PCI-SIG® recently released revision 3.0 of the PCIe core specification. Many of the changes to the physical layer specification are related to ensuring adequate bit transmission at 8 GT/s on low-cost PC cards. Receiver testing is now mandatory. In previous versions of the standard, this testing was purely informational.
Devices operating at 8 GT/s present new measurement challenges, requiring new tools and procedures to properly validate the receiver design. These challenges include optimizing transmit and receive equalization, designing the calibration channel, and establishing a link between devices with 128/130-bit encoded pattern sequences. One of the most complex requirements is introducing a new procedure for calibrating PCIe 3.0 stress conditions as interpreted by a reference receiver after equalization. To perform this procedure, engineers must post-process the measured signals at an accessible test point.
Agilent's complete and accurate PCIe 3.0 receiver test solution is based on the high-performance J-BERT N4903B series BERT, the N4916B de-emphasis signal converter, the 81150A arbitrary noise generator with pulse function, a high-performance 90000 X Series Infiniium oscilloscope, new accessories, and the new N5990A test automation software.
The advantages of Agilent's PCIe 3.0 receiver characterization solution are:
- Accurate and repeatable receiver test results thanks to new stress calibration software, adjustable pre- and post-cursor de-emphasis, integrated PCIe 3.0-compliant J-BERT jitter and sinusoidal interference sources, a new PJ sweep function, and new PCIe 3.0-compliant calibration channels.
- Increased R&D efficiency thanks to the new PCIe 3.0 stress calibration software and the new PCIe 3.0 bonding family, which controls the J-BERT pattern sequencer to put the device under test into loopback mode.
- Investment protection thanks to the use of Agilent instruments, which can also be used for the accurate characterization of multiple gigabit test applications such as USB3, SATA3, and QPI.
Agilent's PCI Express 3.0 receiver test solution consists of:
- The high-performance J-BERT N4903B series BERT with integrated, calibrated jitter sources (random jitter, period jitter, and differential-mode sinusoidal interference).
- The N4916B de-emphasis signal generator for generating accurate and adaptive pre- and post-cursors.
- The 81150A/81160A arbitrary noise generator with pulse function for injecting common-mode sinusoidal interference.
- The N4915A-014 PCIe 3.0 calibration channels for creating compatible and reproducible channel conditions.
- The N5990A-101 PCIe receiver test software with the new PCIe 3.0 stress calibration.
- The N5990A-301 PCIe 3.0 link-forming family.
- The Infiniium 90000 Series X oscilloscope from 16 to 32 GHz for strain calibration.
