Pattern Lock Setup Tab

Instrument
DCA-X
N109X
Flex Apps:
FlexDCA

Pattern Lock Setup

The Pattern Lock Setup tab of the Trigger dialog settings allows you to manually configure pattern triggering. N1000A-PLK, N109x-series DCA-M PLK, and 86100D-ETR instruments can internally generate a pattern trigger off the supplied clock. When Pattern Lock is turned on, the instrument automatically detects symbol rate, pattern length, and trigger divide ratio and generates the pattern trigger. Pattern Lock is automatically turned on whenever Jitter Mode is entered and can be turned on in Eye/Mask and Oscilloscope Modes. To turn Pattern Lock on and off , click the Pattern Lock button that is shown along the bottom of the application or on dialog box's General Trigger Setup tab. To automatically and immediately detect symbol rate, pattern length, and trigger divide ratio, click Autodetect Parameters Now, which is located on the General Trigger Setup tab.

Symbol Rate

Select Auto Detect to have the symbol rate automatically detected whenever Autodetect Parameters Now (General Trigger Setup tab) is clicked or an Auto Scale is performed (in Jitter mode or Pattern Lock turned on). To manually enter the symbol rate, clear the Auto Detect, and enter the symbol rate, which can be any rate between 50 MHz and 160 GBd. For rates greater than 23.2 GBd, you must provide a divided trigger. Click Select From List to select standard optical and digital telecommunications rates. The same symbol rate list appears in Jitter, Eye/Mask, and Oscilloscope Modes and in the Timebase Setup dialog box when Units is set to Unit Interval (UI).

Valid Ranges for Data Rate and Pattern Length
  Minimum Value Maximum Value
Symbol Rate 50 MBd 160 GBd
Pattern Length 1 symbol 2 23 symbols
Pattern Length (in Jitter Mode) 1 symbol 2 16 symbols

Clock Ratio

The Clock Ratio allows you to select either an Integer sub rate of the symbol rate or a Fractional sub rate for pattern lock. When a Fractional Clock Ratio is entered, the resulting Clock Divide Ratio is listed on the dialog but cannot be edited. While using this feature, pattern parameters cannot be autodetected.

The Fractional setting is supported by N1000A DCA-X and DCA-M modules with regular pattern lock (not RapidEye or FlexEye). Fractional clock ratios require either a Manufacturing (N1010200A) or Research and Development (N1010100A) package licenses. Fractional clock ratios are not supported by the 86100D.

Clock Divide Ratio

Select Auto Detect check box to have the trigger divide ratio automatically detected whenever Autodetect Parameters Now (General Trigger Setup tab) is clicked or an Auto Scale is performed (in Jitter mode or Pattern Lock turned on). You can use the down arrow to select from several common clock divide ratios. In some situations, you may need to enter a trigger divide ratio for a trigger that is a divided rate from the symbol rate. For example, for rates greater then 23.2 GBd, you must provide a divided trigger.

Pattern Length

Select Auto Detect to have the pattern length automatically detected whenever Autodetect Parameters Now (General Trigger Setup tab) is clicked or an Auto Scale is performed (in Jitter mode or Pattern Lock turned on). To manually enter the pattern length, clear the Auto Detect, and enter the length of the test pattern in symbols, which can be any value between 1 and 223. In Jitter Mode, the maximum pattern length is 216.

