Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/8677-tektronix-adds-mipi-support-to-dpo7000-series-oscilloscopes

Tektronix Adds MIPI Support to DPO7000 Series Oscilloscopes

October 28, 2009

Tektronix Inc., a provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, announced a series of enhancements to its popular DPO7000 Series Oscilloscopes, including support for the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI®) D-PHY standard and new UART/RS-232 protocol analysis software. Additionally, the DPO7000 Series now includes four passive probes and three analysis tools as part of standard configurations.

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The MIPI D-PHY specification is gaining in use by manufacturers of wireless mobile devices as the communications bus across main components such as embedded controllers, cameras and displays. The specification helps device manufacturers reduce time-to-market and device integration costs while taking advantage of richer feature sets with higher bit rates. By offering D-PHY characterization, compliance testing and debug in the DPO7000 Series, Tektronix delivers new and expanded test solutions for more efficiently implementing designs that include this important bus.

The new Tektronix MIPI solution (Option D-PHY) includes automated setup library and methods of implementation (MOI) for testing the D-PHY physical layer standard. Implemented on the DPO7000 Series, this new setup library for DPOJET jitter analysis software includes complete real-time scope measurements listed in the latest D-PHY conformance test spec (CTS). Compared to other more limited alternatives on the market, the Tektronix solution allows users to perform a full range of tests from verification and pre-compliance testing to more in-depth characterization, with custom limits. The test reports provide comprehensive details of numerous parameters in each measurement. Further, Tektronix MIPI solution is scalable for early start on next generation of MIPI standards, such as M-PHY.

With the DPO7000 triggering capabilities for RS232 and the new UART/RS-232 Protocol Analysis Software (PDU-R), engineers can quickly link decoded data to captured waveforms by selecting data in a result table. This can save significant time for debug and verification tasks tied to these popular legacy standards.

“As demonstrated by these new capabilities, we are continuing to make steady enhancements to the world’s most popular Windows-based performance oscilloscopes, the DPO7000 Series, that bring more value to our customers,” said Brian Reich, Vice President, Performance Oscilloscopes, Tektronix. “We’re providing more advanced capabilities out of the box, support for new standards and time-saving tools for debug and verification.”

In addition to boosting DPO7000 Series capabilities, Tektronix is also increasing value with the inclusion of four passive probes and three popular analysis tools including Waveform Limit Test, Advanced Search & Mark and Jitter Essentials. Tektronix is the first Windows-based oscilloscope vendor to provide this as part of a standard offering.