PicoScope 9404A-06 4-Ch 6 GHz Sampler-Extended Real-Time Oscilloscope (PQ403)

Pico has announced the 9400A Series SXRTO Oscilloscopes with up to 33GHz bandwidth. The models are: 9404A-33 (33GHz), 9404A-16 (16GHz), and 9404A-06 (6GHz), which join the existing PicoScope 9404A-25 25GHz 4 channel Sampler-extended real-time oscilloscope.  The oscilloscope’s 12-bit vertical resolution allows up to ±1V input signal range, with <12ps rise time, <1.5ps RMS jitter, and 12-bit resolution to make the 9400A Series a valuable tool for ultra-precise, wide-bandwidth signal analysis.

The PicoScope 9400A Series combines the huge analog bandwidth of sampling oscilloscopes with the triggering architecture of real-time oscilloscopes to create a whole new type of oscilloscope - the Sampler-Extended Real-Time Oscilloscope (SXRTO).

The PicoScope 9400A Series random equivalent-time sampling architecture is ideal for measuring high speed interfaces, such as gigabit digital systems, with repetitive signals or clock streams. Unlike a traditional sampling oscilloscope, an SXRTO can capture the trigger event itself and the waveform immediately before it. With four channels available, the PicoScope 9400A Series is invaluable for validating Signal Integrity (SI) in electronics and telecoms systems designs.

With these applications in mind, the free PicoSample 4 software is packed with useful measurements and features. Draw eye diagrams with ease and analyze them with one of over 200 built-in masks (or create your own), plus quickly set up measurements for RZ, NRZ or PAM4 physical layers. Then, plot trends in your data such as pulse width or period over time. Add the optional Clock and Data Recovery module and unlock measurements exactly as your transceiver would see them, plus triggering of downstream instruments.

Control of the PicoScope 9400A Series oscilloscopes can also be automated, including over USB or LAN using ActiveX control. 

Unlike a traditional sampling oscilloscope, an SXRTO can trigger directly off the input signal. For measurements up to 6 GHz, no longer do you need a complicated set-up with an external trigger source; just plug in your signal and start measuring. For higher bandwidth signals up to 20 GHz, use a splitter to feed the signal to the external trigger. Take advantage of the effective sampling rate up to 5 TS/s and analog bandwidth up to 33 GHz without the extra complications of a traditional sampling oscilloscope. 

The optional clock and data recovery module can recreate the clock and data signals up to an impressive 11.3 Gb/s - perfect for triggering other instruments in the same system.  

Unlike many real-time oscilloscopes, models in the PicoScope 9400A Series maintain their 12-bit resolution throughout their bandwidth, no matter how many channels are enabled.

A real-time oscilloscope has a free-running ADC. RTOs use digital triggers to record when the signal exceeds a threshold and therefore align the signals in time. RTOs rely on oversampling - the sample rate must be much higher than the maximum signal frequency. To generate an accurate view of the signal, many scopes will sample at three or even five times their maximum input bandwidth. 

A sequential sampling oscilloscope relies on repeated signals. They only capture a single sample per trigger event and this sample is at least 40 ns after the trigger event itself. The individual samples from multiple trigger events are then recombined to build up a picture of the overall signal. 

A sampling scope cannot trigger directly on the signal itself and instead needs a separate trigger signal from an external source. Sampling scopes rely on accurate triggering to overlay the repeated signals so that even with a sampling rate significantly below the signal frequency, they can display an accurate version of the overall signal.

A PicoScope SXRTO triggers on the input signal, like an RTO. It builds up a complete picture of the signal by overlaying successive captures, like a sequential sampling oscilloscope. However, the SXRTOs sampling is not synchronized with the input signal and so the captures are effectively randomly positioned in time. Using a free-running ADC and a trigger with jitter better than 1.5 ps (far more accurate than a typical RTOs digital trigger), the SXRTO can achieve bandwidths that compete with a traditional sampling oscilloscope, but with the ability to store data before and immediately after the trigger point.

