Agilent Technologies N4916B User manual

Getting Started
with the
Agilent N4916B
De-Emphasis Signal Converter
If you need more detailed information on
the N4916B, refer to the Online Help of your
High-Performance Serial BERT N4903B.
For more information, visit
The Help also offers printable versions of the
User Guide and the Programming Guide.
www.agilent.com/find/jbert
You only need a few minutes to get started
with the N4916B.
This Getting Started Brochure helps you to
quickly install and check the instrument.

Notice
2
Safety Summary
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
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
This product is marked with a warning
symbol when it is necessary for the user
to refer the instructions in the manual.
Instrument Markings
Revision 7.0, October 2012
Manual Part Number
N4916B-91011
Printed in Germany
Agilent Technologies, Deutschland GmbH
Herrenberger Str. 130
71034 Boeblingen, Germany
Revision
© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2012
Copyright
Technology Licenses
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.
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
Warranty
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).
All front-panel connectors of N4916B are very sensitive
to Electrostatic Discharge (ESD).
We urgently recommend to operate the instrument in
an electrostatic safe environment.
There is a high risk of instrument damage causing
expensive repairs when connecting a not fully
discharged device or cable to a front-panel connectors
or when touching a connector.
Please follow these instructions:
Before connecting any coaxial cable to the connectors,
short the center and outer conductor with ground.
Before touching the front-panel connectors, discharge
yourself by touching the properly grounded frame of
the instrument.
ESD Sensitive Device

Installing the Agilent N4916B
Power Cable
3
USB Cable
Inspect Shipment
Check if the Agilent N4916B 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
N4903B Serial BERT
N4916B
Power Requirements Connections of the N4916B
The N4916B is controlled by the J-BERT via
USB. The respective port is at the rear side of the
instrument.
The N4916B is a 4-tap De-emphasis signal converter
with optional clock multiplier which converts the
signal produced by the Pattern Generator (PG).
For De-emphasis, its DATA IN has to be connected to
the DATA OUT of the PG and the CLK IN has to be
connected to the AUX CLK OUT of the PG using the
matched cable pair with the part number N4915A-010.
For Clock Multiplier, its Clock Input has to be
connected to the Clock Out of the PG. Its Clock Output
has to be connected to the Clock In of ED.
The N4916B is also supported for Aux Data Out
channel of the PG as well in the second
channel mode.
N4903B
Its Data Output has to be connected to the device
under test.
If the N4916B is used with other instruments like
ParBERT 81250 or N4903A, see the readme contained
in the N4916B.x.x.x.x.zip file located on the installation
media.
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
The maximum power consumption is 80 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.
frequency range from 50 – 60 Hz.
The maximum allowed voltage fluctuation is 10%.
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.
In addition, the box will contain an installation
media, 4 x 50 Qhm termination resistors,
Certification of Calibration
(Uk6 report) RoHS.
Box Contents List
Box Contents List Contents
Box Contents List Contents
Box Contents List Contents
Box Contents List Contents
Box Contents List Contents
Box Contents List Contents
Box Contents List Contents
Box Contents List Contents
Use
The respective ports are at the front side of the
instruments.
a 3.5mm/2.4mm adapter to connect
ParBERT 81250 or N4903A.
Installation Media

Installing the Agilent N4916B
4
Open the Help menu
and click About.
3
Check the Software Status of your Serial BERT N4903B
The software revision must be
7.0 or later. If it is lower, you
need to update the software.
For details refer to the User
Guide.
www.agilent.com/find/n4903
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 15.5 or later.
You may wish to connect a keyboard and
mouse to your Serial BERT N4903B.
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
N4903B.
2
You can use the Agilent
Connection Expert which
makes it easy to configure
USB instruments.

Installing the Agilent N4916B
Establish the USB Connection
Keep the user interface of
the Serial BERT N4903B
minimized.
1
Connect the N4916B to
mains and switch it on.
2
Connect the USB cable between
the USB port of the N4916B and
one of the rear USB ports of your
N4903B.
3
When you connect the N4916B
for the first time, the Windows
Found New Hardware Wizard
appears and asks whether it should
connect to Windows Update.
Answer No.
4
Click Next until
the wizard finishes.
5
Windows will automatically
identify the N4916B as a USB
Test and Measurement Device.
The necessary USB driver is part
of the Agilent IO Libraries Suite.
5
Rear panel view of N4903B
Rear panel view of N4916B

Installing the Agilent N4916B
6
Assign a VISA Alias Name to the N4916B
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 .
“ ” is the default
alias name.
UsbInstrument1
UsbInstrument1
2
Click Change Properties and change the
alias name to DATA_OUT or AUXDATA_OUT
depending on the channel (Data Out and
Aux Data Out) used.
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 N4903B uses revision of the
Agilent IO Libraries Suite, you can run IO Config
for the same purpose.
IO-Lib 15.5
A VISA alias name is required by the software to
access the N4916B.
The alias name DATA_OUT or AUXDATA_OUT
is mandatory. You should not use any other
alias name.

