Modern Test & Measure: May 2014 by EEWeb Magazines

May 2014

Low-cost DDR3 Analysis Interview with David Graef, CTO of Teledyne LeCroy

Understanding Probe Calibration

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Modern Test & Measure

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CONTENTS

TECH ARTICLE

Understanding Probe Calibration Methods What would you do if you were confronted with the following problems?

TECH ARTICLE

Scenario 1: The heating system failed to start at 4.00am this morning – again! When tested, everything seems to work fine, but the office staff are becoming really annoyed at having to work wearing coats and gloves to keep warm for the first three hours each morning. The problem is that it only goes wrong during the night, and then only once or twice a week.

Finding Electrical Control System Faults

Scenario 2: Unmanned railroad crossings use automatic barriers to protect the track when and sensor signals are all switching away at a train approaches. The control systems are such a rate that is impossible to clearly see designed for maximum reliability and fail what is happening, especially as timing and safe operation for obvious reasons. As with sequencing is all important. Stepping the o support the goal of reducing the DDR3 BGA interposers contain a b all control systems, they are dependent on machine in slow sequence did nottoshow any cost of these measurements, the tip resistor isolate the DRAM sys from the logic analyzer probing. S DDR3 decoder in the solution has the correct operation of sensors and other Using a conventional logger was been problem. modified to work from address and probingdata scheme is workable up to command signals only, thus reducing total rates of 2500 Mbit per second. Th external control signals. One particular not annecessary optionforbecause signals varied from channel count meaningful the provides plenty of margin for the 1333 measurements made by low measurements. For example, the new crossing failed to open after a train had 12v dcSeries to 240v ac34-channel and included 24v ac and dc, Agilent 16850 entry level logic analyzers. Figure 3.DDR3 1333 address system can perform passed on several occasions, causing plus 110v ac.Cup and command state (synchronous) Other probing options include the A Faraday of either a DIMM interposer or a m and analysis for around considerable delay and frustration to the road measurements $36K; in the past, a logic analyzer solution bus probe. Mid-bus probing involv placing connection pads or a co traffic. The fault was intermittent and by the that could offer such measurements Therequired Faraday cupof(Figure 3)somewhere methodalong canthe bePCused and analysis a budget board traces therange IC containing around $100K. time an electrician had arrived on site, the to measure the static charge onbetween a wide memory controller and the memo ofrequirements substances and plastics, films, Probing for objects,Asuch probe as then touches those pad crossing was working correctly. The control into components. the connector to get access liquids, gases, and electronic DDR3 measurements DDR3 signals. unit was replaced on two occasions, but the In order to make real-time measurements A Faraday cup (also calledA a Faraday cage BGA probe offers the advantag problem persisted. on the interface between the DDR3

TECH ARTICLE Good Measurement Practices Part 3:

T Common Charge Measurement Applications

COVER INTERVIEW

David Graef - CTO of Teledyne LeCroy

Scenario 3: An automatic valve assembly machine has four stations, multiple heads and several sensors. Occasionally, about twice a month, it gets out-of-step and starts to misplace vent seals. The many control

no sheet special PC boardor modification memory or controller and memory devices, icepail) is usually made of metal required other than ensuring that it is necessary to probe signals in a way mesh. The electric fieldkeep within a is enough out volume (kov) that doesconductive not cause significant distortion to so fit. Inthe addition, but instead providesempty an accurate picture closed, conductor isprobe zero, cuplogic ana come with setup files when using of those signals. A good probing option shields the object placed inside probes. it from any for designs with embedded memories is atmospheric or stray electric fields. This enables the use of BGA probes as shown in Figure 1. the Address, command and data accurate measurement of the charge. signals are intercepted and brought by A Faraday cup consists coaxial ribbon cable to the logic analyzer.of two electrodes, one

inside the other, separated by an insulator. The inside electrode is connected to the electrometer “We are producing the highest quality, HI and the outside electrode is connected tomost accu precision measurements that people can get, the electrometer LO. When charged object is becausea that’s the expectation.” placed within the inside electrode, an induced charge will flow into the electrometer.

TECH ARTICLE

Low Cost DDR Decode & Analysis Figure 1. x8 DDR3 BGA probe connection

Modern Test & Measure

Understanding Probe Calibration Methods If thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a topic concerning probes that causes confusion, questions, and misunderstandings, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s loading. It would be a much simpler world if attaching a probe to a circuit under test had no effect on either the signal being measured or the device the probe is connected to. Unfortunately, the world isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite so simple. By David Maliniak Technical Marketing Communication Specialist Teledyne LeCroy Like it or not, attaching an oscilloscope probe to a circuit invokes certain constraints imposed by fundamental laws of physics: You can't measure something without affecting it. When we try to measure a signal traveling from point A to point B, we are borrowing some of the signal's energy and diverting it to point C (the oscilloscope's front end). We hope that our probe will borrow as little energy as possible and affect the operation of the circuit in minimal fashion. Because the probe must borrow energy from the signal under test, that probe must have a finite impedance value at all points within its frequency range. The higher the impedance, the smaller the probe's effect on both the signal and the operation of the circuit being tested. However, maintaining high probe impedance as signal frequency rises is a lot easier said than done.

At the end of the day, we know that our probe will exhibit some loading when we apply it to the circuit under test. The important thing to understand is that there are two ways to calibrate a probe and to measure its bandwidth. Knowing which one your equipment uses is critical to your interpretation of your measurement results. To measure a probe's response, generate a very well-characterized signal, perhaps from a vector network analyzer (VNA). We'll call this signal Vref. Then use your probe to acquire this signal; we'll call the acquired signal Vmeas. The transfer function Vmeas/Vref yields the response of the probe. Now, the key question at this point is: When we measured Vref, was the probe connected to the circuit or not (Figure 1)? If the probe was connected to the circuit when Vref was

TECH ARTICLE

measured, this is known as an input-referred measurement. Vref was measured with the probe loading in place (let's call this measured value Vprobe). As a result, the transfer function Vmeas/Vprobe relates the voltage present at the scope input to the voltage present at the probe tip. If we apply the resulting correction to the probe, then all signals we acquire with it will be displayed on the oscilloscope along with the probe loading. If the probe was not connected to the circuit when Vref was measured, we've taken a source-referred measurement. Vref was measured on the original signal without any probe loading in place (call this measured value Vsource). Thus, the transfer function Vmeas/Vsource relates the voltage present at the scope input to the voltage present before the probe was attached. By the way, this corresponds to the insertion loss of the probe.

