Tektronix has unveiled the DPO70000SX, a 70GHz oscilloscope said to feature the lowest noise and highest effective number of bits of any high bandwidth real time oscilloscope currently available.
One of the target markets for the device is communications. Dean Miles, technical marketing manager, noted: "We are seeing a lot of investment in optical communications and there is increasing use of microwave frequencies, so there is a need for an instrument with wider bandwidth and higher resolution."
Amongst the device's features are the ability to sample at 200Gsample/s and a compact form factor that allows it to be positioned close to the device under test, retaining signal fidelity.
Tom Freeman, product line marketing manager, added: "Tektronix' asynchronous time interleaving (ATI) technology allows the scope to achieve high bandwidth with low noise." ATI, launched three years ago, allows a signal to be digitised using two symmetrical paths, with each channel accessing the full spectrum.
Engineers can specify one channel at 70GHz or two channels at 33GHz, with a sample rate of 100Gsample/s. Two devices can be synchronised to provide two channels at 70GHz or four channels at 33GHz. Synchronisation is achieved using UltraSync, with a 12.5GHz sample clock reference, a coordinated trigger bus and a high speed data path.
Unusually for such a device, it comes in a 5.25in high package with a small screen. Freeman said: "The small screen helps in set up, but the data captured by the device has more meaning when displayed on an external screen."
Author
Graham Pitcher
Source: www.newelectronics.co.uk