Agilent Technologies N5980A User Manual

Agilent

3.125 Gb/s Serial BERT

N5980A

User Guide

Notices

© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2006

No part of this manual may be reproduced in
any form or by any means (including electronic
storage and retrieval or translation into a
foreign language) without prior agreement and
written consent from Agilent Technologies,
Inc. as governed by United States and
international copyright laws.

Manual Part Number

N5980-91010

Edition

Revision 1.0 May 2006

Printed in Germany

Agilent Technologies, Deutschland GmbH

Herrenberger Str. 130

71034 Böblingen, Germany

For Assistance and Support

http://www.agilent.com/find/assist

For Product Updates

http://www.agilent.com/find/manufa
cturing_BERT

Warranty

The material contained in this document is
provided “as is,” and is subject to being
changed, without notice, in future editions.
Further, to the maximum extent permitted by
applicable law, Agilent disclaims all
warranties, either express or implied, with
regard to this manual and any information
contained herein, including but not limited to
the implied warranties of merchantability and
fitness for a particular purpose. Agilent shall
not be liable for errors or for incidental or
consequential damages in connection with
the furnishing, use, or performance of this
document or of any information contained
herein. Should Agilent and the user have a
separate written agreement with warranty
terms covering the material in this document
that conflict with these terms, the warranty
terms in the separate agreement shall
control.

Technology Licenses

The hardware and/or software described in
this document are furnished under a license
and may be used or copied only in accordance
with the terms of such license.

Restricted Rights Legend

If software is for use in the performance of a
U.S. Government prime contract or
subcontract, Software is delivered and licensed
as “Commercial computer software” as
defined in DFAR 252.227-7014 (June 1995), or
as a “commercial item” as defined in FAR

2.101(a) or as “Restricted computer software”
as defined in FAR 52.227-19 (June 1987) or any
equivalent agency regulation or contract
clause. Use, duplication or disclosure of
Software is subject to Agilent Technologies’
standard commercial license terms, and non­DOD Departments and Agencies of the U.S.
Government will receive no greater than
Limited Rights as defined in FAR 52.227­19(c)(1-2) (June 1987). U.S. Government users
will receive no greater than Limited Rights as
defined in FAR 52.227-14 (June 1987) or DFAR

252.227-7015 (b)(2) (November 1995), as
applicable in any technical data.

Safety Notices

CAUTION

A CAUTION notice denotes a hazard.
It calls attention to an operating
procedure, practice, or the like that, if
not correctly performed or adhered to,
could result in damage to the product
or loss of important data. Do not
proceed beyond a CAUTION notice
until the indicated conditions are fully
understood and met.

WARNING

A WARNING notice denotes a
hazard. It calls attention to an
operating procedure, practice, or the
like that, if not correctly performed
or adhered to, could result in
personal injury or death. Do not
proceed beyond a WARNING notice
until the indicated conditions are
fully understood and met.

2 N5980A User Guide

Safety Summary

General Safety Precautions

The following general safety
precautions must be observed during
all phases of operation of this
instrument. Failure to comply with
these precautions or with specific
warnings elsewhere in this manual
violates safety standards of design,
manufacture, and inte nded use of the
instrument.

Agilent Technologies Inc. assumes
no liability for the customer's failure
to comply with these requirements.

Before operation, review the
instrument and manual for safety
markings and instructions. You must
follow these to ensure safe operation
and to maintain the instrument in
safe condition.

General

This product is a Safety Class 1
instrument (provided with a
protective earth terminal). The
protective features of this product
may be impaired if it is used in a
manner not specified in the
operation instructions.

All Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
used in this product are Class 1
LEDs as per IEC 60825-1.

Environment Conditions

This instrument is intended for
indoor use in an installation category
II, pollution degree 2 environment. It
is designed to operate at a maximum
relative humidity of 95% and at
altitudes of up to 2000 meters.

Refer to the specifications tables for
the ac mains voltage requirements
and ambient operating temperature
range.

