Release Notes A.07.80, February 2025

Instrument:
N1000A
N109X
N107X
UXR Scope
Flex Apps:
FlexDCA
FlexRT
FlexPLL
FlexOTO

These release notes apply to the FlexDCA family of applications: FlexDCA,FlexPLL, and FlexOTO.

Minor software revisions may not necessitate an update to the product's learning products. Similarly, changes to the learning products may not necessitate a change to the software revision.

N1000A DCA-X instruments with a serial number ≥ US64350101 (or ≥ MY64350101) include an upgraded CPU (Intel Core i7-9700E) with improved performance. FlexDCA revision A.06.91 or later is required for the upgraded CPU.

General Comments

Installation on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 is no longer supported. The last FlexDCA revision that can be installed on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 is A.07.61.

Installation on the 86100D mainframe is no longer supported (Windows 7 or Windows 10). The last FlexDCA revision that can be installed on an 86100D is A.07.61.

New Features

  • FlexOTO feature F-DCLK which allows the use of a direct clock from DUT fixture or test station. This clock is directly input to the N1092-series oscilloscope's Clock In connector instead of using clock recovery.

FlexDCA Improvements

  • Added the new Reference Rx signal processing operator which supports FFE and DFE joint optimization.
  • Added tap limits to the FFE and TDECQ equalizers.
  • Added auto precursors for FFE.
  • Added IEEE 802.3dj TDECQ measurement and equalizer presets. Renamed IEEE 802.3db presets to remove the draft number.
  • Added support for Python 3 for user operator and user measurement scripts. Python 2 support will be removed in a future FlexDCA release. At that time any Python 2 code will need to be ported to Python 3.
  • Improved the speed of the de-embedding operator.
  • TDR Mode now supports saving waveforms that exclude any off-screen data points.

FlexPLL Improvements

  • Added support for the M8050A 120 GBd high-performance BERT jitter source (M8042A Pattern Gen with M8009A Clock Module).

FlexDCA Issue Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where the waveform select/zoom feature did not always properly display the zoomed waveform.

FlexPLL Issue Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where the response waveform would disappear once it was fully acquired if Points per Decade was set to a high value.

Other FlexDCA Changes

  • Tap values in the TDECQ Operator can now be copied to the clipboard when Auto Taps is enabled.
  • Improved the Message Log Viewer dialog's scrolling behavior when showing long messages.
  • Removed the legacy color themes, leaving just the Tungsten (dark) and Aluminum (light) themes.
  • Removed FlexDCA support for the N8844A Data Analytics Web Service Software. This feature was accessed from FlexDCA's Tools > Data Analytics menu and programmatically using the :REPository subsystem.
  • FlexDCA's Flex-on-Flex connection to an 86100D is no longer available. The Standard and Compatibility selections in the FlexDCA Connection Setup dialog have been removed.
  • Removed ADS Dataset support.
  • Removed the deprecated demo/example program "TdecqTestManufacturing".

Installer Changes

  • Updated PathWave License Manager to version 7.4.1.
  • Updated Keysight License Manager to version 5.6.1.639.
  • Updated Keysight Host Processor Platform to version 5.5.0.3.
  • Added the Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime .NET 8 installer.
  • Installer prompts and reboots have been minimized, for a faster installation.
  • Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 installation are no longer supported. The last FlexDCA revision that can be installed on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 is A.07.61.
  • 86100D mainframe installation is no longer supported (Win7 or Win10). The last FlexDCA revision that can be installed on an 86100D is A.07.61.
  • Removed Legacy Sierra User Interface (UI) from installer.
  • Removed the MATLAB Runtime 9.2 from the installer; it is no longer required by FlexDCA. This reduced the 7.80 installer file size by over 1 GB.
  • Installer now removes the contents the \ProgramFiles\FlexDCA folder to ensure that on upgrade there are no remnants of an earlier install.

SCPI Commands

:ACQuire Subsystem

:CONFigure Subsystem

  • :CONFigure:CGENerator:ACTive (new, FlexOTO)
  • :CONFigure:CGENerator:REName (new, FlexOTO)
  • :CONFigure:FIXTure:HCOut (new, FlexOTO)

:DISK Subsystem

:FUNCtion Subsystem

:JSOurce Subsystem

  • :JSOurce:CMODule (new, FlexPLL)

:REPository Subsystem

This entire subsystem has been removed (removed, FlexDCA). The :REPository subsystem's commands were used to upload scalar measurement results to the Keysight N8844A data analytics servers.

:RDCA Subsystem

Obsolete commands used for connecting FlexDCA to an 86100D.

  • :RDCA:CONNect:ACTion (removed, FlexDCA)
  • :RDCA:CONNect:MODE (removed, FlexDCA)
  • :RDCA:CONNect:SFILe (removed, FlexDCA)

:SPRocess Subsystem

:SYSTem Subsystem

Obsolete commands used to configure and query 86100D connections.

  • :SYSTem:FCONfig (removed, FlexDCA)
  • :SYSTem:LANGuage (removed, FlexDCA)

:TRIGger Subsystem

Obsolete command to query if 86100D supports module triggering.

  • :TRIGger:MTALlowed (removed, FlexDCA)