Tektronix PCIe 6.0 Receiver Test Solution to Accelerate Next Gen of Fast Devices

Tektronix, Inc., in collaboration with Anritsu Corporation, introduces a PCIe 6.0 Receiver Test solution that equips engineers to test PCIe 6.0 (Base) receivers and addresses growing performance demands of the next gen of high performance systems.

With this release, Tektronix provides a cohesive PCIe 6.0 transmitter and receiver test solution that delivers faster test times, higher-quality measurements, and an intuitive user interface.

In today’s world, there is a constant demand for faster devices and technologies for high-speed networks. Engineers innovating the latest technology need the ability to test more and more data as it is transferred at increasing speeds. Data-intensive markets like AI, cloud, and data centers use PCIe as a standard. While the recently released Gen 6.0 standard provides fast speeds to handle such workloads, testing brings a set of challenges to companies charged with integrating PCIe 6.0 on their devices.

PCIe receiver validation is notoriously difficult due to the sensitivity of calibrating the stressed eye signal across a high loss channel. The company‘s PCIe receiver test solutions provide confidence that designs are tested at the required BER target. The intuitive step-by-step tools provide link training routines for the Anritsu MP1900A BERT to ensure the receiver is tested accurately.

Industry’s fastest falibration 
The firm’s PCIe 6.0 Base Rx solution includes the fastest 64GT/s (PAM4) Rx calibration. Novel algorithms efficiently address the new challenge of calibrating the Transmitter’s additional pre-cursor added to the 6.0 Base specification.

Higher quality measurements
The company’s PAMJET DSP tool provides 64GT/s jitter and noise measurements with advanced instrument noise compensation. This automated solution leverages the first-to-market 6.0 Base Tx solution techniques and enhances the capabilities to address Receiver challenges at the latest data rate introduced by the PCI-SIG.

Intuitive user experience
The TekRxTest automation software provides a single control panel with the power to manage a firm’s oscilloscope and Anritsu BERT during receiver calibration. This software wizard guides users through short- and long-channel calibration steps with ease, resulting in an accurate and repeatable calibration at 64GT/s.

Swapnil Mane, director, wired solutions, Tektronix, explained: “As a founding member of the PCI-SIG working group, we are committed to our solutions evolving in step with the technology, helping our customers stay at the forefront of development.“

Building on the success of previous receiver test solutions, the 2 companies started collaborating early for PCIe 6.0.

“A combined solution integrating the Anritsu MP1900A and Tektronix DPO70000SX Real-Time Oscilloscopes delivers an innovative improvement to the market and a complete physical layer PCIe test system that can be expanded to PCIe 6.0 as the market continues to develop technologies for high-speed networks,” said Kazuhiro Fujinuma, director, solution marketing department service infrastructure division, Anritsu Corporation.

Electronics design and automation company Synopsys, Inc. collaborated with Tektronix on early validation of their PCIe 6.0 DesignWare IP, providing early-stage prototypes for Tektronix’ partnership with Anritsu.

“The PCIe 6.0 interface is instrumental to enabling real-time data connectivity with low latency and high throughput in HPC, storage, and AI applications,” said John Koeter, SVP marketing and strategy for IP, Synopsys. “Conducting early, accurate and efficient validation of the Synopsys silicon-proven PCIe 6.0 IP with Tektronix solutions demonstrates that the IP adheres to the latest PCI-SIG specs, enabling designers to deliver interoperable products that include Synopsys PCIe 6.0 controller, PHY, verification, and Integrity and Data Encryption (IDE) IP faster and with less risk.”

Advanced performance for faster speed of test, accuracy and ease-of-use 

• PCIe 6.0 (64GT/s) automated test solution runs on the Tektronix DPO70000SX series real-time oscilloscope and the Anritsu MP1900A BERT 

• First automated PCIe 6.0 Rx stressed eye calibration with the Anritsu MP1900A BERT 

• High accuracy calibration of jitter and noise by compensating the instrumentation intrinsic noise floor 

• Full short- and long-channel 64GT/s Rx calibration completed in 4 hours or less 

• High-fidelity measurements using the Tektronix PAMJET DSP engine 

• Intuitive wizard-based GUI provides guidance at decision points to ensure efficiency

The company’s PCIe 6.0 Receiver Test Solution is available WW for use with DPO70000SX Real-Time Oscilloscopes. Additional details and pricing are available at this webpage.