Last Updated: March 27, 2017

Product: PAM4 Analysis
Version: 10.4.0.4

This readme is best viewed in a fixed-width font such as Courier New.

Contents of this Readme File:

1. System Requirements
2. Contents of Distribution
3. What's new in this release?
4. Release Notes
5. Known Problems and Limitations
6. Contact Information

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1. System Requirements

- The PAM4 Analysis application runs on the following oscilloscopes.
DPO/DSA/MSO73304DX
DPO73304SX
DPO75002SX
DPO75902SX
DPO77002SX
DPS73308SX
DPS75004SX
DPS75904SX
DPS77004SX


- To operate this application, your scope will require the DPOJET Jitter + Noise
application (DJAN) and its option key, as well as an option key for SDLA
Essentials, SDLA Advanced or SDLA Visualizer (although the SDLA application
itself doesn't need to be present). If any required option key is not
installed, it may be possible to use free trials. Alternatively, you can work
with your Tektronix Account Manager to get a floating license for evaluation.

- You must be running Tekscope version 10.5.0 or later.

- You must be running DPOJET version 10.0.2 or later. Version 10.0.3 or later is
recommended.


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2. Contents of Distribution
PAM4.exe
PAM4.ctf
PAM4_Launcher.exe
PAM4_Application.pdf
Presets_OIF_CEI_Gen1.xml
Presets_OIF_CEI_Gen2.xml
SRM.xml
Readme.txt (this file)


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3. What's new in this release?

- V10.4.0 adds the following features:
* Automatic detection of data rate for most signals
* 3-pole, 2-zero CTLE design to support recent versions of OIF-CEI standards
* UUGJ, UBHPJ and EOJ measurements per recent versions of OIF-CEI standards
* Choice of absolute or normalized time units (seconds or Unit Intervals)
* Improved SNDR measurements and improved FFE tab adaptation
* More flexible Bessel-Thomson filter
* Population statistics for Rise and Fall measurements
* GPIB support for export of images, detected pattern, and EQ tap values


- V10.3.0 adds the following features:
* Feed-Forward Equalizer (FFE)
* Error-tolerant pattern detection
* Error Navigator for visually analyzing individual symbol errors
* SNDR, Pmax, sigma measurements and associated plots


- V10.0.0 adds the following features:
* Noise analysis (EW6, EH6, VEC) per OIF-CEI contribution oif2014.230.07.pdf
(Dated June 10, 2016)
* Adjustable BER target (Use 1e-6 to be compliant with OIF-CEI)
* Fast high-population eye rendering, when Noise Analysis is enabled
* Interactive eye diagrams (resizable, cursors, BER contours, export options)
* Population controls (stop on # of symbols, # of acquisitions, or stop
if the center eye becomes closed)
* Automatic skew alignment, in case the eyes are not at the center of the
unit interval (as determined by clock recovery).
* Optional logging of the results of every sequencing cycle to a .csv file.
* A greatly expanded command set for remote control.


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4. Release Notes

- On SX-model scopes, if greater than 20M record length is used, only the first
20M samples will be analyzed. On DX-model scopes, the limit is 8M samples.
- Some of the waveform analysis requires repeating patterns. For jitter
analysis (RJ, DJ, [email protected]) a minimum of 50 pattern repeats are needed. For
correlated-pattern analysis, a minimum of 3 repeats are needed.
- The application reserves Math2 - Math4 and Ref2 - Ref4 for internal use. This
leaves Ch1 - Ch4, Math1 and Ref1 available as input sources. Not all the
reserved sources are used, depending on the PAM4 configuration, but those
that are needed are overwritten without warning.
- The Flt3 user-defined arbitrary filter slot in the scope's math system is
reserved for use by the PAM application, and may be overwritten without
warning.
- When present, the Correlated Waveform represents the signal at the input to
the FFE and DFE equalizers rather than the output, whether the equalizers are
enabled or not.
- In the Windows properties for the file PAM4.exe, the Details tab identifies
the file as version 10.4.0.3 rather than 10.4.0.4. This is normal.

