With the accelerated growth of hyperscale datacenters, performance demands of Ethernet networks are increasing exponentially. As customer expectations for high-speed data throughput are at an all-time high, Bit Error Rate Testers (BERTs) have become a cornerstone for physical layer testing. Use cases range from qualifying bit transmission for fiber optic and copper-wire digital data transmission lines to testing signal integrity.
A BERT generates a sequence of bits through a communication channel and the received bits are then compared against the transmitted bits. A Bit Error Ratio (BER) quantifies the full end-to-end performance of a connectivity system and assures communication reliability. The ML4039B is a 4-lane 200G BERT ideal for the testing of active semiconductor implementations. Some of its highlighted features include 4 differential error detectors and pulse pattern generators, custom pattern generation in addition to PRBS and SSPRQ, adaptive receiver FFE, transmitter pre/post-emphasis and progressive troubleshooting capabilities.
