Team Effort Yields High-Accuracy Jitter Measurements For Scopes

A joint licensing agreement has borne fruit with what's considered one of the industry's most accurate and repeatable jitter oscilloscope measurement systems for high-speed serial buses.

The agreement merges Amherst Systems Associates' (ASA) software with Agilent Technologies' 6-GHz real-time Infiniium oscilloscopes and 7-GHz InfiniiMax probes, giving semiconductor, computer, communications, and aerospace and defense engineers rapid insight into subtle timing anomalies of high-speed signals for accurate design characterization.

"Accurately measuring jitter is one of the top issues facing designers of high-speed computer and communications systems," says Ron Nersesian, general manager of Agilent's Design Validation Division. "By integrating ASA's M1 jitter analysis software with the industry's leading probes and oscilloscopes from Agilent, we have provided our customers a complete measurement package that offers the accuracy they need."

The Agilent E2690A time-interval and jitter analysis software includes a comprehensive set of tools for investigating a wide range of timing behaviors in designs. It separates random and deterministic jitter to help identify the sources of jitter in high-speed digital systems. The InfiniiMax differential probe technology reduces measurement system jitter when combined with the Agilent high-performance Infiniium oscilloscopes. Design engineers now get more accurate timing measurements, such as total jitter and eye openings.

Under the agreement, Agilent will develop timing and jitter analysis tools in collaboration with ASA. Available now, the Agilent E2690A costs $7500.

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