Agilent SAS Compliance Test Software

Agilent Technologies Inc. introduced automated compliance test software for Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) physical-layer transmitter compliance testing that includes measurement support for SAS 6-Gbps and 12-Gbps interfaces. Using the Infiniium 90000 Series or 90000 X-Series oscilloscope and the automated N5412B SAS-2 compliance test software, engineers can maximize their design margins and gain greater insights into their system performance.

SAS is a high-speed serial bus used primarily for high-performance server and workstation storage applications. It operates at data rates up to 6 Gbps today and will go up to 12 Gbps in the near future. Storage devices and chipsets operating at 6 Gbps and 12 Gbps present tough measurement challenges that require new tools and procedures for proper validation and margin analysis. Agilent’s SAS compliance test software provides advance access to measurements, letting engineers address potential design issues early in the design cycle and get their products to market faster.

The Agilent N5412B SAS-2 compliance test software for Infiniium oscilloscopes provides design and validation engineers with a fast and easy way to verify physical layer transmitter compliance for SAS 1.5-Gbps, 3-Gbps and 6-Gbps silicon, expanders, port multipliers and high-density and solid-state disk drives. The test methods are based on University of New Hampshire InterOperability Labs (UNH-IOL) Consortium’s SAS-2 physical-layer test suite.

The N5412B software performs a wide range of tests for spread-spectrum clocking (SSC) specifications, transmitted signal requirements and out-of-band (OOB) specifications. The software also provides automated compliance test support for intra-enclosure (IT) and internal-enclosure (CT) interface points, displays the results in a flexible report format, and provides a margin analysis that shows how closely a device passes or fails each test.

The Agilent SAS12G user-defined application (UDA) software for Infiniium 90000 X-Series scopes provides early 12-Gbps physical layer transmitter measurements for engineers designing to the requirements of the upcoming SAS-3 specification. The UDA test methodologies are leveraged from the N5412B software. The SAS12G UDA software will provide early 12-Gbps adopters and implementers the ability to characterize and validate their designs. The software determines if designs meet the specification and predicts system interoperability.

Agilent’s Infiniium 90000 X-Series oscilloscope, the winner of the prestigious Electron d’Or (gold electron) award in the ‘Instrumentation’ category, offers the industry’s highest analog bandwidth (32-GHz), lowest noise floor, deepest memory and flattest response. The Agilent N5421A SAS kit that includes the TX and RX transient circuit test loads also provides accessibility to the SAS connectors.

Engineers designing and developing SAS interfaces also can use the Agilent J-BERT N4903B high-performance serial BERT for physical-layer receiver compliance testing and characterization and the Agilent DCA-J 86100C TDR system for characterization of the transmit and receive termination impedances and return loss, per the requirements of the SAS-2 specification.

"With our involvement in plugfests, we are in the unique position to develop solutions that evolve with the standards, giving engineers the ability to design their products with the highest confidence," said Jay Alexander, vice president and general manager of Agilent’s oscilloscopes business.

U.S. Pricing and Availability
The Agilent N5412B SAS-2 compliance test software is available now starting at a price of $7,000. An upgrade is also available for existing N5412A SAS compliance software.