If you’re reading this, you probably already know that oscilloscopes are used by test engineers to measure voltage changes over time. Those voltage changes are displayed graphically as waveforms, enabling debugging, analysis and characterization of electrical signals within a circuit.
But what if an oscilloscope is unable to accurately display the details of a signal? Those same test engineers risk launching products susceptible to bugs and failures.
Signal integrity is the key to accurate insights — and has long been the driving force behind the design of the Infiniium portfolio of oscilloscopes from Keysight Technology. According to the company, the Infiniium line is built on hardware that offers the lowest noise floor, highest effective number of bits (ENOB), highest bandwidth and lowest jitter — all in the pursuit of enabling engineers to “see their true signals.”
Not content to make its pitch on hype alone, Keysight also offers an e-book on determining oscilloscope signal integrity with advice and tips that it invites users to test out on oscilloscopes from any vendor.
In early September, the company announced its latest expansion of the Infiniium brand. The Infiniium MXR B-Series features hardware-accelerated devices with built-in, automated analysis tools designed to reduce test and debug times and shorten time to market. According to Keysight, the new Infiniium MXR B-Series produces results at least 60% faster than most competitors.
Features of the Infiniium MXR B-Series include built-in tools for zone triggering, fault detection, real-time spectrum analysis (RTSA) and a 50 MHz waveform generator. In addition, the MXR B-series packages eight instruments into a single benchtop solution to conserve both bench space and budget. All features of the MXR B are upgradeable, allowing engineers to add capabilities as requirements change.
Key specifications include:
- Analog channels: Four or eight, upgradable
- Bandwidth: 500 MHz to 6 GHz, upgradable
- Sampling rate: 16 GSa/s
- Memory: 200 Mpts, upgradable to 400 Mpts or 1.6 Gpts flexible memory
- Resolution: 10 bits, up to 16 with high resolution
- ENOB: As high as 9.0
- Timebase accuracy: 8 parts per billion
- Intrinsic jitter: As low as 118 fs
- Noise (1 mV/div): As low as 43 µV
- Digital logic channels: 16, dedicated input, upgradable
- Eye diagram speed: Greater than 750,000 UI/s
- Screen display: 15.6 inch touch, full HD, dual screen support
Company vice president Robert Saponas, Keysight Digital Photonics Center of Excellence, said that with the MXR B-Sseries “engineers designing complex systems can now get from symptom to root cause in a matter of minutes instead of hours."
