Agilent Technologies N4916A User manual

Getting Started
with the
Agilent N4916A
De-Emphasis Signal Converter
If you need more detailed information on
the N4916A, refer to the Online Help of your
High-Performance Serial BERT N4903A/B
or Pulse Data Generator 81141/42A.
The Help also offers printable versions of the
User Guide and the Programming Guide.
You only need a few minutes to get started
with the N4916A.
This Getting Started Brochure helps you to
quickly install and check the instrument.

Notice
2
Safety Summary
Technology Licenses
The material contained in this document is provided
“as is,” and is subject to being changed, without
notice, in future editions. Further, to the maximum
extent permitted by applicable law, Agilent disclaims
all warranties, either express or implied, with regard
to this manual and any information contained herein,
including but not limited to the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Agilent shall not be liable for errors or for incidental
or consequential damages in connection with the
furnishing, use or performance of this document or
of any information contained herein. Should Agilent
and the user have a separate written agreement with
warranty terms covering the material in this document
that conflict with these terms, the warranty terms in
the separate agreement shall control.
Restricted Rights Legend
Services and Support
Any adjustment, maintenance, or repair of this
product must be performed by qualified personnel.
Contact your customer engineer through your local
Agilent Technologies Service Center. You can find
a list of local service representatives on the Web at:
http://www.agilent.com/find/techsupport
Operating personnel must not remove instrument
covers. Component replacement and internal
adjustments must be made only by qualified
personnel.
Instruments that appear damaged or defective
should be made inoperative and secured against
unintended operation until they can be repaired by
qualified service personnel.
The following general safety precautions must be
observed during all phases of operation of this
instrument. Failure to comply with these precautions
or with specific warnings elsewhere in this manual
violates safety standards of design, manufacture,
and intended use of the instrument.
Agilent Technologies Inc. assumes no liability for
the customer's failure to comply with these
requirements.
Before operation, review the instrument and manual
for safety markings and instructions. You must follow
these to ensure safe operation and to maintain the
instrument in safe condition.
This product is a Safety Class 1 instrument
(provided with a protective earth terminal).
The protective features of this product may be
impaired if it is used in a manner not specified in
the operation instructions.
All Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) used in this
product are Class 1 LEDs as per IEC 60825-1.
Environmental Conditions
Verify that all safety precautions are taken.
The power cable inlet of the instrument
serves as a device to disconnect from the
mains in case of hazard.
The instrument must be positioned so that
the operator can easily access the power
cable inlet. When the instrument is rack-
mounted the rack must be provided with
an easily accessible mains switch.
Before Applying Power
To minimize shock hazard, the instrument chassis
and cover must be connected to an electrical
protective earth ground. The instrument must be
connected to the ac power mains through a
grounded power cable, with the ground wire firmly
connected to an electrical ground (safety ground)
at the power outlet. Any interruption of the
protective (grounding) conductor or disconnection
of the protective earth terminal will cause a
potential shock hazard that could result in
personal injury.
Do not operate the instrument in the presence of
flammable gases or fumes.
Do Not Operate in an Explosive Atmosphere
The hardware and/or software described in this
document are furnished under a license and may
be used or copied only in accordance with
terms of such license.
Warranty
Revision 3.0, January 2010
Manual Part Number
N4916A-91010
Printed in Germany
Agilent Technologies, Deutschland GmbH
Herrenberger Str. 130
71034 Boeblingen, Germany
Revision
© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2010
Copyright General Safety Precautions
General
Ground the Instrument
This instrument is intended for indoor use in an
installation category II, pollution degree
2 environment. It is designed to operate within
a temperature range of 5 – 40 °C (40 – 105 °F)
at a maximum relative humidity of 95% and
at altitudes of up to 2000 meters.
Refer to the specifications tables for the ac mains
voltage requirements and ambient operating
temperature range.
Do Not Remove the Instrument Cover
U.S. Government Restricted Rights.
Software and technical data rights granted to
the federal government include only those rights
customarily provided to end user customers.
Agilent provides this customary commercial license
in Software and technical data pursuant to FAR 12.211
(Technical Data) and 12.212 (Computer Software) and,
for the Department of Defense, DFARS 252.227-7015
(Technical Data - Commercial Items) and
DFARS 227.7202-3 (Rights in Commercial Computer
Software or Computer Software Documentation).

