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News Release from: Tektronix | Subject: iView
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 24 May 2001

4GHz scope waveforms on logic analyser
display

The Tektronix iView package combines many of the company's proven logic analyser and oscilloscope models, creating an integrated tool set for digital development and troubleshooting.

Tektronix has announced an automated instrumentation solution that seamlessly combines many of the company's proven logic analyser and oscilloscope models, creating an integrated tool set for digital development and troubleshooting Obtaining a clear signal is a significant challenge for electronic designers working on digital systems because the complexity of these designs can degrade signal quality

The Tektronix iView package makes it possible to routinely view time-correlated waveforms from oscilloscopes with bandwidths up to 4 GHz on the logic analyser display, enabling engineers to quickly track down elusive signal integrity problems in their designs.

'Advances in digital bus performance are increasingly making signal integrity a critical challenge in almost every kind of digital system.

Tektronix is addressing this challenge with the tools, such as iView, which our communications and computer customers need to bring their products to market in an increasingly competitive market', said Craig Overhage, Vice-President, Digital Systems Business Unit, Tektronix: 'iView gives engineers complete visibility of their systems' signals, from analogue waveforms to source code, helping them to pinpoint signal integrity problems and their effect on the performance of evolving designs.' Dramatic advances in the performance of devices such as processors and memories have created the need for much higher performance digital buses.

In response, system designers have turned to faster edges, lower voltages, multi-pumping of data, and source synchronous techniques among others.

Consequently, many new digital system designs are plagued with problems that arise from fast, complex signals: glitches, noise, anomalies, and more.

These aberrations are 'analogue' in nature, even though the system itself may be digital.

A high-performance oscilloscope is the best tool for acquiring such signal aberrations, while the logic analyser remains the core tool for digital acquisition, display, and analysis.

The new Integrated View (iView) package includes TLA Application Software Version 4.1 and interconnect to integrate the Tektronix TLA600 or TLA700 Series logic analysers with external Tektronix oscilloscopes in the high-performance TDS7000 Series, the TDS684C/694C, or the TDS3000 Series.

iView couples selected Tektronix TDS family oscilloscopes with TLA series logic analysers, producing a solution that shows, on the same logic analyser display, time-correlated views of both digital and analogue waveforms.

Setup is easy through the use of an external oscilloscope 'wizard' in the TLA Series logic analyser user interface which guides the user through setup and connection.

No user calibration is required.

And, once set up is completed, iView is completely automated.

iView provides the flexibility to use the logic analyser and oscilloscope independently or together.

Equally important, iView gives TLA Series logic analyser users integrated access to the unmatched performance of the TDS7404 oscilloscope's 4 GHz bandwidth.

This is the first time this level of oscilloscope performance has been paired with a logic analyser, and is particularly beneficial to designers solving signal integrity problems on the latest high-speed processors and buses.

Using iView, engineers can capture fast analogue waveform details and time-correlate them on the logic analyzer display with the equivalent digital events.

The two types of waveforms can be superimposed if desired.

iView makes it easy to see how a faulty signal edge, for example, correlates with erroneous data revealed by the logic analyser display.

Many mainstream digital design applications are today served by the cost-effective TLA600 Series logic analysers.

iView brings seamless integration of oscilloscope and logic analyser acquisition to the TLA600 for the first time.

An upgrade kit containing Version 4.1 TLA application software is available for current TLA600 and TLA700 Series users who want to add iView capabilities to their design bench. Request a free brochure from Tektronix ...

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