Tektronix WFM7120 Excels

A leading worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, Tektronix, Inc., has announced that Gennum, a pioneer in the advancement of technologies for the broadcast industry, has successfully utilized Tektronix WFM7120 waveform monitors for design validation and characterization in the development of the industry's first 3Gb/s serial digital interface (SDI) solution.
Through the use of the Tektronix WFM7120 Waveform Monitor with 3Gb/s support, Gennum is able to assure broadcast and professional video equipment manufacturers that its integrated semiconductor solutions will meet industry-standard SDI requirements, dramatically reducing their development time.
Gennum customers are under increasing pressure to design and deliver the next generation of digital video equipment supporting 3Gb/s SDI.
3Gb/s SDI provides a means of transporting high-bandwidth 1080p (also known as Full HD) signals conforming to SMPTE 424M and 425M standards. Both WFM7020 and WFM7120 waveform monitors support 1080P 50/59.94/60 Level A and Level B formats.
As Gennum set out to develop their newest chipset, they needed a test and measurement solution to validate and characterize 3Gb/s technology including comprehensive analysis capabilities.
The WFM7120 with its 3Gb/s support and deep measurement and analysis offerings - jitter measurement, digital data analysis and simultaneous input display - met Gennum's equipment needs.
The resulting Gennum chips - the GS2972 and GS2970 with both video support and audio embedding capabilities and the GS2962 and GS2960 with video support only - are transmit and receive solutions that support three gigabits per second (Gb/s), as well as high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD), for SDI applications.
With the delivery of the industry's first integrated 3Gb/s SDI chips, Gennum customers can dramatically reduce development cycles and bring new products to market faster.
"We have a long-standing relationship with Tektronix, one of the industry’s leading providers of video test equipment," said Vijay Sharma, Director of Marketing, Analog & Mixed-Signal Products, at Gennum.
"The WFM7120 played a critical role during each phase of design, troubleshooting, functional verification and manufacturing test for our latest chips by allowing our design team to efficiently validate our 3Gb/s chipset and confirm full compliance to the standard.
"As a result, our customers can feel confident about the performance of our new 3Gb/s SDI solution."
The WFM7120 also provides a solution for evaluating the physical layer performance on a single-link 3Gb/s interface with the new jitter measurement option.
This option also provides a basic test pattern generation capability in the waveform monitor for quick verification of 3Gb/s signal presence and continuity.
Tektronix is a supplier of test, measurement, and monitoring products, solutions and services for the communications, computer, and semiconductor industries - as well as military/aerospace, consumer electronics, education and a broad range of other industries worldwide.
See: www.tektronix.com
(BMcC)