If we apply the resulting correction to our probe, than all the signals displayed on the oscilloscope will be the original signal without any probe loading. When making source-referred corrections, one must make an assumption about the source impedance of the device under test. If you use this method to calibrate your probe, the source impedance will be the impedance of the fixture used to connect the probe to the VNA. Almost invariably, this impedance will be 50立 single-ended or 100立 differential. This is a reasonable assumption for most real-world, high-bandwidth probing scenarios. In practice, the difference between these two correction methods as far as the end user is concerned will be minimal if the probe impedance is much greater than the DUT's source impedance.

Figure 1: The various measurement points for probe calibration

Modern Test & Measure

FINDING

CONTROL SYSTEM FAULTS By: Alan J Lowne, CEO Saelig Company Inc.

TECH ARTICLE

odern electrical systems, such as heating and ventilation controls, boiler controls, manufacturing and process control equipment, and railway signaling systems, usually have multiple inputs and outputs, and many internal connections with PLCs, contactors, switches, trips, and controls. Finding the cause of malfunctions with a conventional multi-meter is a tedious, time-consuming task, and possibly impossible, especially if the fault is intermittent. What these situations need is a device that can be left on- site to investigate such problems, logging and recording the electrical switch activity for as long as necessary. It should contain an internal battery for many days of use, and the recorded data should be viewable on a Windows PC with a search feature that enables the user to specify a particular combination of inputs to quickly locating fault incidents.

Modern Test & Measure

What would you do if you were confronted with the following problems? Scenario 1: The heating system failed to start at 4.00am this morning â&#x20AC;&#x201C; again! When tested, everything seems to work fine, but the office staff are becoming really annoyed at having to work wearing coats and gloves to keep warm for the first three hours each morning. The problem is that it only goes wrong during the night, and then only once or twice a week. Scenario 2: Unmanned railroad crossings use automatic barriers to protect the track when a train approaches. The control systems are designed for maximum reliability and fail safe operation for obvious reasons. As with all control systems, they are dependent on the correct operation of sensors and other external control signals. One particular crossing failed to open after a train had passed on several occasions, causing considerable delay and frustration to the road traffic. The fault was intermittent and by the time an electrician had arrived on site, the crossing was working correctly. The control unit was replaced on two occasions, but the problem persisted. Scenario 3: An automatic valve assembly machine has four stations, multiple heads and several sensors. Occasionally, about twice a month, it gets out-of-step and starts to misplace vent seals. The many control

and sensor signals are all switching away at such a rate that is impossible to clearly see what is happening, especially as timing and sequencing is all important. Stepping the machine in slow sequence did not show any problem. Using a conventional data logger was not an option because the signals varied from 12v dc to 240v ac and included 24v ac and dc, plus 110v ac.

TECH ARTICLE

Scenario 4: The captain of a rig support vessel reported that he had experienced momentary rogue operation of a rear thruster unit. These are used when maneuvering in dock or in close proximity to a gas rig. Inadvertent operation could have very serious and potentially disastrous consequences. Initial thoughts were that the problem must lie with the thruster control rack, down at the rear of the engine room. Scenario 5: Staff at a high security establishment wanted to run a monitoring program to record the number of times doors were opened/shut over an extended time period. Statistical information related to door opening sequences was also required. The doors, of which there were 27, were controlled and monitored from a central office. Fortunately there is a device that can solve all of these problems. Made in Europe, FTR- Birdie is a compact, rugged, yellow polycarbonate shock-resistant case (9.85” x 6.5” x 2.4”) weighing only 2lb, whose inputs are double-insulated with interlocked access for additional safety. It can be connected to a maximum of 16 key points on a problematic electrical system. The solid-state, isolated input channels are fused for maximum reliability and safety, and the input on/off status of each line is displayed by bright LED indicators and on an LCD display. A wide input

range of voltages can be monitored, from 12V to 240Vac/dc, without any need to program, select, or configure the inputs. FTR-Birdie captures the time and date of up to 32768 line events (auto stop or overwrite) on 16 lines, which can later be replayed step-bystep for evaluation. The display shows the line states and the previous 40 changes that have occurred, so it is easy to see what preceded fault conditions and understand exactly what happened within the control system.

FTR-Birdie records exactly what happened, when and in what order, so that faults can be traced quickly. It can produce savings in operator investigation time and avoid unnecessary ‘swap-outs’. Its recording mode permits unattended operation and is ideal for detecting intermittent electrical faults.

Modern Test & Measure

Signals can even be monitored at a distance from the point of measurement, which makes observing difficult areas possible. FTR-Birdie displays the on/off status of each input on bright LED indicators, and records precise time and date of each and every change on the inputs. It is designed for the rough real world and can be padlocked on-site for extended periods to monitor a suspect activity or intermittent faults. With its internal battery FTR-Birdie needs no external power, but can be connected to a PC for playback of the record in convenient display format for more detailed examination of the results.

that morning showed that the signal from the auxiliary contacts on the pump contactor was missing. This prevented the main burner circuit starting, hence no heat. Obviously, the auxiliary contacts had become intermittent and the contactor needed to be replaced … problem solved. This single incident would certainly have more than paid for the cost of the FTR. Scenario 2 Solution: An FTR was installed to monitor the various inputs and outputs and after 11 days, the problem occurred again. Studying the records showed that all the control systems were working properly, and the problem must be associated with the lifting motor.

FTR-Birdie records exactly what happened, when and in what order, so that faults can be traced quickly and easily. It can make huge savings in time and avoid unnecessary ‘swapouts’. Its recording mode permits unattended operation and is ideal for intermittent faults. Signals can be monitored from outside control cubicles, with no need to work with the cubicle doors open. Scenario 1 Solution: FTR-Birdie was connected to all the control signals, contactor signals, motor and pump power feeds to the FTR, switched on and left in logging mode. 3 days later, the fault happened again. The FTR was retrieved and the results replayed. All three days’ operation was available to look at. The events that were logged around 4.00

This was exchanged and the problem was cured. Subsequent investigation showed that an intermittent poor connection was present on one of the field windings. The vibration of a second passing train would be enough to restore the connection, clearing the fault before it could be investigated.

