multiLane ML4079D 400G Bit Error Rate Tester User Manual
- June 1, 2024
- multiLane
Table of Contents
Pulsar | User Manual
Installation | Connection | Calibration| Measurements
User Manual revision 1.0
Notices
Copyright © MultiLane Inc. All rights reserved. Licensed software products are
owned by MultiLane Inc. or its suppliers and are protected by United States
copyright laws and international treaty provisions.
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions
as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and
Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013, or subparagraphs (c)(1) and
(2) of the Commercial Computer Software — Restricted Rights clause at FAR
52.227-19, as applicable.
MultiLane Inc. products are covered by U.S. and foreign patents, issued and
pending. Information in this publication supersedes that in all previously
published material. Specifications and price change privileges reserved.
General Safety Summary
Review the following safety precautions to avoid injury and prevent damage to
this product or any products connected to it. To avoid potential hazards, use
this product only as specified.
Only qualified personnel should perform service
To Avoid Fire or Personal Injury
Use Proper Power Cord. Only use the power cord specified for this product and
certified for the country of use.
Observe All Terminal Ratings. To avoid fire or shock hazard, observe all
ratings and markings on the product. Consult the product manual for further
ratings information before making connections to the product.
Do not apply a potential to any terminal, including the common terminal that
exceeds the maximum rating of that terminal.
Do Not Operate Without Covers.
Do not operate this product with covers or panels removed.
Avoid Exposed Circuitry. Do not touch exposed connections and components when
power is present.
Do Not Operate with Suspected Failures.
If you suspect there is damage to this product, have it inspected by qualified
service personnel.
Do Not Operate in Wet/Damp Conditions. Do Not Operate in an Explosive
Atmosphere. Keep Product Surfaces Clean and Dry
**** Caution statements identify conditions or practices that could result in
damage to this product or other property.
Electro static sensitive device. Operate in ESD supervised and controlled
areas.
Revision Control
Revision number | Description | Release Date |
---|---|---|
4.2.5 | [Cerberus GUI for Pulsar | |
](https://www.multilaneinc.com/products/pulsar/) | 1/17/2024 |
Product Software
The instrument includes the following software:
▪ Cerberus SW
Instrument GUI runs on Windows XP (32/64 bit), Windows 7,8 and 10.
NOTE. These applications require the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.
If the Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 is needed, it can be downloaded through
this link:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/0/e/20e90413-712f-438c-
988efdaa79a8ac3d/dotnetfx35.exe.
For more products updates, check the following webpage: www.multilaneinc.com/products.html
Minimum PC Requirements
The Windows PC properties for Pulsar’s software should meet the following
specifications:
- Windows XP SP3 or greater
- Minimum 1 GB RAM
- 1 Ethernet card to establish connection with the device
- USB Connector
- Pentium 4 processor 2.0 GHz or greater
- .NET Framework 3.5 sp1
List of Acronyms
Acronym | Definition |
---|---|
BW | Bandwidth |
BERT | Bit Error Rate Tester |
Conf | Configuration |
DUT | Device Under Test |
FEC | Forward Error Correction |
FW | Firmware |
GBd | Giga Baud |
Gbps | Gigabits per second |
GUI | Graphical User Interface |
HW | Hardware |
ISI | Inter-symbol Interference |
JTOL | Jitter Tolerance |
KGU | Known Good Unit |
NRZ | Non-Return to Zero |
PAM4 | Pulse Amplitude Modulation (4-level) |
SI | Signal Integrity |
SNR | Signal-to-Noise Ratio |
Sim | Simulation |
SW | Software |
Pulsar
Installation
After downloading Cerberus setup file, select run and follow this easy step- by-step setup installation procedure:
Connecting to the Instrument
To connect to the instrument, follow this sequence of steps:
- Install Cerberus.
- Connect the power cable to the power jack of Pulsarand plug it into an AC outlet. The power cable is already included in the package accessories.
- Power Up Pulsar.
- Connect the device to the network* using a RJ45/LAN cable. LAN connection can be validated with a ping to the static instrument IP.
- Run Cerberus.
- Connect using the IP address of the target instrument(s) (Figure 2). The IP address is printed on the back side of the instrument.
NOTE ▪ In the case of a connection failure, a pop-up message will appear
indicating a connection error (Figure 3).
*To add
the device to the network, consult Appendix I at the end of this manual
Connection & Mode Selection
After connecting to the instrument by typing its IP in the appropriate text box, select the desired mode of operation and press “Configure”.
TDR Measurements
When selected, the rightmost checkbox starts the instrument and software in
TDR mode. This mode allows the user to perform time and frequency domain
measurements such as TDR, and Sdd11.