Standard Pattern Selections
Selection Format Number of
Symbols
Description
NRZ PAM4
40 - PCIe Compliance 40  
62 - PAM4 Clock   62  
120 - FC RPAT 120  
384 - 802.3ae TWDP segment 384  
640 PCIe Idle 640  
1280 - FDDI Jitter   1280  
2640 - CJPAT 2640  
2280 - CRPAT 2280  
3360 - CRPAT (2) 3360  
3760 - CJPAT (2) 3760  
3780 - XAUI CRPAT 3780  
3820 - XAUI CJPAT 3820  
5280 - GbE Test Frame 5280  
7641 - XAUI CJPAT 7641  
9000 - JTPAT 9000  
15562 - CEI Stress 15562  
18944 - CEI Stress 18944  
20480 - SPAT 20480  
20840 - CSPAT 20840  
21760 - CJTPAT 21760  
30240 - XAUI CRPAT 30240  
33792 - 10GbE 33792  
90000 - FDDI Wander 90000  
92160 - SATA 92160  
311040 - SONET CID 311040  
PRBS 7 (127 symbols) 127 27−1 pseudo-random symbol sequence (127 symbols).
PRBS 7 (128 symbols) 128 27 pseudo-random symbol sequence (128 symbols).
PRBS 9 (511 symbols) 511 29−1 pseudo-random symbol sequence (511 symbols).
PRBS 9 (512 symbols) 512 29 pseudo-random symbol sequence (512 symbols).
PRBS 10 (1023 symbols) 1023 210−1 pseudo-random symbol sequence (1,023 symbols).
PRBS 10 (1024 symbols) 1024 210 pseudo-random symbol sequence (1,024 symbols).
PRBS 11 (2047 symbols) 2047 211−1 pseudo-random symbol sequence (2,047 symbols).
PRBS 11 (2048 symbols) 2048 211 pseudo-random symbol sequence (2,048 symbols).
PRBS 13 (8191 symbols) 8191 213−1 pseudo-random symbol sequence (8,191 symbols).
PRBS 13 (8192 symbols) 8192 213 pseudo-random symbol sequence (8,192 symbols).
PRBS 15 (32767 symbols) 32767 215−1 pseudo-random symbol sequence (32,767 symbols).
PRBS 15 (32768 symbols) 32768 215 pseudo-random symbol sequence (32,768 symbols).
PRBS 16 (65535 symbols) 65535 21−1 pseudo-random symbol sequence (65,535 symbols).
PRBS 16 (65536 symbols) 65536 216 pseudo-random symbol sequence (65,536 symbols).
PRBS 20 (1048575 symbols) 1048575 21−1 pseudo-random symbol sequence (1,048,575 symbols).
PRBS 20 (1048576 symbols) 1048576 220 pseudo-random symbol sequence (1,048,576 symbols).
PRBS 23 (8388607 symbols) 8388607 21−1 pseudo-random symbol sequence (8,388,607 symbols).
PRBS 23 (8388608 symbols) 8388608 220 pseudo-random symbol sequence (8,388,608 symbols).
K28.5 (20 symbols) 20  

Signal Type (Jitter Mode)

Specify the input signal type: Clock or Data. As a default, Auto Detect is selected, and the instrument automatically detects the signal type. The Signal Type setting can also be accessed on the Jitter Measurements tab of the Configure Jitter Mode Measurements dialog. If a poorly-defined signal can not be automatically detected, unselect the Auto Detect feature.

Reference Symbol

The ability to select the pattern reference symbol is provided by the Pattern Analysis feature (F-PAT) which is included in the R&D Package license. You may need to update your R&D package version.

The reference symbol settings set the pattern's reference symbol and aligns the timebase with the reference symbol.The reference symbol is set to the display's left edge. These settings are mutually exclusive.

Click Auto Detect to automatically determine the reference symbol to a consistent pattern location based on the longest run of symbols with a preference for lowest-level symbols. The timebase is aligned with the reference symbol.

Click Set To Current Timebase to realigns the timebase to use the left edge of the screen as the reference symbol for the pattern. Once you have used this setting, you cannot undo it and clicking Setup > Undo has no effect.

The Set To Current Timebase setting is only available in Scope mode.

To select the symbol, use one of the following two methods.

  • Use the Find symbol sequence dialog. In FlexDCA's menu, click Tools > Find....
  • Use the Pattern Navigation Display to select the symbol. To view the Pattern Navigation Display, expand the pattern bar that is shown above the display when pattern lock is enabled. The gray box highlights the symbol shown on the display. You can drag the gray box over the pattern to scroll the displayed symbols.