iXBlue ModBox VNA User manual

ModBox VNA
User’s Manual

ModBox VNA –User’s Manual
Ref. Ed. B –12/05/2020 1
Revision History
Table for the Software product:
Edition
Date
Release
Comments
A
02/2020
ModBox Interface Control v1.1
Creation
B
05/2020
ModBox Interface Control v1.4
Remote VNA GUI v1.3
Added support for DG MBC

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Copyright
All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, whether electronic, printed manual or otherwise,
including but not limited to photocopying, recording or information storage and
retrieval systems, for any purpose without prior written permission of iXblue.
Disclaimer
iXblue specifically disclaims all warranties, either expressed or implied, included
but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a
particular purpose with respect to this product and documentation. iXblue
further reserves the right to revise or make changes or improvements to this
product or documentation at any time without notifying any person of such
revision or improvements.
In no event shall iXblue be liable for any consequential or incidental damages,
including but not limited to loss of business profits or any commercial damages,
arising out of the use of this product.
Trademarks
Microsoft, MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks and Celeron is a trademark of Intel
Corporation.

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Warranty
iXblue provides a standard warranty of one (1) year covering this product against
any defect in materials or manufacture. The warranty starts from the date of
shipment of the product from iXblue’s manufacturing premises to customer’s
location and its duration is indicated in the certificate of warranty delivered with
the product. In the event that a defect in materials or manufacture becomes
obvious during the stipulated warranty period, iXblue will undertake, at its sole
discretion, either to repair the defective product, bearing the cost of all parts and
labor, or to replace it with an identical product.
In order to avail itself of this warranty, Customer must notify iXblue of the defect
before expiry of the warranty period and take all steps necessary to enable iXblue
to proceed. Customer shall be responsible for the packaging and the shipment
of the defective product to the repair center notified by iXblue, the cost of such
shipment being borne by Customer. iXblue agrees to bear the cost of return
freight, based on CPT (Cost Paid To) Customer’s airport location, import tax-free.
This warranty shall not be construed as covering defects, malfunctions or
damages caused by improper use or inadequate maintenance of the product.
Under no circumstances shall iXblue be due to provide repair or replacement
under this warranty in order a) to repair damage caused by work done by any
person not representing iXblue for the installation, repair or maintenance of the
product ; b) to repair damage caused by improper use or connection to
incompatible equipment, and specifically, the opening of the housing of the
equipment under warranty shall cause the warranty to be automatically
cancelled ; c) to maintain any product that has been modified or integrated into
a larger configuration, if such modification or integration increases the duration
or difficulty of the maintenance of said product.
This warranty covers the product hereunder and is provided by iXblue in place of
all and any other warranty whether expressed or implied. iXblue does not
guarantee the suitability of the product under warranty for sale or any specific
use. iXblue’s liability is limited to the repair or replacement of defective products,
this being the sole remedy open to Customer in the event the warranty becomes
applicable. iXblue cannot be held liable for indirect, special, subsequent or
consequential damage, irrespective of whether iXblue has or has not received
prior notification of the risk of occurrence of such damage.

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Export Regulation
Export of the products and services described in this document may be subject
to different national rules and regulations related to export control.
iXblue products and services shall not be exported, re-exported or used in the
following countries (including their territorial waters): Cuba, Iraq, Iran, North
Korea, Sudan and Syria.
The following export control guidelines shall apply as related to French rules and
regulations.
This product or service can be freely exported.
Whenever the dual-use goods category applies, it has not been specifically
developed for military applications but may be used in the scope of either civilian
or military applications. It is then concerned by the dispositions of Regulation
(EC) N° 428/2009 of the Council of 5th May 2009 as modified, directly applicable
in French law.
As a consequence, this product or service is subject to the following dual-use
goods export control procedures from France:
•It can be freely delivered to France or any country within EU.
•It can be exported under iXblue’s Union General Export Authorization n°
EU001 to the following countries (so called “bona fide”): Australia, Canada,
USA, Japan, New-Zealand, Norway and Switzerland/Liechtenstein.
•It can be exported to other countries but only through the preliminary
issuance of an individual export license by the French authorities.
If an individual export license has to be issued by the French authorities, it is
required that you provide a description of your usual activity (and the one of the
end-user if different) and that the end-user fills in an end-user certificate (using
a predefined format). This certificate includes the description and location of the
intended application for the product or service as well as a commitment not to
re-export the said product or service without the preliminary agreement of the
French authorities.
Once the product or service has been delivered to its first destination, the
following rules apply:
•From an EU country member, the good is free of movement as long as it
remains within EU.
Free export
Dual-use
goods