Installing the Agilent N4916A
AgilentPulseGenarator
This Getting Started Brochure
Power Cable
3
USB Cable
Inspect Shipment
Check if the Agilent N4916A shipping container
contains the following standard deliverables:
If the contents are incomplete, if there is mechanical
damage, or if the instrument does not work within its
specifications, notify the nearest Agilent office. The
Agilent office will arrange for repair or replacement
without awaiting settlement.
Agilent
De-Emphasis Signal Converter
connected to
N4903A/B Serial BERT
N4916A
Power Requirements Connections of the N4916A
The N4916A is controlled by the Serial BERT
N4903A/B or Pulse Data Generator 81141/42A
via USB. The respective ports are at the rear
side of the instruments.
The N4916A converts the signal produced by the
Pattern Generator (PG).
Its Input has to be connected to the Data Out of the
PG. Its Output has to be connected to the device
under test.
The respective ports are at the front side of the
instruments.
All data and clock input and output connectors
of the PG that are not used in your test setup
must be terminated with 50 Ohm.
The instrument can operate from any single-phase
AC power source supplying 100 – 240 V in the
frequency range from 50 – 60 Hz.
The maximum power consumption is 170 VA.
The power supply automatically adapts to the
applied AC power (Auto Selection) and monitors
the AC power range.
The mains plug can only be inserted in a socket
outlet that provides protective earth contact. Any
interruption of the protective earth contact inside or
outside the instrument makes any operation of the
instrument dangerous. Intentional interruption is
prohibited.
Ventilation Requirements
Do not cover the ventilation holes.
Make sure that there is adequate clearance of 50 mm (2 in) at the rear and right side
of the instrument to ensure adequate air flow. If the air flow is restricted, the internal
operating temperature will be higher, reducing the instrument's reliability.
For the complete content of your delivery
please refer to the Box Contents List.
Box Contents List
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Installing the Agilent N4916A
4
Open the Help menu
and click About.
3
Check the Software Status of your Serial BERT N4903A/B
or Pulse Data Generator 81141/42A
The software revision must be
4.8 or later. If it is lower, you
need to update the software.
For details refer to the User
Guide.
Inspect the Agilent
IO Control icon in the
Windows task bar.
5
If you see this icon,
the revision of the Agilent
IO Libraries Suite is M.01.
You can use
IO Config for
configuring
the N4916A.
If you see this icon,
the revision of the Agilent
IO Libraries Suite is 14.1
or later. IO Control
IO Control
You may wish to connect a keyboard and
mouse to your Serial BERT N4903A/B
or Pulse Data Generator 81141/42A.
This is not mandatory but convenient
and should be done when the instrument
is switched off.
1
Open the Utility menu
and click Minimize GUI.
4
Switch on the Serial BERT
N4903A/B or Pulse Data
Generator 81141/42A.
2
You can use the Agilent
Connection Expert which
makes it easy to configure
USB instruments.

Installing the Agilent N4916A
Establish the USB Connection
Keep the user interface of
the Serial BERT N4903A/B
or Pulse Data Generator
81141/42A minimized.
1
Connect the N4916A to
mains and switch it on.
2Connect the USB cable
between the USB port of
the N4916A and one of
the rear USB ports of your
N4903A/B or Pulse Data
Generator 81141/42A.
3
When you connect the N4916A
for the first time, the Windows
Found New Hardware Wizard
appears and asks wether he should
connect to Windows Update.
Answer No.
4
Click Next until
the wizard finishes.
5
Windows will automatically
identify the N4916A as a USB
Test and Measurement Device.
The necessary USB driver is part
of the Agilent IO Libraries Suite.
5
Power
Supply
Fuse
F 3.15A

Installing the Agilent N4916A
6
Assign a VISA Alias Name to the N4916A
If the Agilent Connection Expert
does not pop up automatically,
click the Agilent IO Control icon
in the Windows task bar and
start it from the menu.
1
In the Instrument I/O panel,
click UsbDevice1.
"UsbDevice1" is the default
alias name.
2
Click Change Properties
and change the alias name
to D4916. This is the alias
used by the software.
3
After clicking OK,
the Agilent Connection Expert
shows a window like the following:
4
In this example, we use the Agilent Connection Expert.
If your N4903A/B or 81141/42A uses revision M.01 of
the Agilent IO Libraries Suite, you can run IO Config
for the same purpose.
A VISA alias name is required by the software to
access the N4916A.

Checking the Agilent N4916A
7
11
2
For N4903A or 81141/42A
For N4903B
Connect the N4916A to the Pattern Generator
In the PG Setup menu press
PG Output Setup to access
the PG Output Setup window.
Press De-Emphasis
to open the De-Emphasis
Connection dialog window.
2
3
In the External Instrument(s)
menu click Config to
access Config window..
Select the De-Emphasis function to open
the De-Emphasis Connection dialog.
Press Connect
to activate the connection
between the N4903A/B or
81141/42A and the N4916A.
You can set the de-emphasis
value between 0 and 12 dB.
4
The Config window displays a
list of instruments, externally
connected to the N4903B.
3Press Enable to activate the connection
between the N4903B and the N4916A.
4Switch to PG Setup menu and
click Data Output to access
Data Output window.
5You can set the de-emphasis
value between -8 to 0 dB.
A selected checkbox corresponding to the
function indicates that the connection is
established between the N4903B and
N4916B.
Use a 2.4 mm cable (m-m)
and connect the pattern
generator's Data Out port to
the Input port of the N4916A.
1
Mount the SMA 50 Ohm termination
on the unused Data Out port of the
pattern generator using the SMA
to 2.4 mm adapter.
2
Restore the N4903A/B or
81141/42A user interface
from the Windows taskbar.
3

8
Checking the Agilent N4916A
Check the Output Signal
In the PG Output Setup window (N4903A) or
set the
Data offset to 0 V and the amplitude to 1 V.
Set the De-Emphasis value to 6 dB.
the Data Output Window (N4903B),
1
Connect the Outputs of the
N4916A to an oscilloscope.
2
Connect the Trigger Output
of the pattern generator to the
trigger input of the oscilloscope.
3
Set the Trigger Out
to Pattern Trigger.
4
The general approach shown here is using an oscilloscope.
If you have connected the N4916A to a High-Performance
Serial BERT N4903A/B, you can also use the error detector.
For details see the Help and the User Guide.
Choose a suitable pattern
(e.g. PRBS) and start the
pattern generator.
5
After some adjustments of
the scope, you will see a
display like the following:
6
In case of problems, please refer to the section
"Problems with the N4916A" of the Help and the
User Guide of your N4903A/B or 81141/42A.
A de-emphasis value of
6 dB reduces the amplitude
of subsequent ones or zeros
by 50 %.
1 1 1 0 0 1 1 101