DesignCon highlights all things high-speed-digital

DesignCon celebrated its 20th anniversary in January with an emphasis on all things high-speed-digital and a focus on signal and power integrity. Keysight Technologies, then Hewlett-Packard, founded the show in 1995 and subsequently turned the management over to an independent organization (now UBM). The slogan of the show is “where the chip meets the board,” but there also is an emphasis on board-to-board, board-to-system, and cross-campus communication. Hot topics included PCI Express, DDR4, and 40G and 100G Ethernet. Probably the single most talked about topic was PAM-4.

Major test companies—Keysight, Anritsu, Tektronix, Rohde & Schwarz (read an interview with Scott Bausback, president and CEO Rohde & Schwarz USA, on page 32), and Teledyne LeCroy—showed their highest-end instrumentation: Teledyne LeCroy’s 100-GHz oscilloscope, for example. National Instruments highlighted a variety of products, from its Semiconductor Test System to the VirtualBench compact multi-instrument system. Smaller test companies including Rigol Technologies were on hand as well, with Rigol displaying instruments including the MSO4000 mixed-signal oscilloscope, the DSA875 spectrum analyzer, and the DG1000Z arbitrary waveform generator.

Software companies also had a presence; in addition to Keysight’s EEsof Division, ANSYS and Computer Simulation Technology showed off simulation tools. ANSYS presented signal-integrity and power-integrity analysis for the chip, package, and board combination. The company says its chip-package-system workflow provides chip-aware package and PCB analysis as well as package and PCB-aware chip analysis. Products featured at the show included ANSYS HFSS and ANSYS SIwave. Computer Simulation Technology highlighted its CST STUDIO SUITE 2015 introduced last fall and debuted its new CST EMC STUDIO.

Connector and cable companies—Molex, Huber+ Suhner, and TE Connectivity—were on hand as well, as they make the high-performance cables, connectors, and backplanes needed to carry the high-speed-digital signals over long distances without degradation. Molex presented the EMI analysis of a high-speed I/O connector. Huber+Suhner displayed the MXP50 for data-rate testing up to 50 Gb/s or 50 GHz and the MinibendL/MMPX high-signal-fidelity testing solution operating at up to 50 GHz. TE Connectivity highlighted its STRADA Whisper Backplane Interconnection System and outlined its strategy for moving to PAM-4, should the industry adopt that technology.

Among other highlights, Keysight introduced the N1930B Physical Layer Test System (PLTS) 2015, the latest release of its signal-integrity test software for designing and validating high-speed-digital interconnect. The company also highlighted the U4154B 4-Gb/s state-mode high-performance logic analyzer module for DDR2/3/4 and LPDDR/2/3/4 protocol validation and debug, the DDR Bus Simulator and DDR4 Compliance Test Bench, new functionality for the J-BERT M8020A high-performance BERT, the M8195A 65-GS/s arbitrary waveform generator for flexible signal generation, and the M9375A PXI-VNA modules in a single PXI chassis for multiport device characterization.

Anritsu teamed its MP1800A BERT Signal Quality Analyzer with a Teledyne LeCroy 10 Zi oscilloscope to showcase how engineers can successfully develop high-speed channels using 32G NRZ and PAM-4 waveform generation and jitter analysis. The VectorStar vector network analyzer was part of a demonstration on signal-integrity analysis of advanced dielectric materials in the Isola booth, as well. For engineers involved in optical transport network development, Anritsu spotlighted its Network Master Flex MT1100A, which can send and receive a variety of 100G × 4 client signals to support R&D of 400-Gb/s networks and transport equipment.

Tektronix highlighted TekScope Anywhere, a new software offering that extends the visualization, analysis, and reporting capabilities found on Tektronix oscilloscopes to Microsoft Windows-based PCs, tablets, and servers.

In addition to its 100-GHz real-time oscilloscope, Teledyne LeCroy showcased the 12-bit, eight-channel high-definition oscilloscope and a receiver/transmitter test instrument capable of PCIe link equalization testing. Specific applications included PAM-4 analysis, USB 3.1 compliance, DDR debug, and PCIe Tx/Rx compliance.

Wireless Telecom Group’s Noisecom division exhibited its JV9000 adjustable VCC noise generator for power-integrity test. For signal-integrity test, Noisecom presented its J9005 customizable noise-on-data jitter generator designed to emulate effects of broadband noise. The company also featured its Boonton 55 Series USB peak power meter.

Other exhibits highlighted everything from components to design-automation tools. Chroma ATE showcased power-electronics and passive-component test-and-measurement capabilities. The company also says it offers test capabilities for photovoltaic, LED, Li-battery, power-battery-pack, electric-vehicle, and other emerging eco-industries. Mentor Graphics presented its HyperLynx and Nimbic technologies for electrical sign-off, including an environment for DDRx design analysis, multi-Gb/s channel analysis, full-wave 3-D electromagnetic modeling, and power-distribution design.