Tektronix has released new automated PCIe 7.0 transmitter and receiver test software aimed at 128 GT/s PAM4 electrical validation. The updates include the TekExpress PCIe 7.0 Transmitter Test Application, expanded PCIe 7.0 support in TekRxTest, and new PCIe 7.0-oriented capabilities in PAMJET Transmitter Analysis Software.
The tools are designed to automate transmitter measurements, calibrate stressed receiver signals, and validate designs against PCIe 7.0 Base Specification requirements. Tektronix is also positioning the software stack as a way to separate device behavior from channel and measurement-system effects at 128 GT/s, where loss, crosstalk, power-delivery noise, and jitter are harder to isolate.
PCIe 7.0 doubles the PCIe 6.0 data rate to 128 GT/s and supports up to 512 GB/s of bidirectional bandwidth over 16 lanes. That jump tightens electrical margins, and it can turn bring-up and cross-team correlation into a time sink if measurement setups and receiver stress conditions aren’t repeatable.
Tektronix describes the three pieces as covering different stages of PCIe 7.0 electrical validation when used with its 70 GHz DPO70000SX ATI performance oscilloscope and an Anritsu MP1900A Signal Quality Analyzer-R: transmitter measurement, receiver stress calibration and validation, and root-cause PAM4 analysis.
The TekExpress PCIe 7.0 Transmitter Test Application automates setup, waveform acquisition, analysis, and reporting for transmitter measurements defined in the PCIe 7.0 Base specification, including signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio, ratio of level mismatch, jitter, and transmitter preset equalization. Tektronix says the workflow targets first-silicon evaluation, preset comparisons, and design revision comparisons before system integration.
For receiver work, TekRxTest provides a guided workflow that controls the Tektronix oscilloscope and the Anritsu MP1900A for TP3 and TP2 stressed-eye calibration, preset and continuous-time linear equalization (CTLE) optimization, and channel verification. Tektronix also calls out automated oscilloscope noise compensation to support sinusoidal- and random-jitter calibration for repeatable conditions across teams and test environments.
On failure analysis, the company expanded PAMJET with features including noise-aware measurements, clock recovery, correlated and composite eye views, analysis of individual PAM4 transitions, and navigation to symbol-error events. Bluntly, that kind of tooling matters most when “pass/fail” compliance-style measurements don’t tell you why a link is misbehaving in the lab.
“Customers developing PCIe 7.0 designs need confidence that their measurements reflect the device, not the test environment,” said Daryl Ellis, Vice President and General Manager of Tektronix’s Signal Acquisition and Analysis Portfolio.
The TekExpress PCIe 7.0 Transmitter Test Application and expanded PCIe 7.0 capabilities in TekRxTest are available now. PAMJET Transmitter Analysis Software is purchased separately and is available now for compatible Tektronix high-performance oscilloscopes. More details are available at tek.com/pci-express.
Source: Tektronix