The front panel of the oscilloscope brings together the power indicator, the four high-bandwidth 50 Ω channel inputs and the trigger inputs and outputs. 

The power/status/trigger LED is green under normal operation but is also used to indicate connection progress and trigger. You can enable any number of the four input channels without affecting the sampling rate; only the capture memory (250 kS) is shared between the enabled channels.

The external direct trigger input supports up to 6 GHz and is positioned alongside a prescale trigger input (up to 20 GHz on 25 and 33 GHz models). The trigger output connection can be used to synchronize an external device to the PicoScope 9400As rising edge, falling edge and end of holdoff triggers.

The USB 2.0 port connects the oscilloscope to the PC. If no USB host is found, the oscilloscope tries to connect through the LAN port. However, LAN settings must be supplied initially by connecting to the USB port. Once configured, the oscilloscope uses the LAN port if no USB host is connected. Via LAN connections, the PicoSample 4 software can address up to eight PicoScope 9400 units.

The recovered clock and data from the currently selected trigger source and the built-in clock recovery module are optional features. Please see the request form at the bottom of this page to contact our applications engineers about the clock and data recovery option.

A researcher contacted Pico, wanting to measure a fast laser pulse with a rise time of less than 50 ps and a pulse width of less than 200 ps. An SXRTO showed them exactly what they needed to see.

To measure the output of the laser it was connected to a PicoScope 9400A Series oscilloscope via an optical-electrical adaptor. As the scope can trigger directly off the signal input, the laser pulses could be unequally spaced but would be captured in their entirety, both before and after the trigger point.

The PicoScope 9404A Series has a rise time of as little as 11 ps - the customer could be confident that the pulse displayed on the screen is an accurate representation of the laser pulse with minimal influence from the measurement setup. The PicoScope 9400A-33 can also capture pulses down to 22 ps so even shorter pulses could be measured accurately.

Every detail in the lasers pulse response is easy to see because the vertical resolution is 12 bits, even at the highest frequencies. Some real-time oscilloscopes will limit their resolution at higher frequencies. This might be because of limitations of the analog-to-digital hardware or because of data bandwidth limitations. Because the PicoScope 9400A Series uses random equivalent-time sampling to push the bandwidth far beyond Nyquist, neither the timebase nor the number of active channels restricts the resolution.

With over 200 built-in masks covering protocols such as XAUI, InfiniBand and Ethernet, plus a powerful custom mask creator, you can make sure your system design is correct from the start.

Locate the source of timing errors with confidence: the PicoScope 9400A has trigger jitter less than 1.5 ps + 0.1 ppm RMS. Then use customizable histograms to precisely characterize system performance.

Check signal, pulse and impulse integrity of RF systems up to 33 GHz. Use instant automated measurements for PAM4, RZ and NRZ links and be confident your system meets standards before expensive compliance testing.

With quicker and simpler setup

 than a sequential sampling oscilloscope, an SXRTO is perfectly suited to a service environment. Save and recall setup files for common tests and reduce the time taken to repair equipment.

Clock and data recovery (CDR) is available as a factory-fit optional trigger feature on the PicoScope 9400A Series oscilloscopes.

High-speed serial data is often not accompanied by a separate clock signal as accumulated timing skew and jitter between the two paths would prevent accurate decoding. Instead, a receiver will recover the clock from the incoming data stream, using this locally generated version during decoding. 

The optional CDR option allows your PicoScope 9400A Series oscilloscope to generate a local clock from the data stream. Using a PLL-based technique, the local clock is kept in phase with the encoded signal. The recovered clock can be used to trigger the oscilloscope, providing the ultimate in eye diagram measurements and signal quality characterization by recording exactly what a receiver would “see”. 

In addition, the recovered clock and the data stream can be output using two SMA connectors fitted to the rear panel, allowing one clock recovery module to trigger multiple pieces of test equipment in the same setup. 

The CDR module can trigger on signals up to 5, 8 or 11.3 Gb/s (6, 16 or 25/33 GHz models).