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5. Known Problems and Limitations

- If a Device-Under-Test sends one or more incorrect symbols in an otherwise
repeating pattern, the application will treat the eye as closed even though
it is open visually. In particular, this can trigger the "Halt on closed
center eye" feature. This feature can be disabled on the Preferences panel.
- If a modal dialog (FFE or DFE configuration) is opened via the graphical user
interface and then a processing cycle is initiated via the programmable
interface while the modal dialog is open, the application will end up in a
corrupted state and will need to be closed and re-opened.
- SNDR measurements are intentionally disabled for patterns longer than 8192
symbols. However, instead of an informative message, you will get the cryptic
error message 'Undefined function or variable "er"'. Either disable SNDR
measurements or use a shorter pattern length.
- If the oscilloscope is accessed via Remote Desktop, the background color of
the header rows of the measurement result tables is sometimes washed out,
making the column headings difficult to read. If this causes problems, VNC
may be a reasonable alternative for remote access.
- The programmable interface cannot respond to commands while sequencing. This
renders the 'status' query unusable, and the 'stop' command has been disabled
although it still appears in the reference manual. Instead, the user must
poll the "pam4" variable as described in the manual. When the variable is
returned as "OK", sequencing has completed and communications re-established.
Since 'Run' mode cannot be interrupted via the programmable interface, remote
users should either enable population limits (so that Run mode is terminated
automatically by the application), or use a sequence of Single commands
instead of Run mode.
- Sometimes the eye diagram and direct eye measurements like EW6 and EH6 show
an open eye but extrapolated jitter measurements (RJdd, DJdd, [email protected]) are
large enough to suggest a closed eye. This is because the conventional jitter
analyzer uses only timing (edge) information rather than amplitude
information, and fails to properly account for some unique aspects of PAM4
eye diagram behavior. When this occurs, the eye diagram and direct
measurements should be considered more reliable.
- Rarely, the PAM4 application can fail to launch right after installation or
update, due to Windows UAC controls. This can be resolved by lowering UAC to
the lowest level and launching the application one time. After this, UAC can
be raised to its former level, and the application should continue to work.
- In the FFE configuration controls, the "Taps / Unit Interval" must be no
greater than the "Number of Taps"; otherwise processing will abort with an
error message "nSampPerSym must be less than or equal to nWeights".
- If the FFE is configured with more than 20 taps, an attempt to read the tap
values through the remote interface will fail.
- The SNDR measurements produce no results if the sample rate is < 100Gsps.
- When results are exported to .csv, measurement names containing greek letters
or subscripts are corrupted.
- When images are exported to .fig file, opened within MATLAB, and then closed,
they will actually persist in memory until MATLAB is closed.

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6. Contact Information

- MyTek - One way to receive timely information on new software updates,
new products from Tektronix and other useful information is to join MyTek.
Visit www.tektronix.com/mytek to become a member.

- Product Support - For application-oriented questions about a Tektronix
measurement product, in North America call 1-800-833-9200 option 3,
Monday-Friday, 6:00AM - 5:00PM Pacific Time or contact us by email at
[email protected]

For service support call 1-800-833-9200 option 2, Monday-Friday,
5:00AM-5:00PM Pacific Time or contact us by email at
[email protected]

Outside of North America: please contact your local Tektronix Sales or
Distributor office. Refer to our web site at www.tektronix.com for
listings of those offices.

For all other information call 1-800-833-9200, visit our web site at
www.tektronix.com, or write to us at:

Tektronix, Inc.
P.O. Box 500
Beaverton, OR 97077

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7. Auxiliary Licenses

The following license applies to the 3rd-party binary function 'findjobj'
which is incorporated into the PAM4 Analysis application:

Copyright (c) 2015, Yair Altman

All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
met:

* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

* Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in
the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.


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