TECH ARTICLE

Scenario 3 Solution: The FTR-Birdie, which accepts a wide range of input voltages, was connected to the machine, which ran at normal speed until the fault occurred. Logging these signals enabled the exact sequence of events that led up to the problem to be studied in detail. In particular, the order in which signals changed was analyzed, one step at a time. This showed that a momentary pulse from a proximity sensor was initiating an operation before its proper time. This occurred only when the machine was running at its normal speed due to centrifugal forces acting on a cantilevered mounting plate. Checking the operation of the sensor showed that its threshold adjustment had slipped. This gave an occasional false pulse only when the machine was running at full speed. A small trimpot adjustment and all was well. Each time the fault occurred, typically some thirty units would have to be manually reworked, at a cost of about $20 each. The FTR-Birdie repaid itself by saving just two occurrences of this problem! Scenario 4 Solution: An FTR-birdie was connected so that the control signals to the thruster control rack and the power feeds to the thruster were monitored. After three weeks another glitch was reported. The FTRBirdie recording showed that the problem was not with the thrusters or the local control rack, but in the signals coming down from the bridge. Subsequent investigation showed that interference from one of the radio transmitters

on the bridge and poor ground bonding had caused the false signals to be generated. Scenario 5 Solution: Two FTR-Birdies were used to cover the whole requirement. Every week, the data was downloaded to a PC and, using the FTR software, converted to a text file for export to a standard Excel spreadsheet. It was then a simple matter to build the required analysis functions in the spreadsheet to provide the desired information.

Conclusion FTR-Birdie is a versatile tool for finding control systems faults quickly. It is a simple to use, self-contained electrical test and faultfinding logger which records and displays all on/off voltage changes at its 16 inputs. It is useful for solving expensive productionline-down situations in complex control systems, just like a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Black Boxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; accident recorder. Application opportunities for the UK- patented FTR-Birdie include: buildings (HVAC systems, emergency power systems, elevators/escalators, alarms, lighting, security systems), transport (trucks, railcars, signaling, shipping, traffic control systems), industry (production machinery, process control, power systems, boiler rooms), automotive (service depots, R&D), and general science situations (experiments, R&D, datalogging, event logging, activity monitoring).

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TECH ARTICLE

Modern Test & Measure

Good Measurement Practices Essential to Characterizing Charge Accurately

PART

Charge Measurement Techniques 14

TECH ARTICLE

Part 3:

Common Charge Measurement Applications By Jonathan L. Tucker Keithley Instruments, Inc.

Modern Test & Measure PART

The coulombs function of an electrometer can be used with a step voltage source to measure capacitance.

Charge measurements include applications such as measuring capacitance and static charge on objects. Charge measurement techniques can also be used to measure very low currents (<10fA). The coulombs function of an electrometer can be used with a step voltage source to measure capacitance. This technique is especially useful for testing cables and connectors because it can measure capacitances ranging from <10pF to hundreds of nanofarads. The unknown capacitance is connected in series with the electrometer input and the step voltage source. The calculation of the capacitance is based on this equation:

Q V

Figure 1 illustrates the basic configuration for measuring capacitance with an electrometer with a built-in voltage source, such as Keithley’s Model 6517B Electrometer/High Resistance System (Figure 2). The instrument is used in the charge (or coulombs) mode and its internal voltage source provides the step voltage. Just before the voltage source is turned on, the meter’s zero check should be disabled and the charge reading suppressed by using the REL function to zero the display. Then, the voltage source is turned on and the charge reading noted immediately. The capacitance is calculated from:

where: Q2 = final charge Q1 = initial charge assumed to be zero V2 = step voltage V1 = initial voltage assumed to be zero

Figure 1. Capacitance measurement using a Keithley Model 6517B Electrometer/High Resistance System.

Good Measurement Practices Essential to Characterizing Charge Accurately

PART

Charge Measurement Techniques

By Jonathan L. Tucker Keithley Instruments, Inc.

Unlike a voltage measurement, a charge measurement is a destructive process. In other words, making the measurement may remove the charge stored in the device under test. When measuring the charge on a device such as a capacitor, first disable the zero check of the electrometer, and then connect the capacitor to the high impedance input terminal. Zero check is a process where the input amplifier of the electrometer is reconfigured to shunt the input signal to low. Otherwise, some of the charge will be lost through the zero check impedance and won’t be measured by the electrometer. That’s because when zero check is enabled, the input resistance of the electrometer is about 10 mega-ohms. Opening the zero check switch produces a sudden change in charge reading known as “zero hop.” To eliminate the effects of zero hop, take a reading just after the zero check is disabled, then subtract this value from all subsequent readings. An easy way to do this is to enable the REL function after zero check is disabled, which nulls out the charge reading caused by the hop.

Q 2 – Q1 V1 – V1

To read the second installment of the series, click the image to the left.

TECH ARTICLE

Figure 2. Model 6517B Electrometer/High Resistance System. After the reading has been recorded, reset the voltage source to 0V to dissipate the charge from the device. Before handling the device, verify the capacitance has been discharged to a safe level. The unknown capacitance should be in a shielded test fixture. The shield is connected to the LO input terminal of the electrometer. The HI input terminal should be connected to the highest impedance terminal of the unknown capacitance. For example, when measuring the capacitance of a length of coaxial cable, connect the HI terminal of the electrometer to the center conductor of the cable, allowing the cable shield to minimize electrostatic interference to the measurement. If the rate of charge is too great, the resulting measurement will be in error because the input stage becomes temporarily saturated. To limit the rate of charge transfer at the input of the electrometer, add a resistor in series between the voltage source and the capacitance. This is especially true for capacitance values >1nF. A typical series resistor would be 10k立 to 1M立.

This technique is especially useful for testing cables and connectors because it can measure capacitances ranging from <10pF to hundreds of nanofarads.

Modern Test & Measure

Figure 3. A Faraday Cup The Faraday cup (Figure 3) method can be used to measure the static charge on a wide range of substances and objects, such as plastics, films, liquids, gases, and electronic components. A Faraday cup (also called a Faraday cage or icepail) is usually made of sheet metal or conductive mesh. The electric field within a closed, empty conductor is zero, so the cup shields the object placed inside it from any atmospheric or stray electric fields. This enables the accurate measurement of the charge. A Faraday cup consists of two electrodes, one inside the other, separated by an insulator. The inside electrode is connected to the electrometer HI and the outside electrode is connected to the electrometer LO. When a charged object is placed within the inside electrode, an induced charge will flow into the electrometer.

