TDR Wizard

Beginning with PLTS 2016, TDR calibration and measurements can be set up using the TDR Wizard on DCA oscilloscopes with FlexDCA remote access software installed. In addition, the latest TDR modules are supported including the N1055A remote heads, which provide up to 16 channels and place the signal close to the DUT to minimize stimulus degradation.

 

The TDR Wizard can be started in several ways:

Welcome to PLTS

Welcome dialog

Click one of the following:

The selected choice has a to the right of the label.

  • New Measurement - Make a new measurement with the displayed Measurement Configuration.

  • Load Measurement -  Analyze the data from an existing (stored) measurement. You will be prompted for a DUT file to load.  PLTS will no longer be connected to the measurement hardware that was found.

 

Hardware Detection, TDR Stimulus Mode, and DUT Configuration dialog

This dialog box is displayed when New Measurement is selected.

Detect the PLTS Hardware Summary

The left side of the Welcome dialog shows the connected TDR model number, address, serial number, and the firmware revision.

TDR Stimulus Mode

Single Ended - Choose for single-ended DUT ports. The number of single-ended DUT ports can be 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, or 16. The number of DUT ports cannot be larger than the number of hardware ports. Port 1 only appears when the stimulus mode is single-ended. For example, if the hardware has 8 ports, then in single-ended stimulus mode 1, 2, 4, and 8-port DUTs can be measured. If the hardware has 16 ports, then 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 16-port DUTs can be measured.

Differential - Choose for differential DUT ports. For example, if the hardware has 8 ports, then in differential stimulus mode 2, 4, and 8-port DUTs can be measured. If the hardware has 16 ports, then 2, 4, 8, 12, and 16-port DUTs can be measured.

DUT Configuration

Number of DUT Ports - Choose the number of DUT ports. DUT ports refers to the number of single-ended ports.

To see the following dialog, click the Edit button. This dialog is used to map between TDR channels and DUT ports for single-ended and differential stimulus modes. Some ports may be disconnected.

Clicking the Edit button displays the following dialog for mapping:

 

 

TDR Setup dialog

This dialog box allows you to set the TDR parameters for the calibration and measurement. After settings are completed, you must go to the DCA to perform calibration.

Reset Values  returns all selections and values to their default value.

Max Timebase - Sets the desired measurement range in nanoseconds. The default setting is 5 ns. Typically the time base should be set to 2.5-3 times the electrical length of the DUT. Note: reflection measurements are "round trip".

Points/Waveform

Automatic -  TDR selects the record length for the input waveform. The TDR selects a record length that optimizes the amount of acquired data and the display update rate. This is available only with the Keysight 86100-based TDR systems.

Manual- Manually define a record length from a list of points.

Record Length -  Selects the number of points from a list. The number of data points that are available depends of the TDR system:

For the Keysight DCA 86100

    • 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096

    • in addition, 8192 and 16384 data points are available with DCA firmware 8.0 or higher.

For the Tektronix CSA8000 and TDS8000:

    • 20, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, or 4000.

Averaging

Enable - Enables and disables trace averaging.

Number of Averages - Sets the number of sweeps to be averaged. Increasing the number of averages improves the signal-to-noise ratio at the cost of increased measurement time.

Stimulus Rate

Automatic - Selects the stimulus rate automatically.

Manual - Manually set the stimulus rate in Hz.

 

 

Perform Calibration in FlexDCA

You must go to the DCA to perform calibration.

Rise Time - Sets the rise time of normalized measurements in picoseconds. This is a function of normalization and is available to only the Keysight 86100-based TDR systems.

Note: Set the rise time after calibration is finished.

 

Connect and Measure Your DUT dialog

When you click on the Measure button, time domain waveforms and S-parameters are transferred from the DCA to the PLTS.

 

 

Select Analysis View dialog

Selecting an analysis view displays the measured parameters. The following is an example of time domain (single-ended) measured parameters.