Test & Measurement: Option Gives BER Analyzer Live-Traffic Testing Capability

Thanks to the Live Data Analysis option for BERTScope signal-integrity analyzers, designers can perform the full suite of physical-layer analysis tests on live traffic with unknown content, as well as on data with added protocol or idle bits. Such tests include jitter peak, bit-error-rate (BER) contour, Q-factor, and mask testing. With this option, users can measure very low-probability events at the system's full data rate to accurately and quickly check jitter performance. They also can analyze transmission link eye patterns in terms of BER contours to error levels of 10¹²­ and beyond. The BERTScopes combine BER testing with the eye-diagram analysis and mask testing capability of wide-bandwidth sampling oscilloscopes. They come in two versions: the 7.5-GHz 7500A and the 12.5-GHz 12500A. The 12500A costs $135,000. The Physical Layer Analysis option (required for Live Data Analysis) is $9500. The LIve Data Analysis option costs $14,500. All are available now.