The Faraday cup (Figure 3) method can be used to measure the static charge on a wide range of substances and objects, such as plastics, films, liquids, gases, and electronic components. A Faraday cup can have virtually any dimensions, depending on the size and shape of the object to be tested. Cylindrical and spherical shapes are typically the most convenient choicesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;simple containers such as coffee or paint cans are often used. The electrodes can be made of any conductive material. The support insulators should be made of materials with very high resistance, such as TeflonÂŽ or ceramic. For convenience in making connections, mount a BNC connector on the outside electrode. Connect the outer or shield connection of the BNC connector to the outside electrode, then connect the inner conductor of the BNC connector to the inside electrode. Use an adapter to connect the BNC connector to the triax input of the electrometer.

TECH ARTICLE

To measure the static charge on an object, connect an electrometer to the Faraday cup using a shielded cable. Turn on the electrometer, select the coulombs function, then disable “Zero Check” and press “Rel” to zero the display. Drop the charged object to be tested into the Faraday cup. Note the charge reading on the electrometer immediately; don’t wait for the reading to settle because the input offset current of the electrometer will continue charging the input of the meter. This is particularly important when the unknown charge is at the pico-coulomb level. If the object is conductive, it will be discharged as soon as it touches the electrode. Enable “Zero Check” to re-zero the meter in preparation for the next measurement.

CONCLUSION Ensuring the accuracy of charge measurements requires careful attention to creating appropriate system configurations and following good measurement practices consistently. With the right instrumentation and a good understanding of the principles involved, you can obtain high integrity measurements consistently. Do you have any question about the material in this blog? Please contact me at jtucker@keithley.com.

With the right instrumentation and a good understanding of the principles involved, you can obtain high integrity measurements consistently.

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Figure 2:

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Figure 3:

A DDS generator (upper trace) was unable to output all seven aberrations in this 2 MHz arbitrary waveform.

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Price from (US): $2,627

N5700 and N8700 Series system DC power supplies

N6705B DC power analyzer

• Get deep insight into DUT power consumption— without assembling a complex test system • Integrate up to four DC programmable power modules with DMM, scope, arb, and data logger features; up to 600 W total power • New source/measure units and applicationspecific modules for battery-drain analysis, functional test and more • USB, GPIB and LAN (LXI) connectivity • BenchVue software compatible

Price from (US): $7,471 6600 Series high-performance DC supplies

• Fast, low-noise outputs improve measurement accuracy and test throughout • 40 to 6600 W, single output, up to 120 V, and up to 875 A • Programmability and built-in V & I measurements simplify test setups • GPIB connectivity

Price from (US): $2,488 N3300 DC electronic load mainframe

• Stable and accurate: these loads are easy to integrate into your test system • Automated command list execution reduces workload on system controller • 1800 W mainframe accepts up to six 150 to 600 W modules for simultaneous testing • Maximum inputs up to 240 V and 120 A • GPIB connectivity

Price from (US): $1,833

For applications that require precise, accurate measurements and efficient analysis of AC power 6810B Series AC power sources/ power analyzers

• One-box solutions provide generation, measurement, and AC power analysis by combining the capabilities of a multimeter, oscilloscope, harmonic analyzer, arbitrary waveform generator, and power analyzer • Available in 375, 750, and 1750 VA models, with 300 Vrms, 3.25 to 13 Arms, and 40 to 80 A peak

Price from (US): $7,610

DC POWER SUPPliES

• 5 kW and 10 kW basic, single-output, autoranging programmable DC power for ATE applications • Just the right amount of performance at just the right price • 18 models that offer up to 1000 V or 340 A • Easily parallel units to create “one” power supply with 100 kW of power • USB, GPIB, LAN (LXI) connectivity and analog programming

Price from (US): $7,722 • Basic, high-power, single-output power supplies • 45 affordable models in compact 1 U (750 and 1500 W) and 2 U (3.3 and 5 kW) packages • Up to 600 V or up to 400 A • Programmability and built-in V & I measurements simplify test set ups • USB, GPIB and LAN (LXI) connectivity

Price from (US): $2,611 E3600 Series DC power supplies

• • • • •

Output noise as low as 1mVp-p/0.2mVrms Tight 0.01% load and line regulation Fast load transient response time (<50 μs) 30 to 200 W outputs BenchVue software compatible

Price from (US): $657 6030 Series basic autoranging DC supplies

• Autoranging to do the job of multiple power supplies • 240 or 1200 W output, up to 500 V and up to 120 A • Programmability and built-in V & I measurements simplify test setups • GPIB connectivity

Price from (US): $5,338 Agilent offers more than

300 power products to meet your specific needs. The free Agilent Power Product Catalog helps you choose your instrument by the number of outputs, output power characteristics, packaging, special features and application specific solutions.

www.agilent.com/find/highpower

SPECTRUM ANAlYZERS RF SigNAl gENERATORS

DATA ACQUiSiTiON/SWiTCh UNiTS

Achieve more on a tight budget: Solid performance with robust measurement features

Modular flexibility and universal channels for a wide range of measurements with no external signal conditioning 34970A/72A data acquisition switch units

N9330B handheld cable and antenna tester

• Low-cost, 3-slot unit with 61/2 digit DMM and built-in signal conditioning • Choose from 8 plug-in modules, up to 120 1-wire (60 2-wire) channels or 96 cross points • BenchLink Data Logger software included, optional 34830A BenchLink Data Logger Pro • GPIB & RS-232 connectivity (34970A) USB & LAN (LXI) connectivity (34972A)— built-in web interface for easy control

N9340B handheld spectrum analyzer (hSA)

34970A/72A plug-in modules Key specifications

34901A/02A/08A multiplexers

Up to 300 V, 16, 20, or 40 channels

34903A gP switch

300 V, 20 actuator channels

34904A matrix

4x8 matrix

34905A/06A RF switches

2 GHz dual, 50 and 75 Ω

34907A multi-function

DIO, DAC, totalizer

34980A multi-function switch/ measurement unit

• High performance, 8-slot mainframe with 61/2 digit DMM and built-in signal conditioning • Choose from 21 plug-in modules, up to 1024 1-wire (560 2-wire) channels or 4096 cross pts. • Optional 34832A BenchLink Data Logger Pro • GPIB, USB,LAN (LXI) connectivity— built-in web interface for easy control

