Test & Measurement

Believed to be the first PCI Express (PCIe) 6.0 protocol validation tools, the cable-free protocol analyser and protocol exerciser enable semiconductor, computer, and peripheral makers to perform complete silicon chip, root complex, and endpoint system verification in a real time development environment, said Keysight Technologies.

The PCIe 6.0 specification is a new high-speed serial interface standard released by the PCI-SIG supporting the higher data traffic and bandwidth requirements of data centres. The standard enables new designs for servers, endpoint devices, switches, storage devices, and compute engines at speeds up to 64Gtransfers (Gt) per second, equipment and device companies need protocol test solutions to validate PCIe 6.0 technology designs and ensure interoperability with other PCIe 6.0 specification compliant designs.

PCI Express 6.0-based I/O technology is expected to deliver a breakthrough performance in high-performance I/O interfaces and enable innovations including accelerator interconnects like Compute Express Link (CXL)  and on-chip communications such as Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express.  

The cable-free PCIe 6.0 protocol analyser and PCIe 6.0 protocol exerciser enable analysis of the data link / transaction layer of PCIe 6.0 technology designs. They also support all PCIe technology speeds 2.5, 5.0, 8.0, 16, 32 and 64GT per second (PAM4) and lane widths from one to 16.

It also provides emulation of root complex and endpoint devices when validating PCIe and CXL technology designs and supports debugging with PCIe 6.0 technology and CXL 1.1 / 2.0 protocol visualisation and analysis tools.

Other features are cable-free protocol analysis in a streamlined card electromechanical (CEM) form factor and a complete PCIe 6.0 standard test solution for the entire design cycle.

Dr. Joachim Peerlings, vice president of network and data centre solutions at Keysight commented: “In the race to advance artificial intelligence applications, physical layer and protocol validation of devices including networking interface cards, graphics processing units, and accelerators is key.”

http://www.keysight.com

Anritsu extends test capabilities for manufacturing wireless communications devices with the Universal Wireless Test Set MT8870A / MT8872A which supports Wi-Fi 7 TRX tests by software options of the WLAN 802.11be TX Measurement MX887034A and WLAN 802.11be Waveforms MV887034A.

The MT8870A / MT8872A has excellent test features for manufacturing inspection of wireless communications equipment and modules, while also supporting all prior Wi-Fi TRX test standards (IEEE 802.11b / g / a / n / ac / ax).

The MX887034A and MV887034A add test features for the latest WLAN IEEE 802.11be Wi-Fi 7 standard to the MT8870A / MT8872A test set. These software options facilitate Wi-Fi 7 TRX testing without changing the manufacturing software and production line configurations in order for customers to optimise the efficiency of their equipment investment.

Offloading mobile data to the WLAN network is important to reduce traffic congestion, said Anritsu. As smartphones, tablets and home appliances, together with automobiles and factory equipment are connecting to the network, network data traffic is likely to continue increasing but the capacity of cellular communication networks, mainly used for mobile phones, is limited. 

The latest Wi-Fi 7 WLAN standard attempts to address this, using a wider channel bandwidth and higher order modulation to increase data traffic capacity. A multi-link feature improves the stability of even congested networks. Introduction of Wi-Fi 7 helps implement a more robust communications environment, which is expected to drive further demand for Wi-Fi 7 devices.

Adding MX887034A and MV887034A options is Anritsu’s efficient solution to add Wi-Fi 7 test features to the customer test environment, said the company.

The Universal Wireless Test Set MT8870A / MT8872A series is designed for developing and manufacturing various wireless communication equipment. Installing up to four test units in the main unit supports a seamless frequency band up to 7.3GHz with a 200MHz bandwidth.

Each unit measures test parameters independently in parallel, enabling the MT8870A to quickly and simultaneously evaluate multiple wireless communications devices.

http://www.anritsu.com