M8067A ISI Channel Boards

Version 2.0

Emulate channel loss for accurate and repeatable receiver characterization operating at symbol rates up to 64 GBd and 120 GBd

Key Features

• Emulate a wide range of channel loss from 5 to 30 dB with Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) traces for accurate and repeatable receiver characterization

• Six traces with 1.85 mm connectors suitable for symbol rates up to 64 Gbd (M8067A-001 and -002, each with three trace pairs per board)

• Six traces with 1.0 mm connectors suitable for symbol rates up to 120 Gbd (M8067A-003, -004, and -005, each with two trace pairs per board) 

• Small size, mechanical brackets for vertical and horizontal placement on test bench, this helps to minimize electromagnetic susceptibility

• Individual s-parameters download simplifies accurate embedding in test environment 

Introduction

The M8067A ISI channel boards can be used to emulate a wide range of channel loss for characterizing high-speed digital receivers that are used in server and datacenter network interfaces. The so-called inter-symbol interference (ISI) caused by the channel degradation is a data dependent jitter or a bounded deterministic jitter. The ISI channel boards are designed to be used to emulate channel loss for symbol rates up to 64 GBd and 120 Gbd. A choice of twelve PC board traces with different lengths can be inserted into the signal path. The layout of the trace pairs allows to use them for single ended and differential signals.

For symbol rates up to 64Gbd we offer two boards with 1.85 mm connectors and trace lengths from 3.8” (96.7 mm) to 17.1” (434 mm).

For symbol rates beyond 64 Gbd and up to 120 GBd, we offer three boards with 1.0 mm connectors and trace lengths from 1.4” (35 mm) to 8.8” (222 mm). 

For symbol rates below 32 GBd we recommend checking the M8049A ISI channel boards.

With their small size the M8067A ISI channel boards can be located closely to the device under test. 

The mechanical brackets allow to place them vertically or horizontally on the test bench. Individual  S-parameter files can be downloaded for each serial number. 

Emulate channel loss and Intersymbol Interference (ISI)

The channel loss between transmitter and receiver is a critical element for the receiver test for all electrical multi-gigabit serial interfaces. The channel loss depends primarily on the distance between transmitter and receiver and the electrical medium. The channel loss is typically defined by the S21 parameter in dB for certain frequencies. Most electrical interface standards such as PCI Express define that a receiver must tolerate a certain channel loss in the test setup. The M8067A offers a wide range of channels to emulate certain S21 loss characteristic in a repeatable and accurate way for testing electrical interconnects using symbol rates up to 64 GBd and up to 120 GBd.