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•From an EU country member, the good can only be re-exported to a non EU
country member under the dual-use goods export control procedures set
forth by the local national authorities.
•From a “bona fide” country, the good can only be re-exported under the
dual-use goods export control procedures set forth by the local national
authorities.
•From another country, the good can only be re-exported under both the
conditions of the original export license from France (depending on its type
and content) and the dual-use goods export control procedures set forth by
the local national authorities.

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Manual Overview
This manual is the user guide for the ModBox VNA system manufactured by
iXblue. It must be read and understood prior to using the product. The
manufacturer shall in no case be held liable for any application or use that does
not comply with the stipulations in this manual.
It is divided into several chapters:
•Part 1: Introduction
This part contains a general description of the ModBox and provides information
about the theory of operation.
•Part 2: Installation
This part gives some recommendations about the ModBox installation. It also
details the procedure to install the ModBox system.
•Part 3: Configuring the ModBox
This part describes how the user should configure his ModBox system for a
certain application
•Part 4: Embedded User Interface Operation
This part provides the full description of ModBox operation using the embedded
control interface on the front panel.
•Appendices
It contains the detailed drawings and diagrams.
The abbreviations and acronyms used in this manual are listed hereafter.

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Abbreviations and Acronyms
NIR Near Infra-Red
MZM Mach Zehnder Modulator
ATR Acceptance Test Report
MMI Man Machine Interface
NA Not Applicable
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

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Text Usage
Bold
Bold text is used for items you must select or click in the
software. It is also used for the field names used into the
dialog box.
Courier
Text in this font denotes text or characters that you
should enter from the keyboard, the proper names of
disk Drives, paths, directories, programs, functions,
filenames and extensions.
Italic
Italic text is the result of an action in the procedures. It is
also used for referencing to other document titles.
Icons
The Note icon indicates that the following information is of particular interest
and should be read with care.
Important
The Important mention indicates that the following information should be
read to forbid or prevent a product dysfunction or a faulty operation of the
equipment.
The Caution icon indicates that the following information should be read to
forbid or prevent product damage.
The Warning icon indicates that possible personal injury or death could result
from failure to follow the provided recommendation.
The Advanced/Expert icon indicates that the described procedure/action is
reserved to advanced level of operation.

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Table of Contents
REVISION HISTORY............................................................................................................1
COPYRIGHT .......................................................................................................................2
DISCLAIMER ......................................................................................................................2
TRADEMARKS....................................................................................................................2
WARRANTY .......................................................................................................................3
EXPORT REGULATION........................................................................................................4
MANUAL OVERVIEW .........................................................................................................6
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .....................................................................................7
TEXT USAGE ......................................................................................................................8
ICONS................................................................................................................................8
TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................9
1INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................10
1.1 MODBOX OVERVIEW ..............................................................................................................10
1.2 YOUR MODBOX SYSTEM..........................................................................................................10
2INSTALLATION............................................................................................................12
2.1 CHECKING THE MODBOX PACK CONTENTS ............................................................................12
2.2 TRANSPORT.............................................................................................................................12
2.3 PANEL FEATURES ....................................................................................................................13
2.4 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS ...............................................................................................15
2.5 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE.....................................................................................................16
2.6 CONNECTING THE COMPONENTS.............................................................................................17
3CONFIGURING THE MODBOX.....................................................................................18
3.1 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION.......................................................................................................18
3.2 MODBOX CONNECTIONS .........................................................................................................19
4EMBEDDED USER INTERFACE OPERATION ................................................................20
4.1 OPERATION PROCEDURE.........................................................................................................20
4.2 SETTINGS DESCRIPTION.............................................................................................................21
4.3 AN MBC MANUAL CALIBRATION:...............................................................................................30
IXBLUE CONTACT -SUPPORT ....................................................................................31
IXBLUE CONTACT -SALES...........................................................................................31
APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................32
AMACH-ZEHNDER INTENSITY MODULATORS ................................................................32
BDRIFT EFFECTS ..........................................................................................................33