This mode can be used for many applications, including impedance profile
evaluation, locating faults & discontinuities, and phase matching.
This section will list and explain how to perform all measurements that fall
under this umbrella.
Time-Domain Reflectometry
TDR can be used for many applications, such as to characterize the impedance
of DUTs, backplanes, and other physical media, locating faults,
discontinuities or breaks along a cable, cable matching, and more.
Impedance Profile Gating Calibration
Gating is the default calibration method for return loss measurements, and the
one that should be used when the DUT is followed by unwanted system components
such as MCB traces, connectors, etc. The calibration wizard uses TDR to allow
the user to locate the DUT’s boundaries, set markers and apply gating. This
process is done as follows:
- Select the channel(s) on which the calibration will be performed.
- Click on “Align”
- Disconnect the twinax (SMPM to 2.4 mm) cable from the host and click on “Confirm”then “done”.
- Close the page to exit the calibration wizard.
- Plug the OSFP/QDD connector in the host.
TDR Measurement
- Measurements can either be differential or single ended. For single ended measurement, “Single_Ended” mode should be selected in the main window tab and only one port is used for each channel while the second is terminated with a 50Ω load.
- Select the channel(s) on which the impedance profile measurement will be performed.
- Click “Confirm” to measure the impedance profile.
- Press to measure continuously or for a single capture.
Locating Faults & Discontinuities
One popular application for TDR is locating faults and discontinuities in a
physical medium.
As the velocity of propagation of electromagnetic waves in vacuum is known,
additional information related to the characteristics of the physical medium
such as the copper cable’s velocity of propagation (VoP) allows the speed of
propagation to be estimated and the distance between two points can therefore
be calculated.
Placing two markers at different points on the graph will allow the user to
see both the temporal and spatial difference between the two points.
The velocity of propagation can be set in the “Advanced Settings” tab.
It is also possible to add a positive or negative ohm offset to each/all channels.
User defined mask
The user can define in the measurement section a custom mask by setting the minimum and maximum time, as well as impedance. A Pass/Fail verdict is shown to indicate if the points are within the mask or violating it.
Math
A math function is included to perform (-) (+) (*) (/) operations using the
selected channels.
Propagation Delay
Propagation Delay is used to measure intra and inter pair skew. The marker impedance level is set at half of the input signal’s voltage.
Return Loss
Pulsar can also be used to measure return loss. Similarly to impedance
profile, Pulsar performs a TDR measurement in time domain and then converts it
to the frequency domain, resulting in return loss measurements.
Gating
Gating is the default calibration method for return loss measurements and the
one that should be used when the DUT is followed by unwanted system components
such as MCB traces, connectors, etc. The calibration wizard uses TDR to allow
the user to locate the DUT’s boundaries, set markers and apply gating. This
process is done as follows:
- Select the channel(s) on which the calibration will be performed.
- Click on “Calibration” followed by “Run” to start the calibration process.
- Click on “Next Setup”
- Connect the twinax cables to Pulsar and click on “Next setup”
- Remove the twinax (SMPM to 2.4 mm) from the host and press “Next Setup”.
- Click on “Next Setup”
- Apply markers at the points of difference between the main setup’s impedance profile and the other two and press “Apply Gating”.
- Close the page to exit the calibration wizard.
Return Loss Measurement
Press to measure continuously or for a single capture.
Measurements and masks can be loaded in the software by pressing “Measurement”
on the bottom right side of the page.
The available measurements for return loss are loss at Nyquist and the return
loss mask, for which the mask type is available for different standards that
the user can choose from.
Appendix 1 – Adding Pulsar to the Network
To create a local network connection, please follow these steps:
▪ Create a local network connection between the laptop and Pulsar using
Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).
o Open “Control Panel” and choose “Network and Internet”.
o Open “Network and Sharing Center”.
▪ Click on “Change Adapter Settings”, then choose “Local Area Connection”.
▪ In the Networking Tab, click on “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” then “Properties”.
▪ Add a similar IP Address that shares a subnet with the instrument IP in the
Advanced tab. This will be used to ping the instrument once the IP Address is
changed to match that of the network.
▪ Connect the laptop directly to Pulsar using an Ethernet cable.
▪ Copy the IP Address found on the back of the unit.
▪ Ping the device to make sure that the connection is successful.
▪ Now a new local network has been successfully defined.
NOTE:
These steps are illustrated using Windows 10. Kindly note that previous
versions of Windows have a similar procedure with slight differences in tabs
or folders’ names.
References
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