Checking the Agilent N4916B
7
4
Disable the outputs of the
J-BERT and use a 2.4 mm
cable (m-m) and connect
the pattern generator's
Data Out port to the
Input port of the N4916B.
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 N4903B user
interface from the
Windows taskbar.
3
Connect the N4916B to the Pattern Generator
From the Navigation Menu,
select External Instrument(s)
and then click Config to
access Config window.
The Config window displays a list of instruments
externally connected to the Serial BERT N4903B
along with the functions associated with them.
If the setup is used for the first time, perform the
calibrated settings. Refer to the help system for
detailed calibration instructions.
Let’s follow the next steps to enable these functions.
5
Enabling Clock Multiplier
Select the Clock Multiplier function to open
the Clock Multiplier Connection dialog.
7
If you select the Clock Multiplier function,
a new menu entry is added to the External
Instrument(s) submenu.
From the Navigation Menu, select
External Instrument(s) and then click
Clock Multiplier-DATAOUT to access
Clock Multiplier-DATAOUT window.
7
8Set the values as following:
- Input Frequency: 1 to 7 .6 GHz
- Termination Voltage: -2.0 V to 2.0 V
5Select the De-Emphasis function to open
the De-Emphasis Connection dialog.
Enabling De-Emphasis
Press Enable to activate the connection between the N4903B
and the N4916B and also enables the output of the J-BERT.
6
A selected checkbox corresponding to the
function indicates that the connection is
established between the N4903B and
N4916B.
From the Navigation Menu, select PG Setup
and click Data Output to access
Data Output window.
8Set the values as following:
- Pre-Cursor :
- Post-Cursor1 : -
- Post-Cursor2 :
0 dB to 12.04 dB
12.04 dB to 0 dB
-8 dB to 0 dB

8
Checking the Agilent N4916B
Check the Output Signal (De-Emphasis Function of N4916B)
Connect the Outputs of the
N4916B to an oscilloscope.
6
Connect the Trigger Output
of the pattern generator to the
trigger input of the oscilloscope.
7
Set the Trigger Out
to Pattern Trigger.
8
The general approach shown here is using an oscilloscope.
If you have connected the N4916B to a High-Performance
Serial BERT N4903B, 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.
9
After some adjustments of
the scope, you will see a
display like the following:
10
In case of problems, please refer to the section
"Problems with the N4916B" of the Help and the
User Guide of your N4903B.
Preset Instrument state.
1
In the PG-Bit Rate Setup window,
set Datarate to 3 Gb/s.
2
In the PG Output Setup window,
set the Data Offset to 0 V and
the Amplitude to 400 mV.
3
Enable De-Emphasis
from the Config window.
4
In the PG Output Setup window,
set the values as following:
- Pre Cursor: +12 dB
- Post Cursor 1: -6 dB
- Post Cursor 2: -3 dB
5

Checking the Agilent N4916B
9
Check the Output Signal (Clock Multiplier Function of N4916B)
The general approach shown here is using an oscilloscope.
If you have connected the N4916B to a High-Performance
Serial BERT N4903B, 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.
8
After some adjustments of an
, you will see a
display like the following:
oscilloscope
9
In case of problems, please refer to the section
"Problems with the N4916B" of the Help and the
User Guide of your N4903B.
Preset the instrument state.
1Preset the instrument state. 1
Enable Clock Multiplier
from Config window.
4
In the Clock Multiplier DATAOUT window,
set the values as following:
- Input frequency to 3 Ghz
- Multiplier to 2
- Termination ON at 0 V
5
In the PG-Bit Rate Setup window,
set Datarate to 3 Gb/s.
2
In the PG-Clock/Trigger Output window,
set the Clock Offset to 0 V,
Clock Out Amplitude to 400 mV
and Trigger Out Offset to 0 V.
3
Connect the Clock Out of
PG to the Clock In of
Clock Multiplier.
6
Connect the Clock Out of
Clock Multiplier to an
.oscilloscope
7