Instrument maker Keysight Technologies, Inc. says it will now handle equipment from other instrument vendors at its One-Stop Calibration Services. Keysight says the reason for the move is that modern test systems often integrate instruments of different form factors from multiple vendors, including PXI and AXIe instruments used with traditional benchtop instruments. These instruments are frequently deployed in complex solutions that require onsite setup, maintenance and repair.

Keysight’s One-Stop Calibration Services will now cover more than 100,000 products, including non-Keysight benchtop, PXI and AXIe instruments.

Keysight today also has expanded its offering of high-performance PXI and AXIe instruments and reference solutions. The instruments and solutions are used in a wide range of applications, including 5G, PA/FEM and digital interconnect test, to increase test speed, improve accuracy and reduce the overall footprint.

The M9019A PXIe 18-slot Gen 3 chassis, controller, I/O components and external PC option are said to provide the highest system bandwidth on the market. These PXIe system components offer at least two times more system bandwidth than a typical Gen 2 chassis, and the external PC option removes the limitations on PC selection imposed by closed PXIe systems.

The open Gen 3 platform lets users select an external PC or controller that best fits the application. For example, a 5G or electronic warfare application requiring a PC optimized for the capture and playback of large data streams; or a MIMO application requiring a large, multi-channel and multi-chassis PXIe test systems.

The four-slot M9421A PXIe vector transceiver (VXT) and the M9111A PXIe high-speed source/measure unit (SMU) improve test throughput, reduce the overall footprint, and are built for production test and design validation of next-generation PA/FEMs. The new PXIe VXT and SMU will be the part of Keysight’s RF PA/FEM characterization and test reference solution.

Covering frequencies from 60 MHz to 6 GHz, with modulation and analysis bandwidth up to 160 MHz, the VXT supports FPGA-accelerated measurements and includes software that supports analog demodulation, noise figure and a broad range of cellular and wireless connectivity formats. The SMU changes voltage, stabilizes and accurately measures micro-Amps, all in less than 1 ms. This is a 20 times speed improvement over previous-generation, stand-alone Keysight SMUs, and is a fraction of the size.

The new Digital Interconnect Test reference solution is said to be the world’s fastest cable tester and features the PXI VNA with full cross-bar s-parameter calibration of 32-ports up to 26.5 GHz.

Other new products include:
• The M9195B PXIe digital stimulus/response (DSR) module, an improved version of the M9195A model, delivering multiple module synchronization and pattern editing software.
• The M9203A PXIe 12-bit high-speed digitizer/wideband digital receiver, designed for testing the latest wireless communication, radar and satellite devices.
• The M8030A multi-channel BERT, used with the M9514A 14-slot AXIe chassis for multi-lane testing and the M8070A system software, for simultaneous characterization of up to 10 BERT channels and minimal crosstalk in high-channel, high-data-rate applications
• The M8040A highly integrated BERT for physical layer characterization and compliance testing, with data rates up to 64 GBaud. The M8040A covers all types of 400 GbE standards and simplifies characterization of PAM-4 and NRZ receivers.
• The second-generation M9537A AXIe embedded controller which provides high-speed computing power for data-intensive analysis and multiple module support and displays multiple waveforms and analysis tools simultaneously for enhanced troubleshooting.
• The M9703B AXIe 12-bit high-speed digitizer/wideband digital receiver, an improved version of the M9703A model, for multi-channel applications requiring phase coherency, wideband frequency analysis, high dynamic range, streaming and recording capability.