Price from (US): $2,803

Key specifications Up to 300 V, 40, 70, or 80 channels

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Up to 64 channels, 5 A, 300 V

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Up to 512 crosspoints per module

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Up to 26.5 GHz bandwidth

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DIO, DAC, totalizer, frequency period, counter

hiNT S

• • • • • •

Frequency range: 9 kHz to 3 GHz DANL: -148 dBm with pre-amp on RBW: 10 Hz to 1 MHz LAN, GPIB, and USB connectivity 3 GHz tracking generator PowerSuite: channel power, occupied bandwidth, and more • AM/FM and ASK/FSK demodulation analysis • Free remote control PC software • BenchVue software compatible

Price from (US): $8,452 N9322C basic spectrum analyzer (BSA)

34980A plug-in modules 34921A–34925A multiplexer switch modules

• Frequency range: 9 kHz to 3 GHz • One-button features: channel power, ACPR, OBW, field strength, spectrum emission mask • 3 GHz tracking generator: insertion loss, amplifier gain, filter passband • AM/FM IBOC and xDSL measurement

Price from (US): $8,599 N9320B basic spectrum analyzer (BSA)

Model

Frequency range: 25 MHz to 4 GHz 3.0 ms/data point sweep time VSWR/return loss/cable loss; distance-to-fault 4-hour battery life

Price from (US): $5,248

Price from (US): $1,745/$2,015 Model

• • • •

• • • • • • •

Frequency range: 9 kHz to 7 GHz DANL: -152 dBm typical, with preamp on RBW: 10 Hz to 3 MHz 7 GHz tracking generator, built-in VSWR bridge AM/FM, ASK/FSK demodulation Free remote control PC software BenchVue software compatible

5-in-1 RF analyzer • Spectrum analyzer • Stimulus and response tester • Spur and interference analyzer • ASK/FSK modulation analyzer • Peak and average power meter

Price from (US): $11,699

Professional performance and compact size for general purpose testing needs

Configure a low-cost, high-performance RF solution for wireless transceiver measurements by pairing a N9320B/N9322C spectrum analyzer with the N9310A RF signal generator using a 33500B/33600A Series waveform generator as its modulation input. You can measure any wireless connectivity device with ASK, FSK, or GFSK modulation across a range of industrial, automotive, and consumer electronics.

N9310A RF signal generator

• 9 kHz to 3 GHz CW output, 20 Hz to 80 kHz low frequency (LF) output • -127 to +13 dBm output level range (max +20 dBm settable) • - 95 dBc/Hz SSB phase noise • Extensive analog modulation: AM, FM, phase, and pulse modulation • Optional IQ modulator, 40 MHz bandwidth • Up to ± 0.1 ppm aging rate

Price from (US): $7,808 Agilent distribution partners: fast, local response with a direct line to Agilent’s test and measurement experts

DigiTAl MUlTiMETERS

Benchtop DMMs

Exceptional performance and ease of use BenchVue software compatible

Features DCV, DCi Digits of True RMS 2– and 4– freq/ diode/ resolution ACV/ACi wire Ω period cont

Model

Description

U3401A

Dual display. Elegantly simple and affordable DMMs with basic capabilities

U3402A

41/2 51/2

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34450A

Faster measurement speed, ultra-bright OLED with dual display, and basic statistical tools

51/2

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34460A

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Industry standard for accuracy, speed, measurement ease and versatility

61/2

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Dual display. Highest throughput of benchtop DMMs, best choice for system use

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34420A

Nano volt/µΩ meter. Very accurate, low-level measurements

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The fastest, most flexible and most accurate multimeter, ideal multimeter for demanding applications

81/2

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temp.

Built-in PC interfaces

●

Display DMM results in ways you never have before and measure with unquestioned Truevolt confidence

34461A

cap.

Max reading rate at 4½ digits (rdgs/s)

None

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USB, GPIB

190

USB, Serial interface (RS-232), optional GPIB

300

●

1,000

USB, optional GPIB and LAN USB, LAN optional GPIB

1,000 ●

●

$497 $662 $1,258

$813 $945 $1,095

GPIB

$1,159

USB, GPIB, LAN

$1,404 $2,235

250

GPIB

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100,000

GPIB

$9,568

10,000 50,000

● ●

Price from (US)

handheld DMMs

Rich features and robust design for real-world conditions

▪ High-contrast OLED display with 160° viewing angle (U1273AX, U1273A and U1253B) The U1177A infrared (iR)-to-Bluetooth® Adapter: Enables Bluetooth connection to ALL Agilent U1200 Series handheld meters. Use with the complimentary Mobile Meter and Mobile Logger, on your Android device to monitor and log data remotely and wirelessly (up to 3 handheld meters).

Counts AC bandwidth Voltage AC/DC Current AC/DC Battery life Additional features

U1230 Series 6,000 1 kHz 600 mV to 600 V 60 μA to 10 A 500 hours Built-in flashlight, continuity alert with flashing backlight, ZLow non-contact voltage detector with Vsense*

U1240 Series 10,000 2 kHz 1 to 1,000 V 1 μA to 10 A 300 hours Switch counter, harmonic ratio, dual and differential temperature measurements*

Connectivity Price from (US)

U1250 Series 50,000 30 to 100 kHz 50 mV to 1,000 V 500 μA to 10 A 72 hours* 20 MHz frequency counter, programmable square wave generator*

U1270 Series 30,000 100 kHz 30 mV to 1,000 V* 300 μA to 10 A 300 hours Low pass filter, AC and/or DC voltage check, low impendance mode offset compensation* Operational down to -40 °C*

U1210 Clamp Meter Series 4,000 2 kHz 4 to 1,000 V 40 to 1,000 A 60 hours Large 2” jaw size, back light with dual display, ACI, ACV/ DCV, diode test, R, C, frequency 400 Ω to 40 MΩ resistance 4 to 4,000 μF capacitance*

IR-USB and Infrared (IR)-to-Bluetooth $101

*Specification available on select models only.

Agilent U1177A: an electronics industry multiple award winner for 2013.

