Agilent Technologies Introduces Electrical Performance Validation Software to Facilitate XAUI Testing

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced new electrical performance validation software that enables design engineers working on XAUI (10-gigabit attachment unit interface) designs to easily test their devices. The software is ideal for engineers working in the wireline networking, data communications and data storage industries.

The Agilent N5431A software, which runs on Agilent 80000 Series Infiniium oscilloscopes and digital signal analysers, helps engineers confirm that their devices conform to the XAUI specifications as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2005 10-gigabit Ethernet specification. XAUI is a chip-to-chip interface designed to transmit 10-gigabit signals over long distances on printed circuit boards. Because of its versatility, XAUI technology has been adapted for use with 10-gigabit Fibre Channel standards and other proprietary and non-proprietary standards.

Agilent’s XAUI electrical validation application enables fast and accurate XAUI validation with unmatched signal integrity and probing. The software also allows engineers to test to the 10GBASE-CX4 standard as well as change some test parameters to enable testing to their own standards.

The software reduces test setup complexity and makes testing more convenient. Engineers can select from a list of tests, run them with the push of a button, and view the results in a flexible and informative HTML format that can be saved for distribution. They also can run multiple trials on selected groups of tests and view a statistical report with worst cases highlighted.

The software offers additional advantages because it runs on the award-winning Agilent 80000 Series Infiniium oscilloscope, which has the lowest noise floor and flattest frequency response available in a real-time oscilloscope. The official XAUI data rate is 3.125 Gbps, which leaves little margin for error. High-speed designs increase the need for good measurement tools that can increase design margins and give designers confidence in their device’s performance. The superior signal integrity and probing advantages of the Agilent solution ensure greater accuracy and repeatability in making XAUI measurements.

The Agilent N5431A software complements the other Agilent solutions for XAUI testing, including physical layer test systems (PLTS) software for XAUI backplane characterisation, digital communication analysers for optical and electrical transmitter testing, and bit error ratio testers for receiver testing and characterisation for parallel stimulus and analysis of XAUI devices.

Additional information about the N5431A is available at www.agilent.com/find/N5431A. A screenshot of Agilent’s N5431A XAUI electrical validation software is available at www.agilent.com/find/N5431A_images.

Availability

The Agilent N5431A software is available for purchase now.