Anritsu Corporation is pleased to announce that the PCI-SIG^® has adopted the Anritsu Signal quality Analyzer-R MP1900A BERT to support compliance tests at PCI-SIG workshops. The MP1900A was selected to meet the increasing demand for PCI Express^® (PCIe^®) 3.0/4.0 link equalisation tests (Link EQ Test) and receiver jitter tolerance tests (Rx Test).

The PCI-SIG or Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group is an electronics industry consortium responsible for specifying the peripheral component interconnect (PCI), PCI-X, and PCI Express (PCIe) computer buses. It is based in Beaverton, Oregon. The PCI-SIG is distinct from the similarly named and adjacently-focused PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group.

The PCI special interest group was formed in 1992, initially as a "compliance programme" to help computer manufacturers implement the Intel specification. The organisation became a non-profit corporation, officially named "PCI-SIG" in the year 2000.

Since the 2003 release of the PCIe 1.0 specification, each subsequent generation has doubled the bandwidth of the previous generation. Currently, PCIe 4.0 specification at 16 Gbps/lane is supported by the PCI-SIG compliance test programme.

PCI express architecture is increasing the speed of internal interfaces in high-speed PCs and storage, as well as becoming a key interface for communications equipment and servers requiring ever wider bandwidth. It is expected to see rapid deployment in markets such as IoT, AI and automotive, utilising emerging technologies.

PCI-SIG hosts quarterly compliance workshops to certify PCIe devices. With increasing demand for PCIe equipment and to meet the test demand for increasing device under test (DUT) numbers, PCI-SIG has established a new permanent test environment, which uses equipment from qualified vendors, including the Anritsu signal quality analyser-R MP1900A.

“With its compliance test reproducibility and convenience, the MP1900A is a test instrument for PCIe compliance workshops that offer capacity improvement and contribute to the widespread adoption of the PCI Express standard,” PCI-SIG chairman and president Al Yanes said. “We look forward to Anritsu’s future contributions to PCI express technology.” 

Anritsu’s service infrastructure solutions division general manager Hiroyuki Takahashi commented: “As well as supporting the next-generation PCIe 5.0 standard, Anritsu’s MP1900A series will support the PCIe 6.0 specifications now being planned. By doing so, Anritsu is helping to facilitate the spread of PCI express and contributing to development of the technology.”

Signal quality analyser-R MP1900A outline

The Signal Quality Analyser-R MP1900A is the industry-leading multi-channel BERT. It integrates a high quality waveform pulse pattern generator (PPG) that produces 115 fs rms residual jitter, high input sensitivity error detector (ED) that creates a 15 mV eye height (typical), and a high accuracy jitter (SJ, RJ, SSC, BUJ) generation source. CM-I/DM-I functions are also part of the MP1900A mainframe. With a link training function and link training status state machine (LTSSM) analysis support, it has multiple applications including compliance tests, margin tests and trouble shooting.

The MP1900A provides all-in-one support of PCI express 1.0 architecture (2.5 Gbit/s) to PCIe 5.0 architecture (32 Gbit/s) with future updates for PCI express 6.0 architecture (64 Gbit/s). By providing all-in-one support, the MP1900A allows customers to have lower cost-of-test and a simple upgrade path. Additionally, the MP1900A is compatible with oscilloscopes from the three leading manufacturers to automate complex Rx test procedures up to PCI 5.0, with support for the future PCIe 6.0 specification.