But it’s not for nothing that Frank Sinatra’s recording of Kander and Ebb’s “New York, New York” includes the line, “If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere.” So, unless you have something meaningful to announce, better you should stay home.
Well, Tektronix decided a tough place was exactly the right place to launch the new TDS7000 Series Oscilloscopes. Tektronix has taken the big step of developing a new oscilloscope platform.
The previous TDS500 platform had been enhanced with bandwidth extensions, display improvements, and quick-brew Java software. But even with these changes, the old platform didn’t address enough of the new, really difficult semiconductor, computer, and communications development problems.
Table 1 compares the major specifications of the three TDS7000 models in the initial offering. These are large-format, four-channel digital phosphor oscilloscopes (DPOs) with touch-sensitive, 10.4″ full-color displays. The signal capture rate has been increased to 500,000 waveforms/s to ensure that you see even very infrequently occurring events.
Table 1. Comparison of TDS7000 Series Model Specifications
The TDS7404 flagship is distinguished by its 4-GHz bandwidth, multiplexed maximum sampling rate of 20 GS/s, 32-MB maximum record length option, and revolutionary silicon germanium (SiGe) technology. Much can be said about the $14M and four years that Tektronix invested to develop new SiGe preamplifier, amplifier, and sample-and-hold circuits. And recognizing that collaboration with IBM was necessary at an early date has truly paid off. It has made possible performance that is simply unattainable with conventional silicon technology.
SiGe is a win-win technology with few lurking bad surprises to offset its order-of-magnitude improvements. As Dr. Bernard Meyerson, an IBM fellow and recognized father of the SiGe technology, said, the likelihood of a technology other than silicon economically answering the very high-speed communications and computer requirements is nil.
What he actually said was, “Don’t pick a fight with a 900-lb gorilla,” referring to the size of the current investment in silicon technology and manufacturing facilities already in place around the world. You really want a high-speed solution based on silicon rather than a fast but much more expensive and less common technology such as gallium arsenide (GaAs).
As impressive as the specifications of the TDS7404 are, the new series is about much more than speed. In fact, three aspects were stressed during the product presentation:
- Signal integrity.
- Ease of use.
- Connectivity.
Two new probes, the 3-GHz differential P7330 and the 4-GHz single-ended P7240, provide faster and less intrusive signal-monitoring capabilities than previously available. For example, the P7330 offers 3-GHz bandwidth with only 0.5-pF capacitance compared to the previous-generation P6248 1.7-GHz differential probe with 1-pF capacitance. When these probes are combined with the high-speed acquisition specifications of the TDS7000 Series, there are few signals that can’t be captured faithfully.
Waveform fidelity is where it all starts. But the open Windows interface and Internet connectivity are the real features that improve productivity. Instrument control has been both enriched and simplified by making available several simultaneous means of access.
There are dedicated knobs and buttons for each channel, triggering, and the timebase. You can make simple changes directly, and the scope’s fast operating system responds quickly. Alternatively, anything that can be done from the front panel also can be driven from the touchscreen via short instrument menus or computer-like pull-down menus.
The touchscreen aids the intuitive operation of the instrument. For example, you can use your finger to trace a box around a portion of the waveforms that you want to zoom. Should you be uncertain about a function, context-sensitive help is available.
More complex functions, such as mathematical channel operations, must be controlled from a menu. However, a graphical representation of the mode, such as delayed triggering, guides you through selecting options. At all times, a view of the signals is maintained so that you can better understand the effect of control changes as they are made.
“Connectivity from the probe tip to the rest of the world” was not an idle Tektronix claim. The TDS7000 is a computer as well as an oscilloscope. You can cut and paste waveforms into your favorite word processor, analyze data in a spreadsheet, or e-mail test reports to colleagues anywhere in the world.
A universal serial bus (USB) port supports a mouse and a keyboard, but you don’t need them to run the scope. Also, standard interfaces allow expansion of the TDS7000 Series to include peripherals such as storage devices, a modem, or a wireless LAN connection.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that the Tektronix scope mavens blew into Gotham with more than just chutzpah. The TDS7000 Series is a major step in scope evolution. If the new SiGe parts turbocharge the TDS7404 as promised, it will be quite a product when available. The real-time transient digitizing oscilloscope performance bar will have been raised significantly. In the meantime, the new TDS7104 and TDS7054 platform capabilities that you can order today, as the company says, will let you interact with and “see a world others don’t.” Tektronix, (800) 426-2200, code 1195.
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June 2000