Anritsu Network Master™ Pro MT1000A

The portable Network Master Pro MT1040A is the smallest-in-class portable dual port 400G analyzer to support the evolution of 5G and data-center communications traffic, as well as expanding Ethernet networks.

Network errors are likely to occur when very high speed signals flow through 400G optical transceivers. The IEEE 802.3 standard specifies error correction using Forward Error Correction (FEC), a technology whereby the packet itself corrects any errors that might occur and is used to achieve high-reliability communications. FEC is not an omnipotent technology, however, that corrects every error. If there are too many FEC corrections, the network performance will degrade. Consequently, the FEC frequency should be confirmed simultaneously with latency and throughput measurements. This should be done during network installation and normal operation.

Testing the FEC correction rate offers an easy check of optical-transceiver communications signal quality. The MT1040A has a built-in function for the measuring the FEC status in real-time. Periodic network monitoring using this function confirms the network load conditions, helping prevent problems that can cause costly network downtime.

With the built-in FEC analysis functions, the MT1040A is the ideal tester for evaluating the communications quality of optical modules, such as QSFP-DD, and the performance of 400G devices. This portable, all-in-one, expandable tester also supports 10/100G/400G, OTDR, and CPRI tests, as well as eCPRI/RoE, and precision latency and time synchronization measurements. In short, the MT1040A is a single-instrument solution that supports all technologies integrated into today’s base stations.

5G services are making it more complex to conduct on-site testing at base stations. There are more fiber runs, conversion to fronthaul Ethernet, and adoption of Precision Time Protocol (PTP) supporting small-cell installations and CRAN. This new generation of base station requires new measurements with which many field technicians are not familiar. That is why the MT1040A is designed with Site Over Remote Access (SORA) software. With the cloud-based SORA, the MT1040A can be operated remotely from anywhere. Senior-level engineers can log in to an Internet webpage and control the measuring instrument from the office via a smartphone, helping ensure accurate measurements and improving efficiency.

Further simplifying field measurements is the advanced graphical user interface (GUI) of the MT1040A. The GUI is designed for efficient on-site network I&M evaluation work, and fast troubleshooting if a problem occurs. The intuitive user interface also helps shorten operator training times.

From the judges:

“Portable network tester with a very rich variety of both basic functionality and quite advanced one, up to 400G. Also covers a variety of signals (RF and optical), and a variety of protocols. Should be extremely useful for network operators and installers.”

“The SORA feature maximizes the accessibility of the product.”

“Portable tester with battery back-up and remote control capabilities for 10M-400G tests including (e)CPRI and 1588. Modular configuration allows optimized set-up for a variety of measurement tasks.”

Signal Quality Analyzer-R MP1900A

The Signal Quality Analyzer-R MP1900A is built on a modular platform, so it supports current physical layer evaluations during early stage R&D and has excellent expandability to meet the testing requirements of 800 GbE and 1 TbE technologies. It produces industry-best eye patterns necessary for highly accurate FEC measurements, due in part to best-in-class waveform output quality resulting from fast Tr/Tf of 8.5 ps (20% to 80%) and low intrinsic jitter of 170 fs (rms).

It is the world’s first all-in-one PAM4 BER test solution. It supports emphasis variable dynamic range (±20 dB) and ISI simulation, and has a built-in clock recovery and equalizer. Jitter tolerance test and bathtub jitter analysis can be conducted with the MP1900A, which also conducts symbol error measurements, and FEC pattern generation, and error analysis using a dedicated FEC symbol capture function.

High performance is achieved due to a PAM4 pulse pattern generator (PPG) and PAM4 error detector (ED), both of which are built in to the MP1900A mainframe. The PPG supports high-quality data output with low noise and low distortion over high analog band with Tr/Tf of 8.5 ms and intrinsic jitter of 170 fs rms. The result is high-reproducibility measurements supported by PAM4 signals with open 3-eye waveform – required for accurate analysis of these high-speed transmissions. A benefit for signal integrity engineers is the ability of the PPG to freely control PAM4 output linearity to change the output level for each eye independently.

Combining the PAM4 ED with the PAM4 PPG supports BER measurements of 116-Gbit/s (58 Gbaud) PAM4 signals. Error-free BER measurement is achieved by the industry-best high sensitivity performance of 23 mV @26 Gbaud and 36 mV @53 Gbaud. The resulting high-accuracy BER measurements make it easy to troubleshoot previously difficult-to-analyze PAM4 devices. In addition, true DUT performance can be verified because CEI-112G-VSR-defined worst-case stressed signals can be received at low-error rates (<E-8), exceeding the specifications. Moreover, the BER of eye waveforms closed by ISI can be measured using the built-in equalizer function.

One capability that separates the MP1900A from other BERTs is its FEC Analysis function that supports FEC symbol error evaluations and jitter tolerance tests required by high-speed PAM4 transmissions. It detects both bit errors and FEC symbol errors in real-time and measures jitter tolerance referenced to FEC symbol error count as a pass/fail criterion. Distribution of FEC symbol errors per codeword are displayed for more thorough evaluation. The FEC analysis, high sensitivity performance, and FEC symbol capture features facilitate best-in-class high-reproducibility FEC symbol error evaluation.

From the judges:

“Highly accurate BER measurements of up to 58 GBaud PAM4 interfaces are made possible through leading sensitivity performance.”

“Versatile signal analyzer useful for a variety of test and performance validation functions, useful for device, module, system developers as well as network qualification.”

“This is an excellent product. Anritsu has identified a key need in the development and analysis of components and systems utilizing error correction. Building this FEC capability into a PPG/BERT is a very useful product.”