Before Applying Power

Verify that all safety precautions are
taken. The power cable inlet of the
instrument serves as a device to
disconnect from the mains in case of
hazard. The instrument must be
positioned so that the operator can
easily access the power cable inlet.
When the instrument is rack
mounted the rack must be provided
with an easily accessible mains
switch.

Ground the Instrument

To minimize shock hazard, the
instrument chassis and cover must
be connected to an electrical
protective earth ground. The
instrument must be connected to the
ac power mains through a grounded
power cable, with the ground wire
firmly connected to an electrical
ground (safety ground) at the power
outlet. Any interruption of the
protective (grounding) conductor or
disconnection of the protective earth
terminal will cause a potential shock
hazard that could result in personal
injury.

Do Not Operate in an Explosive
Atmosphere

Do not operate the instrument in the
presence of flammable gases or
fumes.

Do Not Remove the Instrument
Cover

Operating personnel must not
remove instrument covers.
Component replacement and internal
adjustments must be made only by
qualified personnel.

Instruments that appear damaged or
defective should be made
inoperative and secured against
unintended operation until they can
be repaired by qualified service
personnel.

Safety Symbols on
Instruments

Indicates warning or caution. If
you see this symbol on a product,
you must refer to the manuals for
specific Warning or Caution
information to avoid personal
injury or damage to the product.

Safety requirements for electrical
equipment for measurement,
control, and laboratory use
CAN/CSA C22.2 No. 1010.1

Notice for European Community:
This product complies with the
relevant European legal
Directives: EMC Directive
89/336/EEC and Low Voltage
Directive 73/23/EEC.

Conformity Mark of the
Australian ACA for EMC

compliance.
(1993) UL 3101, 3111 (First
Editions). This equipment has
also been evaluated to IEC 61010
edition 1 including amendments
1 and 2.

Environmental Information

General Recycling Mark for
plastic parts used in the product.

4 N5980A User Guide

Contents

Contents

1 Introduction 7

2 Getting Started 8

Inspect Shipment 8
Connect the Instrument 9

Front Panel 9
Rear Panel 10

Install User Software for N5980A 11

To Install the User Software for N5980A 12
To Access N5980A 14

3 Operating N5980A with the User Interface 16

Introduction 16
Running the BER Test 17
Setting the Instrument Parameters 18

Setup 18
Advanced 19

Viewing the Results 20

4 Reference for the User Interface 21

File Menu 21

Advanced Mode 21
Store Setting 21
Store Setting As 22
Recall Setting 22
Factory Default Setting 22
Instrument Default Setting 22
Exit 22

Connection Menu 22

Connect 23

Info 24
Help Menu 24
Error Indicators 24

BER Bar 25

N5980A User Guide 5

Contents

Error 25

Sync Loss 25
Setup and Advanced Tab 26

Setup 26

Advanced 27
BER and Advanced BER Tab 28

BER 28

Advanced BER 29

5 Programming Reference 30

Introduction 30
Common Command Summary 30
Agilent N5980A Command Summary 30
SCPI Instrument Command List- Reference 31

Common Commands 31

All Channels 33

SMA Output (Electrical Generator) 34

SFP Output (Optical Generator) 36

Trigger Output 38

Synchronization mode 39
Sample Code 42

6 N5980A User Guide

Introduction

1 Introduction

This chapter introduces you to the Serial BERT User Guide, and it
provides information on the various chapters and topics covered.

1 Getting Started

 Inspect Shipment
 Connect the Instrument
 Install User Software for N5980A

2 Operating N5980A with the User Interface

 Introduction
 Running the BER Test
 Setting the Instrument Parameters
 Viewing the Results

3 Reference for the User Interface
4 Programming through SCPI

 Introduction
 Common Command Summary
 SCPI Instrument Command List
 Sample Code

N5980A User Guide 7

Getting Started

2 Getting Started

Inspect Shipment

Agilent N5980A 3.125 GB/s
Serial BERT

Before you get started with the Serial BERT check if the shipment
package contains the following standard deliverables:

If the content is incomplete, if there is
mechanical damage, or if the
instrument does not work within its
specifications, notify the nearest Agilent
office. The Agilent office will arrange
for repair or replacement without
awaiting settlement.

