infoTECH Feature

September 15, 2008

Gennum Adopts Tektronix Waveform Monitor for Chip Characterization

Gennum, a developer of technologies for the broadcast industry, has deployed Tektronix (News - Alert) WFM7120 waveform monitors for design validation and characterization to develop 3Gb/s serial digital interface (SDI) solution.
 
By using Tektronix WFM7120 Waveform Monitor with 3Gb/s support, Gennum will be able to assure broadcast and professional video equipment manufacturers that its integrated semiconductor solutions will meet industry-standard SDI requirements.
 
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 (News - Alert) 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 3 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.
 

INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO — the biggest and most comprehensive IP communications event of the year — is going on this week (September 16-18, 2008) in Los Angeles, California! The show features three valuable days of exhibits, conferences, and networking opportunities you can’t afford to miss. Be sure to check out TMCnet.com and blogs from Rich Tehrani, Greg Galitzine, and Tom Keating for news highlights from the show. See you there!


Niladri Sekhar Nath is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Niladri’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Mae Kowalke
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