Is 13 unlucky? Not so, says Agilent, when it comes to the Infiniium DSO8000 series digital storage oscilloscope (DSO). The DSO is a real-time, four-channel, 13-GHz-bandwidth measurement system that achieves a maximum sampling rate of 40 Gsamples/s. For those suffering from the phobia, the scope also comes in 10- and 12-GHz versions (models 81004A and 81204A, respectively).
The 13-GHz bandwidth (model 81304A) is achieved via a DSP-based software package. Key to the oscilloscope's development was a proprietary 20-Gsample/s, 1-W monolithic analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with 80 slices at 250 Msamples/s and a silicon-germanium (SiGe) buffer IC with a built-in 2-by-2 crossbar switch for interleaving. Both devices were created on STMicroelectronics' biCMOS 7 process. Other key elements included a revolutionary front end using an SiGe pre-amplifier and gallium-arsenide (GaAs) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) and attenuators.
Designed for the demands of today's high-speed serial buses, the scopes include the Agilent InfiniiMax II series of probing measurement systems. All three versions are available with memory depths of 256 to 512 kbytes. Active probes for the 10- and 12-GHz versions feature characterized probe tips, 2.5 mVRMS referred to the input, a 3.45:1 attenuation ratio, 3.3 V of differential dynamic range, a ±16-V range of dc offset, and ±30-V maximum voltage.
How much bandwidth does one need? Lon Hintze, DSO8000 product manager, points out that the 13-GHz version can measure a 30-ps rise/fall time of an 18.7-GHz signal within 10% accuracy. Even the 12-GHz version can measure a 40-ps rise/fall time, 14-GHz signal within 5% accuracy, and the 10-GHz version can measure a 50-ps rise/fall time, 11.2-GHz signal within 5% accuracy.
The oscilloscopes are priced at $94,000, $115,000, and $122,500, respectively, for the 10-, 12-, and 13-GHz versions. Option #001 (1 to 2 Mbytes of memory—32 Mbytes sampling up to 4 Gbytes/s) costs $6000. Option #002 (EZ-jitter software for jitter measurements, histograms, trends and spectrums) costs $4000. And, option #003 (SDA software for clock recovery, mask tests, real-time eye tests, and 8b/10b decodes) costs $8000.
Other items include a $9000 model 1169A InfiniiMax 12-GHz probe amplifier, a $6500 model 1168A InfiniiMax 10-GHz probe amplifier, and a $2500 12-GHz model N5380A differential SMA adapter probe head. The model N5381A 12-GHz differential solder probe head costs $400. The model N5382A 12-GHz differential browser probe head is priced at $600. Model N5398A upgrade software for the 12- and 13-GHz oscilloscopes costs $7500.
Agilent Technologieswww.agilent.com(800) 429-4444, item #7938