Agilent Technologies Inc. expanded its digital communications analyzer (DCA) portfolio with the introduction of the 86100D DCA-X wide-bandwidth oscilloscope. The DCA-X provides engineers with the tools needed to characterize their high-speed digital designs easily and accurately.

The DCA-X mainframe platform will allow engineers to make next-generation measurements that include integrated de-embedding capability. At the same time, the DCA-X is 100 percent backwards compatible with all previous DCA modules and completely code compatible with the 86100C. With future modules, the DCA-X will be able to support up to 16 measurement channels. Higher channel counts will enable electrical and optical engineers to test their parallel designs efficiently, and it offers higher throughput for manufacturing.

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The high analog bandwidth, low noise and low jitter measurements offered by the DCA helps engineers see the true performance of their designs on signals from 50 Mb/s to more than 40 Gb/s. The modular DCA platform can be configured for optical, electrical, TDR/TDT and S-parameter measurement capability. The 86100D DCA-X improves upon the accuracy and ease-of-use of the 86100C DCA-J.

As data rates increase, fixtures and probes play a larger role in degrading waveform fidelity and reducing measurement margins. Engineers are often required to remove these unwanted effects to see the true performance of their devices during verification or compliance testing. Likewise, it is very common to measure a clean transmitter and simulate the signal at the output of a typical channel loss model. The 86100D-SIM InfiniiSim-DCA waveform transformation toolset, a powerful new option for the 86100D, allows engineers to perform both of these tasks quickly and accurately.

“The 86100D’s new user interface and integrated de-embedding capability take measurement accuracy and insight to the next level,” said Jay Alexander, Vice President and General Manager of Agilent’s oscilloscopes business. “The DCA-X provides engineers with the tools to analyze their designs quickly and accurately, allowing them to get their products to market faster.”

Agilent has also upgraded N1010A FlexDCA remote access software so it now supports both the 86100C DCA-J and 86100D DCA-X. N1010A is a PC-based version of the DCA-X user interface that extends control of the scope to a remote PC (via LAN to a lab or home office PC) and allows engineers to analyze waveforms offline.