LeCroy increases real-time oscilloscope bandwidth to 60 GHz

Jan. 12, 2011
LeCroy Corp. announced last week that, thanks to the development of a new chipset that supports bandwidth of 36 GHz and a rate of 80 GS/s, its LabMaster 10 Zi oscilloscopes can now provide 60 GHz of bandwidth and 160 GS/s for advanced applications.

LeCroy Corp. announced last week that, thanks to the development of a new chipset that supports bandwidth of 36 GHz and a rate of 80 GS/s, its LabMaster 10 Zi oscilloscopes can now provide 60 GHz of bandwidth and 160 GS/s for advanced applications. This bandwidth level, achieved by combining two channels via the company’s Digital Bandwidth Interleave (DBI) technology, will both simplify and lower the cost of optical modulation analysis for developers of technology aimed at data rates above 100 Gbps, company sources assert.

In total, the LabMaster 10 Zi will support four oscilloscope channels 36-GHz bandwidth and 80 GS/s sample rate in a single acquisition module. Multiple acquisition modules can be linked together with LeCroy’s LabMaster ChannelSync architecture. Up to twenty 36-GHz/80-GS/s channels and up to ten 60-GHz/160-GS/s DBI channels can be accommodated in this manner, LeCroy says.

Addition features include:

  • analysis memory of 1024 Mpts/ch
  • trigger bandwidth of 30 GHz
  • jitter noise floor of 100 fsrms for the 50 and 60 GHz models
  • rise time (20-80%) of 5.5 ps for the 60-GHz model and 9.75 ps for the 36-GHz model.

In additio, a 14.1-Gbps 80-bit serial pattern trigger with support for 8b/10b and 64b/66b symbol triggering and PCI Express Generation 3.0 will be optionally available for high-speed serial data debugging by providing the ability to isolate errors to specific symbols and PCI Express link layer.

LeCroy has designed a modular oscilloscope architecture for the LabMaster that separates the oscilloscope signal acquisition function from the display, control, and processing functions (see "Modular vs. conventional oscilloscope approach for optical coherent modulation analysis" for more on the philosophy behind this approach). The LabMaster Master Control Module (MCM-Zi) contains the display, controls, ChannelSync architecture, and a server-class CPU. Meanwhile, the LabMaster 10 Zi Acquisition Modules provide the 36-GHz bandwidth with up to 60 GHz on two channels.

A LabMaster 10 Zi Master Control Module and one LabMaster 10 Zi Acquisition Module function as a single, conventional four-channel 36-GHz oscilloscope, or as a conventional two channel 60 GHz and four channel 36 GHz oscilloscope. However, LeCroy’s ChannelSync technology enables up to five LabMaster 10 Zi Acquisition Modules to be synchronized to provide up to 20 channels at 36 GHz or 10 channels at 60 GHz (see photo).

LeCroy will offer several variations of LabMaster 10 Zi. Both 25- and 30-GHz will be available; both will have 80 GS/s sampling rate on each channel. A model with 50 GHz of bandwidth and 160 GS/s of sample rate on two channels is also available; this model also has 36-GHz performance.

The LabMaster 10 Zi in the four channels of 36 GHz bandwidth variant with a single acquisition module will cost $283,150. This figure means twice the channels for the same price of competitive 32 or 33 GHz oscilloscopes, the company asserts.

The new capabilities could have significant benefits for the development of high-speed optical transmission systems. For example, for 28-GBaud DP-QPSK systems, 28-32 Gbps SERDES can be characterized for jitter with a two-channel 50-GHz LabMaster 10 Zi system. Such a system enable capture beyond the third harmonic of 28 Gb/s NRZ signals at a price point of $365,900. By purchasing capacity up to 60 GHz, the fourth harmonic of these signals can be captured.

Meanwhile, for applications such as greater than 56 GBaud (224 Gbps) DP-QPSK and 16-QAM optical coherent modulation systems, the LabMaster 10 Zi can be configured as a two- to four-channel 60-GHz system, approaching 125 GBaud (500 Gbps) for DP-QPSK or 1 Tbps for 16-QAM. List prices for 60-GHz LabMaster 10 Zi systems start at $411,900.

For even more exotic modulation formats, such as MIMO or OFDM, the LabMaster 10 Zi modular oscilloscopes can be configured with enough acquisition systems to support up to 20 channels at 36 GHz or 10 channels at 60 GHz.

The LabMaster 10 Zi oscilloscopes will start at $252,900, with acquisition modules priced starting at $156,000. First shipments of 36-GHz LabMaster oscilloscopes should begin this spring. First shipments of 50- and 60-GHz oscilloscopes will follow a quarter later.

For more information on lab equipment and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyers Guide.

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