12-bit oscilloscope reaches 65 GHz, tests high-speed links

The WaveMaster 8000HD series from Teledyne LeCroy goes where no 12-bit oscilloscope has gone before.

Serial digital data streams never stop reaching for higher data rates. Buses such as PCIe Gen 6 (64 Gtransfers/sec) and USB4 V2 (80 Gb/sec) have gone to PAM4 and PAM3 modulation, respectively, to reach their current data rates. Two-level modulation is no longer sufficient, even at the short distances that these buses connect. While Ethernet has used PAM4 for some time, PAM3 and PAM4 are new to shorter-range buses.

As these data buses increase in speed, so must test equipment. While 8-bit and 10-bit oscilloscopes have had bandwidths of 100 GHz and higher for some time, 12-bit oscilloscopes operate at lower bandwidths because of their higher resolution. Teledyne LeCroy’s 4-channel WaveMaster 8000HD series consists of six models based on analog bandwidth, the highest reaching 65 GHz. As the table shows, the three highest bandwidth models — 50 GHz, 59 GHz, and 65 GHz — achieve their highest bandwidth when running on two channels.

Because its primary intended applications are high-speed serial-bus characterization, validation, automation, compliance, and debug, the WaveMaster 8000HD series integrates with Teledyne LeCroy’s protocol analyzers and CrossSync PHY software. That combination, plus optional serial-data analysis (SDA Expert) software, lets you see how signal problems affect layers above the physical layer. Applications include PCIe, USB-C, and Thunderbolt. The combination of oscilloscope and protocol analyzer lets you trigger measurements on physical phenomena such as excessive jitter, voltage dips, and signal edges. Adding the protocol analyzer lets you trigger the oscilloscope on higher-layer events such as data errors, then debug by tracking them down to the physical-layer source while the link is active. Either instrument can trigger the other. Teledyne LeCroy provides interposers that let you connect both the oscilloscope and protocol analyzer to a DUT such as a PCIe interface card.As data rates increase, the unit interval of serial-data signals shrinks. That means you need more waveform acquisition memory to capture signals for a given amount of time. The WaveMaster 8000HD line of oscilloscopes comes standard with 200 Msamples of waveform memory that’s upgradable to 8 Gsamples. That’s more than enough memory to capture the 24 ms of time for a PCIe link-training session.No oscilloscope is complete without probes. The WaveMaster 8000HD features four ProBus/Prolink inputs for basic single-ended and differential probes (50 Ω and 1 MΩ). Four ProAxial/ProLink inputs let you connect high-bandwidth 50 Ω probes. The three high-bandwidth models also feature 1.85 mm, 50 Ω inputs. The DH series probes are available at bandwidth to 30 GHz with two solder-in options.The WaveMaster 8000HD features an Intel i7 processor with 64 GB of RAM.