$206

$390

$347

$255

OSCillOSCOPES PROBES

OSCillOSCOPES

Breakthrough scope technology lets you see more, do more and get more for your money

Maximum versatility to troubleshoot today’s challenges and anticipate tomorrow’s needs U1600 Series handheld scopes

• 5.7-inch VGA TFT LCD display with indoor, outdoor, and night-vision viewing modes • 3-in-1 instrument: oscilloscope, DMM, and data logger • Fully isolated channels (U1610A, U1620A) • Up to 2 GSa/s sample rate and up to 2 Mpts deep memory to zoom in on critical details • Benchtop-like dual window zoom for more detailed waveform analysis

Oscilloscopes

• Up to 1,000,000 waveforms/sec update rate • MegaZoom IV responsive, uncompromised smart memory • Integrated—5 instruments available in one • Fully upgradable—bandwidth, MSO, memory, serial analysis, built-in WaveGen function generator, or digital voltmeter • BenchVue software compatible

Price from (US): $1,388

Big scope performance with a small scope price 1000 Series oscilloscopes

2000 X-Series

• 50 to 200 MHz, 2 and 4 channel DSO models with up to 20 kpts memory • 5.7-inch color display offers powerful signal capture and display • Up to 2 GSa/s sample rate • 23 automatic measurements, sequential acquisition, mask testing and digital filters provide advanced measurement capabilities • Accelerate your productivity with an 11-language user interface, USB connectivity, and a standard educator’s kit

• 70 to 200 MHz bandwidth, up to 1 Mpts memory, DSO and MSO models • 8.5-inch WVGA display offers 2x the viewing area and 5x the resolution of competitive scopes • Standard 5 year warranty

Price from (US): $1,258 3000 X-Series

• 100 MHz to 1 GHz bandwidth, up to 4 Mpts memory, DSO and MSO models • 8.5-inch WVGA display is 50% larger and 3x the resolution of competitive scopes • Segmented memory optional • Standard 3 year warranty

Price from (US): $520

Price from (US): $3,222

See the big picture without losing sight of the details N2820A & N2821A high sensitivity current probes

4000 X-Series

• • • •

Measure currents as low as 50 μA Measure currents as high as 5 A Measure AC and DC Also use as a voltage probe with as low as 3µV sensitivity • Bandwidth; 3 MHz Zoom-Out Channel, 500 kHz Zoom-In Channel • Compatible with InfiniiVision 3000X and InfiniiVision 4000X

Experience speed, usability and integration

Price from (US): $2,100/$3,200

hiNT S

Price from (US): $5,611

Gain greater insight with powerful applications

For the complete list of available probes: www.agilent.com/find/probes

• 200 MHz to 1.5 GHz bandwidth, 4 Mpts smart memory, DSO and MSO models • 12.1-inch capacitive touch display is 40% larger than competitive scopes • InfiniiScan Zone touch triggering— if you can see it, you can trigger on it • Segmented memory standard • Standard 3 year warranty

See the complete list at www.agilent.com/find/scope-apps Description 20 MHz WaveGen

The N2820A 2-channel high sensitivity current probe comes with two parallel differential amplifiers inside the probe with different gain settings. The low gain side allows you to see the entire waveform, the “zoom out” view of the waveform, and the high gain amplifier provides a “zoom in” view to observe extremely small current fluctuations, such as a mobile phone’s idle state.

3-digit voltmeter

2000 X-Series

3000 X-Series

4000 X-Series

2-ch DSOX2WAVEGEN DSOX3WAVEGEN DSOX4WAVEGEN2 AWG DSOXDVM DSOXDVM DSOXDVM

DSO to MSO upgrade

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RS232/UART trigger/decode

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DSOX3COMP

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DSOX4AUTO DSOX4COMP DSOX4USBFL

USB high trigger/decode

DSOX4USBH

USB signal quality test

DSOX4USBSQ

* 1 GHz models require DSOXPERFMSO

Get Get aa FREE FREE 30-Day 30-Day Trial Trial License. License. www.agilent.com/find/30daytrial www.agilent.com/find/30daytrial

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Modern Test & Measure

“We are producing the highest quality, most accurate, precision measurements that people can get, because that’s the expectation.”

COVER INTERVIEW

RAISING THE BAR:

Teledyne LeCroy’s Powerful Test Equipment Meets the Industry’s

EVER-CHANGING DEMANDS Interview with David Graef - CTO of Teledyne LeCroy

eledyne LeCroy is a leading provider of high-end test and measure equipment. The company’s oscilloscope and protocol analyzer product areas help tackle the toughest test applications out there, offering tailored solutions to meet the user’s needs. The use of serial data communications technologies in the industry has made the company refocus their efforts to explore this burgeoning field, yielding a new line of serial data analysis tools. We spoke with David Graef, CTO of Teledyne LeCroy, about the benefits of merging Teledyne and LeCroy, the current SI challenges in the industry, and their new line of extremely powerful scopes.

Modern Test & Measure

Almost two years ago, Teledyne bought LeCroy. At the time, there were a number of benefits that were touted as to the synergies of both of these companies. Can you speak to that—how has the transition gone and what benefits have you seen arise as a result? Teledyne has a very strong scientific group that does a lot of basic research. One of the main benefits of the merger is the indium phosphide process that Teledyne has. We have actually designed a high frequency probe amplifier to start to understand how this process works. We’ve been designing with IBM’s silicon germanium process for many years, so we took a relatively simple-designed probe amplifier and designed it into the indium phosphide process at Teledyne. We introduced a probe at DesignCon at the end of January that will be

“Over the years, people have moved away from just using the scope to view the voltage vs. time waveforms and more towards wanting to take actual, very detailed measurements with the scopes.”

released by the end of the year. That’s one of the synergies that they talked about and one that we’ve taken advantage of. We are always pushing towards higher frequencies, and we’ve certainly done some work on how we use the indium phosphide to push the frequencies of real-time scopes. Our product line goes from very low frequencies like 40 MHz to now 100 GHz. These very high frequency scopes are based on a technology we call Digital Bandwidth Interleave, which uses a combination of time domain and frequency domain techniques. Fundamentally, it splits the input signals, translates one band

COVER INTERVIEW

down into the bandwidth of the basic channel, and then reconstructs it with DSP. Anything above 36 GHz uses our DBI technology. The goal would be to have 4 channels at a larger bandwidth like 65GHz or more and that’s where the indium phosphide will help us. Who do you see as the potential customer for that 100 GHz scope? Very basically, there are two classes of customers who will use this. There are people doing optical research who need the real-time digitization of the optical field for complex optical modulation schemes to test their

reconstruction algorithms. The other vector is people doing basic research in any number of different fields where there are very fast pulses involved. A 3-½ picosecond wide pulse will be able to be resolved pretty easily. A sampling scope won’t be able to do that because it would have to be repetitive. These are single-shot events that are very fast and have very narrow pulse widths that people want to look at for various reasons. Serial data standards are getting faster and faster. Arguably, you can’t send that kind of information any distance without some degradation. People still want to see the

Modern Test & Measure

third or fifth harmonic of whatever they are transmitting—there are some purists out there who would want to see those kinds of results.

