Keysight offers PCI Express Gen3 Exerciser

Test and measurement equipment specialist Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) has unveiled the U4305B PCI Express protocol exerciser for PCIe Gen3 systems development applications. The U4305B exerciser offers PCIe test tools for validating Gen1, Gen2, and Gen3 operation for all lane widths up to x16, according to the company.

The unit will help test new technologies like NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) and L1 substate operation, Keysight adds. The latter, a new method of supporting low-power operation, enables PCIe devices to shut down the clock and remove keeper voltages via a CLKREQ# sideband signal. The U4305B exerciser is designed to verify these low-power implementations.

A built-in test bench enables users to generate automated tests of PCIe or NVMe operations. The test bench comes with scripts that validate the operation from ASPM or PCI-PM L1 substates. These prewritten tests exercise each state to provide pass/fail results that report on control register operation as well as operation of each L1 substate entry/recovery, Keysight explains.

An LTSSM test package also is available that enables link negotiation testing to test a device's LTSSM functions. The package also can verify PCIe state transitions and validate state timeouts. More than 50 predefined LTSSM tests can be applied.

For testing NVMe, the U4305B exerciser can emulate either the host or device to submit and execute NVMe commands or create error test sequences. The implementation in the U4305B exerciser uses the NVMe conformance tests as defined by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Interoperability Lab (IOL). These tests provide pass/fail/warning results with detailed diagnostic information to improve NVMe validation.

The PCI SIG-defined protocol test card is also available for pass/fail test results to validate PCIe operation. The PTC test package is the same one used at PCI-SIG workshops.

Engineers can configure the Keysight U4305B exerciser to provide subprotocol layer test and debug for legacy and next-generation PCIe devices. The U4305B exerciser also can be used to send and respond to TLP, DLLP, and physical-layer packets to stimulate PCIe devices and systems.

The U4305B PCIe protocol exerciser is now available. Prices start at $24,793.

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