Product Suite Facilitates PCI Express Test

At the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) held in September in San Jose, Agilent Technologies showed off a range of test and measurement capabilities.

The E2941a Soft-touch mid-bus probe, an industry-first item, increases protocol test coverage and eliminates the need for time-consuming test-board setups. With it, users can connect Agilent's E2960A protocol analyzer either through slot interposer probe boards or through the connectorless mid-bus probe. Engineers also can use the probe to analyze high-speed PCI Express chip-to-chip communication without influencing the signal. Expected to ship in January, the probe costs $19,000.

Agilent also demonstrated PCI Express products like the E2969A protocol test card, the N4228A half-size mid-bus connector, the E2960 protocol analyzer and exerciser, the industry-first KVM 1.0 integrated remote management software, and the E2688A serial-data-analysis option for Agilent's 54850 Infiniium scopes.

Additionally at IDF, Agilent was the first company to demonstrate bidirectional PCI Express traffic capture on Intel's x16 test platform. Agilent is collaborating with Denali Software to develop a comprehensive validation process for PCI Express technology to speed up chip designs as well.

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