Agilent intros new J-BERT functionality

JANUARY 8, 2007 -- Agilent Technologies Inc. (search for Agilent) has introduced software release 4.5 for the Agilent J-BERT N4903A high-performance serial BERT that the company says enables test engineers to retrieve the fastest jitter tolerance test results.

The next generations of multi-gigabit devices are emerging throughout the computer, storage and communications industries. Design and validation teams require new test tools that allow efficient and accurate characterization and conformance testing for these high-speed interfaces.

Agilent's J-BERT is designed to significantly improve jitter tolerance testing of these gigabit receivers. J-BERT is the only complete jitter tolerance test solution with built-in and calibrated jitter sources, Agilent asserts. Automated jitter tolerance tests significantly reduce the programming effort.

The new J-BERT software 4.5 provides the following benefits:

One-click jitter tolerance test insight with one-screen results that show all tested points and the test limits
faster device debug with restore of jitter setup by clicking on tested points in the jitter tolerance result screen
quicker documentation of test results with the new all-inclusive jitter tolerance compliance report in HTML format
worst-case testing of computer bus devices with spread spectrum clocking (SSC); SSC can be enabled during the automated jitter tolerance tests
Web-based access to J-BERT's user interface from any remote Web location with the new Web server. J-BERT can be operated in far-distance, noisy, or environmental test labs even if the user is offsite and has no knowledge of instrument programming.

Agilent's new one-click-results software further accelerates jitter tolerance insight with a one-screen result display that shows all passed and failed tested conditions as well as specification limits. A jitter setup can now be restored by clicking on tested points. For quicker test documentation, J-BERT now generates all-inclusive jitter tolerance compliance test reports in HTML format.

In addition to the new "one-click jitter tolerance test results," all J-BERTs are now equipped with improved clock data recovery (CDR) for the error detector. To support all emerging and proprietary data rates the built-in CDR operates over the range of 1 to 12.5 Gbits/sec. For optimizing the jitter budget and making tests under compliant CDR conditions, the option CTR "compliant CDR with tunable loop bandwidth" is available. Installed J-BERTs can be upgraded to the new CDR functionality.

For the U.S. market, the new software revision 4.5 for the Agilent J-BERT N4903A high-performance serial BERT is available now as a free download from the Web at www.agilent.com/find/jbert. The new clock data recovery capabilities are also available now for shipment. The option CTR for the compliant and tunable loop bandwidth is priced at $21,000.

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