Signal Quality Analyzer (SQA) MP1900A Bit Error Rate Tester (BERT) of Anritsu

Anritsu announces an all-in-one solution for 400GbE PAM4 BER measurements

  • Anritsu announces the release of its 64-Gbaud PAM4 Pulse Pattern Generator (PPG) and 32-Gbaud PAM4 Error Detector (ED).
  • This PAM4 BERT solution supports 400GbE testing when these modules are installed in the Anritsu Signal Quality Analyzer-R MP1900A series to implement a bit-error-rate test system for next-generation broadband communication systems.

 
Due to the expansion of next-generation 5G mobile communications and Cloud services, data traffic volumes are expected to increase. To manage this demand, infrastructure operators, such as data centers, are investigating the improvements to speed in PAM4 and multilane communications systems. Now 400GbE speeds are being deployed using either the 26.5625Gbaud PAM4 x 8 lanes or 53.125- Gbaud PAM4 x 4 lanes methods.

To meet this technical demand, Anritsu has developed the released 64-Gbaud PAM4 PPG and the 32-Gbaud PAM4 ED to support evaluation of equipment and devices for high-speed, large-capacity transmissions.

When using the PAM4 method to encode data as four amplitude levels, the gap between signal levels is one-third compared to the NRZ method, which reduces the unit time per symbol at higher baud rates, emphasizing the importance of signal quality in achieving high-speed transmissions.

However, the degraded signal quality caused by crosstalk and noise resulting from use of multiple lanes and high-density circuit design increases the need for evaluation of minimum Rx sensitivity using stress-test signals.

The Signal Quality Analyzer-R MP1900A is a bit error rate tester for the over 400G market and supports generation of high-speed signals as well as analysis of signal performance.

The new PPG for PAM4 signals up to 64 Gbaud has a Tr/Tf (20% to 80%) time of 8.5 ps (typ.) and Intrinsic Jitter of 170 fs (typ.). Moreover, the multichannel function can be expanded up to 4 channels, and the integrated Emphasis function corrects signals degraded by transmission path loss. The 32-Gbaud PAM4 ED module has a sensitivity performance of 23 mV (typ.) and supports installation of a clock recovery function required for Rx sensitivity evaluation, as well as PAM4 symbol error measurements.

Additionally, the multichannel expandability helps cut measurement times using simultaneous measurement of multiple lanes. It is also possible to combine jitter and noise addition functions to configure an all-in-one test solution to evaluate the sensitivity of Rx.