Supports data transfer speeds of 16GT per second
New automatic transmitter and receiver test tool

Tektronix has announced enhancements to its suite of PCI Express® (PCIe) test solutions that include the industry's first automated transmitter and receiver test solution supporting the PCIe 4.0 architecture, as well as support for data transfer rates of 16 GT/s.

The faster data rates of PCIe 4.0 technology have introduced new test challenges, including increased channel loss and jitter measurement challenges, as well as more complex link training and timing requirements. With shrinking design margins, accurate, standardized measurement solutions are crucial for debugging, design verification, and interoperability testing. All of these requirements can be fully addressed with Tektronix' latest test solutions for PCIe 4.0 and 3.0, supported by the DPO70000SX high-performance oscilloscope.

“As critical industry specifications like PCIe evolve, test and measurement tools must evolve to keep pace,” said Brian Reich, general manager, Performance Oscilloscopes, Tektronix. “With the highest accuracy and expandability of the DPO70000SX oscilloscopes and the newly enhanced PCIe solutions from Tektronix, you can debug and verify compliance with the latest PCIe specifications, significantly reducing compliance test times and increasing productivity.”

Shortening the time-to-market for PCI Express 4.0 and 3.0 designs.

The Option PCE4 feature for Tektronix' DPO/DPS70000SX and DPO/MSO70000DX high-performance oscilloscopes provides new transmitter (Tx) measurements that comply with the new PCIe 4.0 base specification, including a 100 MHz reference clock and picosecond jitter requirements, for all four PCI Express speeds: 2.5, 5.0, 8.0, and 16.0 GT/s.

Other improvements include the new U.2 form factor (formerly SFF-8639) and optimizations that reduce overall test time by nearly 30%. These same features have also been enhanced with Option PCE3, Tektronix's solution for supporting PCI Express 3.0 technology.

Tektronix's current technology solutions support PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.1a base specification receiver testing. This solution automates the Tektronix BERTScope bit error rate tester and Tektronix high-performance real-time oscilloscopes to compensate for stressed eye opening and test Rx compliance and jitter tolerance.

Developed in collaboration with Tektronix partner Granite River Labs, this solution automates complex PCIe testing with a simple user interface, following industry-standard methods, significantly reducing equipment calibration time. It also supports looping through various timing and voltage parameters using user-defined ranges, enabling the creation of two-dimensional result plots.