Teledyne VirtualProbe User Manual

Operator's
Manual

VirtualProbe
Software

VirtualProbe Software Operator's Manual

© 2013 Teledyne LeCroy, Inc. All rights reserved.

Unauthorized duplication of Teledyne LeCroy documentation materials other than for internal sales and distribution pur­poses is strictly prohibited. However, clients are encouraged to distribute and duplicate Teledyne LeCroy documentation
for their own internal educational purposes.

VirtualProbe and Teledyne LeCroy are registered trademarks of Teledyne LeCroy, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark
of Microsoft Corporation. Other product or brand names are trademarks or requested trademarks of their respective
holders. Information in this publication supersedes all earlier versions. Specifications are subject to change without
notice.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Virtual Probe Overview 2

Virtual Probe Process 2
Choose Your Mode of Operation 3
VirtualProbe, EyeDoctor-VPand EyeDoctor II 3
Compatible Models 3
Required Firmware 3

Modeling the Circuit 4

VirtualProbe Main Dialog 4
Setup Dialog 6
Block Setup Dialog 8
VirtualProbe (XTalk) Crosstalk Block 10
Touchstone File Format 12

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VirtualProbe Software

Virtual Probe Overview

The Teledyne LeCroy Virtual Probesoftware option lets you view waveforms as they would appear in cir­cuit locations other than the probing point, and in circuit configurations different from the configuration
actually used for the measurement. By using Virtual Probe, you can understand the characteristics of sig­nals where a physical probe cannot be placed, such as inside of a package or at the end of an inter­connect that doesn't physically exist. You can choose to remove effects caused by elements such as
fixtures that will not be present when the device under test is used its final configuration, or add the
effects of a device that is to be included but for which only an S-parameter model exists.

VirtualProbe can be used in conjunction with the SDAIII-CompleteLinQfamily of serial data analysis tools,
or operated independently. It is compatible with SDAIII-CompleteLinQmulti-lane capabilities, integrating
seamlessly into the SDAIII-CompleteLinQframework flow diagram. When the oscilloscope is also out­fitted with the Noise and Crosstalk measurement package (offered with SDAIII-CrossLinQ or SDAIII-Com­pleteLinQ), you can model the crosstalk across multiple lanes. Configuring and compiling the circuit
model is fast, and the software rapidly calculates the output waveforms.

Virtual Probe Process

The basic process for using Virtual Probe is:

l Create a model of the circuit to be analyzed using a simple user interface.

l For each block of the model, indicate whether or not the virtual probe output should include or

remove the effects of that block.

l For measurements taken with a differential probe, indicate the probe used to make the meas-

urement, so that the probe loading effects can be removed.

l Identify the position of the probe used to take the measurement.

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l Identify the position of a "virtual probe" that outputs the waveform that would be seen at the

selected position .

l When used in conjunction with SDAIII-CompleteLinQ serial data analysis packages, use the Vir-

tualProbe output as the source waveforms for equalization, eye, jitter, and noise measurements.

Choose Your Mode of Operation

VirtualProbe appears in the Analysis menu of the scope application. When used independent of SDAIII­CompleteLinQ, choosing Analysis > VirtualProbe opens the VirtualProbe setup dialog, where you'll see
four, independent setups.

When used from within the SDAIII-CompleteLinQframework (EyeDoctor II required), choosing Analysis
>VirtualProbe opens a VirtualProbe dialog within the SDAIII-CompleteLinQ De-embed/Emulate dialog.

VirtualProbe, EyeDoctor-VPand EyeDoctor II

VirtualProbe is the next step in the evolution of Teledyne LeCroy's virtual probing capability that was
introduced in the EyeDoctor-VP package and was later included with the de-embed/emulate models in
EyeDoctor II. The core functionality of VirtualProbe is in part described in the EyeDoctor II section of this
Help system. EyeDoctor Irequired separate software for creating a system description file. EyeDoctor
IIincluded three choices for de-embedding and emulating 2 blocks (1 fixture and 1 channel). The current
VirtualProbe extends the EyeDoctor IIcapabilities to model up-to-6 blocks.

Compatible Models

VirtualProbe is compatible with WavePro/SDA/DDA 7 Zi/Zi-A, WaveMaster/SDA/DDA 8 Zi/Zi-A, Lab­Master 9 Zi-A and 10 Zi series oscilloscopes.

Required Firmware

Your oscilloscope must be running firmware version 6.9.x.x or higher to support the VirtualProbe option.
Firmware upgrades are available from www.lecroy.com/support/downloads.

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