SFP Loopback connector

Local Power Cord

USB Cable

(see CD content below).

CD

The CD content is:

 Autorun.inf – If your PC supports autorun, this file starts the

installation.

 dotnetfx.exe - This installs the latest Microsoft .Net Framework

2.0. This should be done in case .Net Framework 2.0 is not
already installed, and internet access is not available.

 N5980A.msi – The Serial BERT installer package
 Setup.exe – If your PC doesn’t support autorun, execute this file

to run the installation.

 DoC.pdf - Declaration of Conformity
 DataSheet.pdf – This document contains the product

specifications.

 Presales_Presentation.pdf – Describes typical applications.
 UserGuide.pdf – This document contains the details about how

to use the Serial BERT.

8 N5980A User Guide

Getting Started

Connect the Instrument

In order to connect the Serial BERT let’s have a look at the Front and
the Rear Panels:

Front Panel

The Front Panel has LEDs, Data In/Out ports, and an SFP connector.

Figure 1 Front Panel

SFP

The Small Form Factor Pluggable interface (SFP) is an industry
standard daughter card used in networking devices. It interfaces a
network device with a networking cable. Typically SFP modules are
optical transceivers using multimode (850 nm), or single-mode (1310
nm, 1550nm) cabling.

An SFP loopback connector is part of the N5980A shipment delivery.
This connector is used for functional verification of the SFP port. It
has an internal loop from the SFP output to the SFP input signal.

NOTE

SFP compliant modules can be inserted into the SFP slot. While selecting
golden SFP modules observe the specifications of the selected device. Make
sure that the supported maximum PRBS length, and the maximum data rate
matches with the N5980A settings. Make sure that the wavelength of the SFP
module, and the cabling are identical, and that the optical power is within the
specified limit. To measure BER at the SFP input, select the Input “SFP
(Optical)” in the user interface.

N5980A User Guide 9

Getting Started

LED

LEDs Function

Power LED

USB Active

Signal Detect

Data Error

Indicates power-on

Indicates that the instrument is currently being
used/controlled by the user software

Indicates the status of the Signal Detect line when the
inserted SFP module supports a Signal Detect Control line.
Usually this pin indicates whether the optical input power
is above or within the specified range.

Indicates that the error detector has detected bit errors

Rear Panel

The Rear Panel has the USB connector,the Power in, and the safety
symbols.

Figure 2 Rear Panel

NOTE

For proper ventilation keep the Serial BERT at a distance of 2 cm on both sides,
and 10 cm at the back.

To Connect N5980A

1 Connect the N5980A power cord at the rear panel Power In.
2 Connect the instrument, via USB, to the PC on which the User

Interface will be installed.

NOTE

Some USB hubs might decrease performance. If possible, directly connect the
N5980A to your PC.

10 N5980A User Guide

Getting Started

Figure 3 Serial BERT setup diagram

Install User Software for N5980A

The requirements for software installation:

 Either Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, or Windows XP Service

Pack 2

 Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 is automatically downloaded from

the Microsoft download center during installation. Alternatively
dotnetfx.exe may be run from the installation CD in order to
install the Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0. This step should be
executed in case .Net Framework 2.0 is not already installed on
the computer, or the available internet connection is slow.

NOTE

To execute the User Software, Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 is required.

N5980A User Guide 11

Getting Started

To Install the User Software for N5980A

1 Insert the CD in the PC’s CD Drive.
2 Double-click

Displays the Welcome screen.

3 The Installer guides you through the installation process.

12 N5980A User Guide

Getting Started

Select the folder in which N5980A will be saved.

N5980A User Guide 13

Getting Started

After the installation is completed, click Finish to close the installer.

To Access N5980A

To launch N5980A, go to Program File and click on:

If there is a N5980A connected to the PC via USB, and the User
Software is installed, then the following screen appears:

NOTE

Typical Hardware Initialization duration is between 3 to 5 minutes.

14 N5980A User Guide