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Modular Sampling Oscilloscopes
Explore DCA-X modular sampling oscilloscopes for high-precision periodic waveform analysis
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Fixed Configuration Sampling Oscilloscopes
Explore DCA-M fixed configuration models enabling compact signal analysis for manufacturing validation
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Clock Recovery
Explore DCA-M clock recovery units enabling reliable synchronization for high-speed digital analysis
Modular sampling oscilloscopes
Keysight DCA-X Series modular sampling oscilloscopes provide a flexible platform for making precise, high-bandwidth optical and electrical measurements for eye diagram analysis. DCA-X sampling oscilloscopes are compatible with automated test software to ensure device compliance with standards like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 Ethernet and Optical Internetworking Forum Common Electrical I/O (OIF-CEI). Our DCA-X modules let you build your sampling oscilloscope for today’s validation needs and upgrade modules to address tomorrow’s next innovation. Configure the mainframe with the modules you need — including a variety of plug-in modules spanning optical, electrical, and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) / time-domain transmission (TDT) measurements and analysis with multiple bandwidth, filtering, and channel options.
Ultra-high bandwidth
Capture and analyze high-speed digital communication signals with optical and electrical bandwidths ranging from 33 GHz to 120 GHz.
Scalable architecture
A fully modular benchtop platform lets you customize your scope to meet your needs and easily upgrade as new standards and technologies emerge, future-proofing your investment.
Automated test software
Decades of Keysight expertise turns complex standards into test plans so you can ensure that your devices meet standards and interoperability requirements.
Time-domain measurements
Characterize cables, optical fibers, traces, and components to identify and locate faults, impedance mismatches, and irregularities affecting signal integrity.
Fixed configuration sampling oscilloscopes
Keysight SX2-class fixed configuration sampling oscilloscopes include the DCA-M Series. Fixed configuration sampling oscilloscopes offer cost-optimized optical and electrical measurements in a compact form factor, ideally suited for manufacturing tests. They provide the same precision measurements as our modular sampling oscilloscopes with bandwidth up to 60 GHz optical and 50 GHz electrical. Fixed configuration sampling oscilloscopes form a complete manufacturing test solution when paired with automation software to optimize test throughput and ensure device interoperability and reliability. Keysight fixed configuration sampling oscilloscopes help you efficiently scale optical transceiver testing with a streamlined test setup for maximum efficiency.
Clock Recovery
Keysight SX1-class clock recovery units include the DCA-M Electrical and Optical Clock Data Recovery (CDR) Series. Clock recovery units improve the accuracy of high-speed optical and electrical measurements by extracting timing from data signals. You need a precise clock signal to reduce jitter and improve the quality of high-speed signal integrity analysis of your devices. IEEE 802.3 Ethernet and OIF-CEI standards require external clock recovery during compliance testing to ensure accurate measurements. Select these clock recovery units when you plan to perform compliance tests on these classes of digital communications devices.
Find the modular sampling oscilloscope for you in minutes
Find compatible software and accessories for your sampling oscilloscope
Choose from a wide variety of analysis and compliance software or accessories like connectors, cables, calibration kits, and more.
Explore sampling oscilloscope use cases
Sampling oscilloscopes support a wide range of measurements across various industries, discover them all.
Wired Communication
How to Test 1.6T Optical Transmitter Conformance
Test IEEE and OIF-CEI standards conformance for 1.6T optical transmitters with sampling oscilloscopes.
Wired Communication
How to Test 1.6T Optical Receiver Conformance
Test 1.6T optical receiver conformance with BERTs, sampling oscilloscopes, and photonic and optical instruments.
Wired Communication
Test 1.6T optical transceivers at production scale with sampling oscilloscopes for efficient transmitter dispersion and eye closure quaternary (TDECQ) measurements.
Wired Communication
How to Optimize 800G Optical Transceiver Manufacturing Tests
Analyze TDECQ measurements and automate manufacturing tests for 800G optical transceivers.
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Frequently asked questions
Sampling oscilloscopes, or equivalent time oscilloscopes, are specialized instruments for analyzing periodic high-speed signals. They work by reconstructing waveforms from a series of periodic signal samples, allowing these instruments to make high-bandwidth and high-resolution measurements with lower sample rates, lower intrinsic jitter, and higher signal integrity than a real-time oscilloscope.
This contrasts with a real-time oscilloscope, which captures and analyzes signals in real time. Real-time scopes can display and capture non-repetitive events and glitches as they occur. The primary trade-off is that real-time scopes need high-speed ADCs and higher memory, and therefore come with higher costs.
As a result, engineers most often use sampling oscilloscopes in physical layer digital communications signal analysis, and they use real-time oscilloscopes for debugging and fault detection or decoding digital protocols. Sampling oscilloscopes can provide higher quality measurements but have a lower versatility than real-time scopes.
Due to the nature of their data acquisition, sampling oscilloscopes are primarily used for analyzing high-speed, repetitive signals with precise, high signal integrity measurements. Engineers commonly use them to test optical and electrical communication signals. They are a central part of R&D, validation, and manufacturing test setups for optical transceivers, photonic integrated circuits, and other data center interconnect technologies.
Sampling oscilloscopes excel at measuring and analyzing high-frequency and modulated (PAM) signals. Engineers often use sampling oscilloscopes when developing devices and testing compliance to physical layer Ethernet standards from 10G to 3.2T speeds. Sampling oscilloscopes are adept at eye diagram analysis, jitter testing, mask compliance verification, and transmitter dispersion eye closure quaternary (TDECQ) measurements, all essential measurements in optical and electrical communication systems.
There are several attributes to consider when selecting a sampling oscilloscope such as form factor, number of channels, bandwidth, and sample rate. Below are the most important questions to ask yourself when choosing an oscilloscope:
What is the form factor I need for my application?
Sampling oscilloscopes come in multiple form factors for different applications and use cases. For instance, the modular benchtop sampling oscilloscopes are best for research and development or validation in an engineer’s test lab because of its swappable modules allowing a high degree of versatility and precision. Developers can use fixed configuration oscilloscopes in the R&D as well, but are more likely to use them in production or manufacturing test setups where scale and speed are key needs. The compact form factor, lack of screen, and ability to combine into customizable configurations for test optimization solutions make them more useful in automated production test applications.
What is the oscilloscope's data rate and input channel type?
As engineers primarily use sampling oscilloscopes for optical and electrical communications analysis, many users care more about the data rates supported rather than the electrical or optical bandwidth. The data rate tells a user which digital standards it can support (example: an oscilloscope capable of measuring 112 Gbaud PAM4 data can test 224 Gb/s optical Ethernet). Sampling oscilloscopes come in a variety of models to account for different test needs, including with different numbers of optical and electrical channels. For optical, engineers should confirm if the scope supports multi-mode or single mode optics.
What is the oscilloscope’s intrinsic jitter and noise performance?
An oscilloscope’s jitter and noise are major factors in the quality of its measurements; the scope’s job is to measure these factors in the signal as transparently as possible, without creating additional issues of its own. An oscilloscope with low jitter, high signal-to-noise ratio, and high signal integrity is best for measuring high-speed communications signals.