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1Introduction
1.1 ModBox Overview
ModBox systems are advanced modulation format optical transmitters, laser
systems, sensing instruments and application specific modulation units.
In the ModBox systems, we use innovative optoelectronics setups with premium
components to provide world class modulation solutions to our customers.
The ModBox systems address a broad variety of applications including but not
limited to analog modulation, all digital format optical communication, ultrafast
laser pulse generation, laser pulse picking, spectral broadening, etc. We can also
work towards custom systems to exceed some clients’ specifications needs.
All modulation solutions come with the peace of mind of a bench top, plug &
play equipment that can be remotely controlled using a pc.
Figure 1 –Basic description of a ModBox system
1.2 Your ModBox system
1.2.1 INTRODUCTION
The ModBox-VNA is a bench top modulation unit intended at expanding vector
network analysis features into the optical domain. The ModBox VNA can operate
in the C-Band, O-Band, 850 nm and other optical bands with up to 70 GHz
bandwidth (-6dB) following customer requests.
This unit will transfer any analog signal from the electrical to the optical domain
with the least amount of signal distortion. This electrical signal may be generated
Light
Sources
Modulation
units
Detectors

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by a vector network analyzer. The optical signal obtained at the ModBox output
can then be converted back into the electrical domain using an optional
reference embedded photodiode. This allows users to characterize high speed
optoelectronics components.
The system incorporates a modulation stage based on a large bandwidth
custom designed LiNbO3Mach-Zehnder analog modulator coupled with high
performance control electronics to enhance the linearity stability of the system.
Customers can select lasers sources and photodiodes references depending
their wavelength and bandwidth requirements.
The ModBox-VNA provides state of the art modulation performance with the
peace of mind of a turn-key instrument to R&D and production engineers. This
system can be set as a reference in optical telecommunication labs or in tests
and production lines.
.
1.2.2 SYSTEM STRUCTURE
The ModBox VNA is a 19” 2U rackable modulation unit integrating:
•A modulation block :
oOne high bandwidth, chirp-free LiNbO3Mach-Zehnder analog
modulator
oA high-performance automatic bias controller to stabilize the
modulator hence ensuring a highly stable output operation
•Control electronics to operate the ModBox system either through the front
panel controls or through the Ethernet port on the rear panel
Optionally the system may embed:
•A laser block integrating an extra low linewidth laser (single line or tunable)
with its high precision driver and with output power and wavelength real-
time control

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2Installation
2.1 Checking the ModBox Pack Contents
You have just received your equipment in protective boxes. Before starting the
installation, we recommend checking the contents of the pack and the
equipment immediately on receipt of your ModBox System. Specifically, you
should check that all items are present on delivery and that none has sustained
damage.
For that, you will find in the shipping case a packing-list detailing all the shipped
items. This packing list had been completed and checked for by iXblue shortly
before shipment.
On receipt of the equipment, its overall condition should be checked and iXblue
informed of any damage suffered during the loading operations.
It is highly recommended to contact the insurance company in case damage is
found.
Check that the shock label of every parcel is still white.
2.2 Transport
The ModBox System should always be transported in the package it came in.

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2.3Panel Features
2.3.1 FRONT PANEL
Figure 2: ModBox Front Panel
<1> LCD touch screen display:
Allows front panel system control and displays all necessary information to run the
system
<2> Laser Key switch & Led:
Enables/disables laser channel(s).
<3> RF In:
RF input :2.92 mm RF connector or 1.85 mm RF connector
<4> Mod Out:
Modulation Optical Out
<5> ON/OFF Button:
Turn ON or OFF the embedded control system and its touch screen display.
<6> USB Ports
These USB ports may be used to attach a mouse, a keyboard or a USB memory stick.
Keyboard and mouse may be used to control the windows based ModBox operating system. The
USB stick may be used to transfer specific waveform traces.
<1>
<2>
<3>
<5>
<4>
<6>

