USB 4.0 Standard Technology Trends and Introduction of TX/RX Compliance Test Solution Supporting It

 

Speaker Introduction
Session 1	Young Jun Park, Director (Tektronix Senior Application Engineer)
Session 2	Bong Chan Kim, Senior Manager (Anritsu Senior Application Engineer)

Tektronix × Anritsu Corporation Collaboration

Following the growth of the PC industry, the USB interface has been successfully adopted as the most representative interface in the high-speed serial interface market, expanding its application domain from mobile, display, and automotive to robotics over several years. 

Following USB 3.0 in 2008, the USB 3.1 and USB 3.2 Gen1/Gen2 specifications based on the Type-C connector were introduced in 2013, enabling communication speeds of 10 Gbps for USB 3.1, and subsequently achieving maximum data transfer speeds of 20 Gbps by utilizing two lanes of Type-C in USB 3.2. Since then, USB has grown at a remarkable pace, driven by increased transmission speeds, the convenience of the Type-C connector, and the use of Alternate mode with Thunderbolt and DisplayPort.

Tektronix has thus far provided accurate measurement solutions for USB 3.2 technology and is proactively supporting measurement solutions for USB 4.0 to be discussed hereinafter.   

USB 4.0 supports maximum data transfer speeds of 40 Gbps, based on Thunderbolt 3 with 20.625 Gbps per lane. With the data rate doubled compared to the existing USB 3.2, many devices can adopt this technology to realize faster high-speed data transmission. As transmission speeds increase, design complexity rises, and beyond overcoming physical constraints and securing design margins through various equalization technologies such as de-emphasis, CTLE, and DFE, the requirements are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Development engineers need advanced validation methods and debugging solutions in both design techniques and measurement methodologies. 

 
This session provides a comprehensive understanding of USB standards and examines the latest updates to the USB 4.0 specification. We will also introduce optimized solutions for USB 4.0 TX compliance testing using Tektronix DPO70000SX/DX series and RX calibration methods.

Similar to previous USB receiver tests, testing is performed by calibrating the test signal according to the minimum input performance defined by the receiver standard to ensure accurate measurement of device receiver sensitivity.

To minimize signal calibration workload and optimize test repeatability, automation of BERT and oscilloscope combinations is required.

By providing Anritsu's MP1900A BERT, we will examine the performance necessary for USB 4 receiver testing, leveraging high-quality data output performance and built-in jitter/noise injection functionality.