The instrument industry has joined the error code analyzer market

The error analyzer is an instrument that tests and analyzes the bit error rate in the communication system and has a simulation function. The BER test essentially outputs a known data bit stream to the device under test, and then captures and analyzes the data stream returned by the device under test. In order for different instruments to have the same test results, a special pseudo-random sequence is often applied, which is a standard defined by the communications industry.

The BER market is rapidly expanding. With the growing demand for 100G optical communication test in mainland China, Europe and the United States and other countries, error code analyzers that can perform signal transmission error rate verification have gradually gained favor from communication IC designers and equipment manufacturers, prompting various instrument manufacturers to lay out This market.

On the left is Zhang Tiansheng, an associate of Tektronix Greater China Marketing, and Shen Zhongrong, a regional manager of Tek Business.

According to Zhang Tiansheng, marketing associate of Tektronix Greater China, in order to ensure the quality of communication transmission, the latest transmission interface standards have standardized the receiver side to also detect the bit error rate, making it possible to use only the error analyzer application market for chip R&D. Expanded to the system side of the equipment; especially in recent years, the development of optical fiber communications has been accelerating, and the shipment of terminal communications equipment has been continuously increasing, which also contributes to the market opportunities of error code analyzers, attracting many instrument manufacturers to rush to invest in the research and development of this product line.

In fact, in order to make 100G optical communications applications popular as soon as possible to meet users' demand for high bandwidth, governments in various countries have begun to require the supply chain of the telecommunications industry to strive to bring compatible 100G communication components, routers and other related products to the market. This innovation also brings serious testing challenges.

Shen Zhongrong, regional manager of the Tektronix Business Department, explained that when the communication transmission speed is faster and faster, the bit error rate of the terminal device will rise, and the signal jitter will also increase, which will cause the transmission quality to be unstable; and the traditional error code analyzer The detection rate is too low, and it is difficult to maintain stable jitter for the output of the test object. Therefore, it has been impossible to keep up with the era of optical communications. The industry is in urgent need of an optical communication test solution.

In view of this, Tektronix has introduced the new BER-Analyzer BERTScopeBSA286C, which complies with the latest IEEE802.3ba and 32G Fibre Channel standards, and has pattern generation, error detection, and jitter analysis capabilities, and a maximum bit rate of 28.6 Gbit/s. s, which is twice the market's general error analyzer, can provide a complete signal test for Netcom equipment factory and communication IC designers.

However, as the communication transmission speed increases, crosstalk will become the main source of jitter-related signal noise. Therefore, in addition to accurately verifying the error rate, the error code analyzer must also find the error code position at the same time in order to understand the causes. The potential design issues of crosstalk, and these analysis functions have not been available in the past, usually error code analyzers, and often need to purchase additional oscilloscopes to meet the needs of testers.

Shen Zhongrong added that the BERTScopeBSA286C is the only solution on the market that integrates error analyzers and oscilloscopes. Testers can first use this model of frequency recovery device to separate the frequency and data to verify the code rate, and then restore the code. By using the built-in high-performance oscilloscope for eye diagram and signal jitter analysis, you can significantly reduce test time and accelerate time-to-market.

It is reported that the BERTScopeBSA286C will begin mass production in the fourth quarter. It has now been adopted by ZTE, Huawei and Intel, and will use the company's integrated bit error analyzer to increase shipments as the optical communications market continues to expand. It will also continue to climb.