N8816A PCI Express 3.0 Protocol Viewer Software for Infiniium 90000 Oscilloscopes

Introduction

Keysight Technologies, Inc. N8816A Infiniium protocol viewer software for PCI Express 3.0 enhances the industry’s first totally integrated oscilloscope-based protocol analyzer technology providing time-correlated views of physical layer and data link layer protocol. You get packet-level decode for PCI Express® signals built into a real-time oscilloscope. This software provides you with a fast, easy way to isolate signal integrity problems from logic-level coding errors on bidirectional serial data streams. This capability allows you to test, debug and characterize your designs to the logic and link layer. The N8816A Infiniium protocol analyzer software has decode options for PCI Express Gen1 and Gen2 and Gen3 decode. 

Features

The N8816A Infiniium protocol viewer software offers

several features to simplify the validation of your

PCI Express designs:

• Setup wizard for quick setup, configuration and test
• Packet-level decode of ordered sets as well as link and logical physical layers
• Serial data analysis with 128/130 bit streams (Gen3)
• Serial data analysis with 8B/10B symbols (Gen1, Gen2)
• Decode of scrambled and unscrambled symbols
• Bi-directional symbol and packet level decode
• Simultaneous display of packet/ symbol lists and waveform overlay
• Capability to save symbol and packet data lists to .csv and .txt files
• Packet decode details tab provides detailed information on packets
• Channel information
• Listing index
• Link ordered set type
• Control symbols
• Reserved-bit settings
• Data payload popup
• CRC
• Packet length
• Payload display shows data payload
• Unique packet-waveform correlation marker “blue line” makes it easy to scroll through waveforms to view synchronized packet and symbol lists
• Comprehensive serial search capabilities
• Trigger and stop on search
• Primitive, control symbol and packet search capability

Comprehensive Decode Capability

With the N8816A Infiniium PCI Express 3.0 protocol analyzer software, you can use the same oscilloscope you use for everyday debugging and signal quality testing to perform protocol-level testing. The software automatically decodes symbols, packets and ordered sets and provides informative results. It includes decode of reserved bit settings during training sequences and speed negotiation, greatly simplifying debugging of link training failures. Some of the difficulties in validating PCI Express communication links are determining if link failures or instability is due to electrical problems or logic-level problems. The N8816A Infiniium PCI Express 3.0 protocol analyzer software allows you to analyze the root cause of these issues with a single piece of test equipment.