“The virtual probing capability allows you to define anywhere along the line where you’d like to be probing.”

Could you talk about your HDO scopes and why there was a push for the additional 4 bits of precision? Let me go back a little bit to give you some background. Walter LeCroy started the company back in 1964 making instruments for high-energy physics. Through the years, LeCroy was very good at designing highspeed electronics using discrete transistors, but we were also very good at taking lots of data and reducing the data down into some interesting information that a physicist running an experiment would be interested in seeing. For many years we were doing these kinds of translations in data. When Walter decided to introduce our first scope in 1985, we had, for the time, very long memory. If you look at our competitors who were making analog scopes, you’ll see that these scopes served primarily as a viewing tool. However, we approached it differently; we approached our scope as an analysis tool. As a result, we had longer memory, we had FFTs on scopes, and we had all sorts of capabilities that nowadays are very common in scopes. Over the years, people have moved away from just using the scope to view the voltage vs. time waveforms and more towards wanting to take actual, very detailed measurements with the scopes.

The customer has very high expectations for the accuracy and precision of the oscilloscope measurements that they make. This includes the very high frequency accuracy where no oscilloscope has specifications that people expect. By pushing the resolution to 12-bits, enhancing the accuracy and redesigning the signal conditioning chain to maintain that accuracy, we are trying to meet the very high expectations that our customers have. We are producing the highest quality, most accurate, precision measurements that people can get, because that’s the expectation. And we will continue to improve in those areas. What are some of the current SI challenges in the industry today? I think the biggest challenges are all the bad things that happen when you crank up the speed. Speeds are going up—everyone wants more and more data in all kinds of places almost instantaneously. All the things that happen and all the different effects

COVER INTERVIEW

and how they can degrade the transmission of data from one place to another are all big challenges. Power supplies and power distribution networks become more and more important because there is a lot more focus on battery life and switching power modes in handheld devices. There can be very many power modes in handheld devices all to extend battery life. When you switch power modes and you have phase lock loops and delay lock loops doing their thing, you need to make sure that when you do that, things don’t come unlocked and that the circuitry still works properly. We have a lot of tools in the scopes to be able to address these things. With our whole serial data analysis suite of tools, we can look at channels and look at crosstalk and cross-correlate between channels and know if there is something happening in one channel we can look in another channel to see if there is crosstalk. We can also deembed fixtures or transmission channels. For example, if you are looking at a chip, and you want to see how it is going to operate over a backplane, you can just make measurements and stick in the S-parameters and see what will happen. The virtual probing capability allows you to define anywhere along the line where you’d like to be probing. The HDOs for power supply design are pretty useful as well. People are looking at efficiencies on power supplies and noticing that they have gone up considerably. What might seem like a

relatively small perturbation in the rise time of the signal can actually be another 2 or 3% in the efficiency of a power supply. With the higher resolution, you can really see the details of the signal that you are looking at that you wouldn’t be able to see by averaging because some of them are not repetitive. How do you make the instrument have high performance while still maintaining the ease of use? It’s definitely a big challenge for us. There are really two vectors that we constantly target. One of them is signal integrity through the acquisition chain. That has to be as clean and pristine as possible—best signal to noise ratio, higher resolution, linearity, and accuracy. The other is by continually adding features to address new things that come up. For example, the optical field is using four-level signaling instead of simple, two-level binary. Complex modulations require some fancy acquisition and demodulation capability, which is something we are good at, but it’s a constant challenge to expose all that stuff without overwhelming the user. I think we’ve reached a level that we can present these complex tasks in an easy-to-use interface. But, of course, we continue to work on the UI, user experience and signal acquisition fidelity to provide the best, most accurate and most comprehensive measurement tools on the market so our customers can continue to rapidly innovate and bring their very cool products to the world.

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Modern Test & Measure

Low Cost

DDR3 Decode & Analysis

TECH ARTICLE

As embedded systems take on more sophisticated applications, they also require advanced external memory systems, such as DDR3, in order to offer adequate throughput. At times it can be very helpful to see memory activity and perform some level of memory analysis in order to properly validate and debug a prototype system. New options now allow this, and at very inexpensive price points compared to the recent past. New general-purpose, low cost logic analyzers offer the performance required for such measurements as well as related analysis tools to provide this kind of insight. By Brad Frieden,

Modern Test & Measure

o support the goal of reducing the cost of these measurements, the DDR3 decoder in the solution has been modified to work from address and command signals only, thus reducing total channel count necessary for meaningful measurements. For example, the new Agilent 16850 Series entry level 34-channel system can perform DDR3 1333 address and command state (synchronous) measurements and analysis for around $36K; in the past, a logic analyzer solution that could offer such measurements and analysis required a budget of around $100K.

Probing requirements for DDR3 measurements In order to make real-time measurements on the interface between the DDR3 memory controller and memory devices, it is necessary to probe signals in a way that does not cause significant distortion but instead provides an accurate picture of those signals. A good probing option for designs with embedded memories is the use of BGA probes as shown in Figure 1. Address, command and data signals are intercepted and brought by coaxial ribbon cable to the logic analyzer.

Figure 1. x8 DDR3 BGA probe connection

DDR3 BGA interposers contain a buried tip resistor to isolate the DRAM system from the logic analyzer probing. Such a probing scheme is workable up to DDR3 rates of 2500 Mbit per second. This setup provides plenty of margin for the DDR3 1333 measurements made by low cost logic analyzers. Other probing options include the use of either a DIMM interposer or a midbus probe. Mid-bus probing involves placing connection pads or a connector somewhere along the PC board memory traces between the IC containing the memory controller and the memory ICs. A probe then touches those pads or plugs into the connector to get access to the DDR3 signals. A BGA probe offers the advantage that no special PC board modifications are required other than ensuring that there is enough keep out volume (kov) for the probe to fit. In addition, logic analyzers come with setup files when using such probes.