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2.3.2 REAR PANEL
Figure 3: ModBox Rear Panel
<1> Internal ground port:
This port connects to the internal ground.
<2> Mains power supply socket and general mains switch:
Fuse socket accepts 5*20 mm sized fuse (2A, quick action)
<3> Fans:
This ensures excess heat removal
<4> RJ45 ethernet port
Allows network connection to the ModBox
<2>
<1>
<4>
<3>

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2.4General Recommendations
Make sure that the optical patch cords connected to the Mod out and Ctrl optical
ports are cleaned. Failure to do so may induce optical losses and possible
damage to the optical fiber end tips.
Make sure there is enough clearance below and behind the unit to ensure proper
excessive heat removal by ventilation.
The ModBox is intended to operate from a power source that does not apply
more than 265 V RMS between the supply conductors or between any supply
conductor and the ground.
The ModBox chassis is connected to earth via the power supply cable. A
protective ground connection by way of the grounding conductor in the power
cord is essential for safe operation. A dedicated ground plug is available on the
rear panel. In order to avoid potential injuries, insert the power cable only into a
socket outlet provided with a protective earth contact. Before switching on the
instrument, check that the electrical installation complies with the local safety
requirements.
Only use specified power cord and connector for your product. This power cord
should always remain in good condition.
To avoid personal injuries, do not operate this instrument without the
protective cover of the chassis. Do not make any attempt to service or maintain
the ModBox system.
Should you need any help, contact iXblue staff to get customer service support.
The ModBox is designed for indoor use. To avoid personal injuries do not expose
the instrument to water or excessive moisture. Do not operate the instrument
in the presence of inflammable gases or fumes.

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2.5Installation Procedure
During the installation process you may need the following document and devices:
•User’s Manual
•ATR
•Country specific power cord
•iXblue ModBox USB key
•Ethernet cable
Step
Action
1.
Make sure the general mains switch is in OFF position (<10>, rear panel)
2.
Set the instrument on top of flat stable surface
3.
Make sure the air is allowed to circulate freely around the instrument to ensure
proper cooling and to avoid dust accumulation (especially on the back of the
system).
Caution
Failure to ensure proper cooling may affect ModBox performances and may
induce damages to the system.
4.
Use the proper cord for your location
5.
Connect the end of the power supply cord to the ModBox rear panel power
socket and plug the other end to the proper voltage mains supply point. The
ModBox is equipped with self-regulating power supply that adapts
automatically to AC 110V/ 60Hz and 220 V/50 Hz.
6.
For ModBox remote control, connect your control PC to the RJ45 ethernet
socket located on the back panel, <13>.

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2.6Connecting the Components
Here we will describe how to connect the ModBox system to your application.
Step
Action
1.
You should prepare at least 2 optical fiber patch cords (with FC or SC connectors
depending purchased option) to use the ModBox system with the embedded
reference photo receiver (if you purchased this option). Make sure that the fiber
connector end facets are clean before using them with the ModBox.
2.
You should also prepare an electrical PRBS data signal to be fed in the system,
you will need a 2.92 mm or 1.85 mm RF connector cable to connect with the
ModBox RF input.
3.
Connect one of the laser optical output fiber connectors to a power meter using
an optical fiber patch cord (delivered with the ModBox).

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3Configuring the ModBox
3.1 Software installation
Users can operate the ModBox system using the touchscreen interface on the
front panel. Once the system is started, the ModBox interface application is
launched and the system is now ready for operation.
A remote control Graphical User Interface (GUI) can be found on the USB flash
drive delivered with the ModBox. The executable file is called RemoteVNA.exe.
This software requires the .NET Framework to be installed. If your system is
running Windows 10, you do not need to do anything before double clicking
the file.
If you are running a previous version of Windows, you may need to install the
.NET Framework, but chances are that it may already be installed on your system.
If it is not installed yet, or if you do not know if it is, run the setup called dotNet
Framework Setup (v4.8).exe (this requires administrator privileges).
If the Framework was already installed, you will encounter the following kind of
error message:
If that is the case, close the error window and run the remote control software.
You are free to copy and place the RemoteVNA.exe file wherever you want. There
is no additional setup procedure and you can run the software on any Windows
machine as long as the .NET Framework is installed.
To remotely connect to the ModBox using the RemoteVNA software, you will
require the ModBox’s IP address and enter it in the text box at the top of the
window: