifications, but also measuring instruments with assured excellent reproducible performance for bit error rate measurements.
