Test equipment provider Multilane SAL has introduced a system for active optical-cable (AOC) testing and characterization. The new test system is designed to be a fully automated and integrated method to test all eight channels of an AOC at a production-level pace via a simple-to-use interface.
The market for active optical cables is expected to grow substantially this year, as applications expand from high-performance computers (HPC) to traditional data centers with support of multiple protocols (see “Active optical cable sales to jump 30% this year says LightCounting”).
The Multilane AOC production testing solution contains two units each of three signal integrity instruments and MSA-compliant interconnect plug-ins responsible for executing multichanneled bit-error-rate (BER) and eye measurements. These instruments include the ML4016-02, a four-lane 16-Gbps BER tester used as a programmable pattern generator (PPG) for BER measurements, the ML4025, a digital sampling oscilloscope for eye and jitter measurements, and the ML4021, a QSFP+ host with extended support to enable four-corner testing.
Multilane’s new system also comes equipped with a consolidated API library that permits the user to communicate simply with all hardware components to carry out a wide array of AOC tests according to 40 Gigabit Ethernet electrical specifications.
This product is the latest addition to Multilane’s range of complete systems for signal integrity characterization and performance. The most recent release, the Multilane CFP-2 Development Kit, provides the necessary development tools and reference modules required for the development and testing of products based on C Form-factor Pluggable-2 connectivity.
For more information on test equipment and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.