TECH ARTICLE

Figure 2. Memory decoder trace of DDR3 address and command lines

DDR3 bus decode One analysis tool that helps a designer to better understand how their external DDR3 memory is actually behaving is a memory decoder. This software takes raw acquired address and command state signals and converts them into a much more easily understood format, as shown in Figure 2. Memory commands like “Writes” and “Reads” are displayed along with related Chip Select, Bank Address, Row Address, and Column Address

information. Other commands like “Activates” and “Deselects” are shown. This state-mode trace capture is stored in deep memory so it reflects a significant amount of target activity time. Low cost logic analyzers have a maximum input clock frequency of 700 MHz, which allows the state capture of 667 MHz address and command signals on DDR3 1333 memories.

“One analysis tool that helps a designer to better understand how their external DDR3 memory is actually behaving is a memory decoder.”

Modern Test & Measure Performance analysis Although helpful, the typical deepmemory raw capture and related memory decoder output provide more information than can be easily evaluated manually by the logic analyzer user. But DDR performance tools provide useful analysis by taking all the captured and decoded information and processing it into a variety of performance-oriented views. Four examples of summary views include the Overview, Refresh Statistics, Address Histogram and Effective Data Rate as seen in Figure 3.

Expected memory cycle distributions can be verified with the “cycle distribution view” of the performance analysis tool during particular modes of target operation. It is easy to see if the target system is spending too much time in memory “Deselects”, for example. A prototype might be working functionally but lack overall system throughput. A view of the Read and Write data rate can reveal a problem in the memory controller design. The overall efficiency factor can also indicate an issue. Here, a 51% efficiency rate, although not necessarily

Figure 3. DDR Performance Tool views of memory cycle distribution, Read/Write throughput, address access distribution, and effective data rate.

TECH ARTICLE bad, might not be adequate for the application. When it comes to using memory address space, the memory controller typically should spend very little time accessing a few memory locations and should spread those memory accesses over a range. The histogram view of the accessed memory space can reveal “hot spots” that can lead to premature memory failures.

Memory Compliance Testing Another type of memory evaluation that can be helpful during prototype turn-on is a test of compliance to the JEDEC specification. This evaluation can expose errors within a memory controller design. Non-compliance to the spec can result in data errors. A DDR post process compliance tool is available that also works from Address and Command memory signals saved in logic

analyzer memory. The type of memory probe is selected along with the type of memory being evaluated, its data rate and the desired tests. With this information a suite of evaluation parameters can be tested using the compliance tool. The results of such a test can be seen in Figure 4 where failures were discovered for the operation of four “Activates” occurring from different banks of memory. By selecting the row which highlights an error, the interface displays the number of discovered errors for a particular operation compared to the total number of that operation. It also lists the exact state pairs associated with each error count in the deep memory trace. It is important not only to report that errors occur but to reveal the specific locations of those errors so that a root cause of failure can be pursued. A realtime compliance tool also triggers the logic analyzer on a violation.

Figure 4. Memory compliance failure for four ACTIVATE windows (different banks) to be less than 45.0 ns

Modern Test & Measure Timing mode capture of address, command and memory read and write data

Figure 5. 5 GHz timing mode capture of DDR3 1333 address, command and data

The measurements so far have all been state (synchronous) measurements but timing (asynchronous) measurements, including measurements on Read and Write data to track memory data flow,can also be useful. For the DDR3 1333 memory system being evaluated here, timing mode measurements require a timing sample rate that is fast enough to determine bus activity. A three-to-one ratio of logic analyzer sample rate-totarget system data rate is a good rule of thumb to follow. For the 1333 data rate this would translate to a 4 GHz or faster timing rate. Low cost portable logic analyzers are available that have a half-channel, 5 GHz timing speed that meets this requirement.

A half-channel timing mode configuration is included with the analyzer for address, command and data capture. An example capture is shown in Figure 5. A 102-channel model is necessary to provide 48 channels in the half-channel mode so that this measurement is able to capture address, command, and x8 or x16 data. Read and Write data is not separated in timing capture, but settled data bus Read and Write values would still be seen in the DATA row with an expanded time/division setting. If the state capture of separate Read and Write data is required, modular logic analyzer solutions are available that can accomplish this.

TECH ARTICLE Specific logic analyzer requirements for particular memory applications Timing and state mode capabilities are summarized in Figure 6 including use of the DDR decoder and protocol compliance and analysis toolset. PORTABLE LOGIC ANALYZER CAPABILITIES Addr/Cmd/Data ultra-fast, 256k samples timing capture Yes, 12.5 GHz full channel (requires 68-channel model (no decoder, no compliance and analysis toolset) for x8 and x16 data width) Addr/Cmd/Data deep timing capture on DDR3 (no decoder, no compliance and analysis toolset)

Yes, 5 GHz half channel for up to DDR3 1600 x8 or x16 (requires 102-channel model)

Addr/Cmd state capture on DDR3 Decoder, protocol compliance and analysis toolset

Yes, up to DDR3 1333 (667 MHz clock, cmd, addr, requires 34-channel model with option to increase max clock frequency to 700 MHz)

Addr/Cmd/Data state capture on DDR3/4 and LPDDR2/3 Decoder, Protocol Compliance and Analysis toolset

No, (cannot de-Mux addr/cmd bus on LPDDR2/3 or separate out Reads and Writes in state mode)

Figure 6. Portable logic analyzer capabilities for various memory measurements

Summary It is now possible to capture DDR3 1333 address and command signals with a lowcost, 34-channel general purpose portable logic analyzer in state (synchronous) mode as well as conduct memory decode, performance analysis, and compliance testing to help validate and debug digital designs. Further, by using the 5 GHz halfchannel mode with a 102-channel analyzer, waveforms of DDR3 1333 address, command and data signals from a DRAM can be viewed to help with overall system evaluation. Although decode of the DDR3 traffic is not supported in Timing mode, valuable debugging insight is provided by viewing the timing waveforms. Modular analyzers are available for faster memories with higher data rates, including DDR4, LPDDR2/3, and LPDDR4 or for state capture with memory decode that separates Read and Write data on DDR3 1333 systems.

Brad Frieden is a Product Planner/ Product Marketing Engineer for the Oscilloscopes and Protocol Division of Agilent and has been focused on general purpose logic analyzers and related applications. He has been with HP/Agilent for 30 years and has been involved in a variety of marketing roles in areas including fiber optic test, pulse generators, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers. He received his BSEE from Texas Tech in 1981 and his MSEE from The University of Texas at Austin in 1991.

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