PCI Express®

PCI Express is a third-generation I/O architecture that addresses the need for ever-increasing I/O bandwidth by providing a point to- point, high-speed, low pin count solution. With this new architecture also comes new interoperability and compliance design challenges that you must resolve.

PCI Express Fact Sheet

Methods of Implementation (MOI) for PCI Express Verification, Debug and Characterization

PCI Express 3.0 - Electrical Testing

In August 2007, the PCI-SIG announced that PCI Express 3.0 will have a bit rate of 8 GT/s. High speed serial data transmitters in PCI Express require an oscilloscope with a bandwidth sufficient to capture the fifth harmonic. The Tektronix DSA72004 (20 GHz Realtime Serial Data Analyzer) is the only realtime oscilloscope on the market that meets this need and provides an ideal 3.0 electrical validation and debug solution.

PCI Express 1.0 and 2.0

Full Compliance Test Support for Electrical Tests
PCI-SIG published PCI Express Base 2.0 specification in January of 2007. The specification doubles the interconnect bit rate from 2.5 GT/s to 5 GT/s in a seamless and compatible manner. The PCI-SIG's PCI Express Electrical Test Procedures details on how to use Tektronix equipment to perform the electrical tests, including scope hookup details.

Electrical Validation and Debug
PCI Express 2.0 requires higher performing and more versatile measurement instrumentation. The DSA70000 Oscilloscope and analysis software DPOJET combined with the breakthrough Arbitrary Waveform Generator AWG7000 and waveform creation software SerialXpress are unmatched solutions for PCI Express Transmitter and Receiver testing.

Digital Validation and Debug from the physical layer and up the protocol stack
PCI Express 2.0 specification substantially changed around dynamic link speed and link width management, as well as improvements related to Active State Power Management (ASPM). Thorough debugging requires visibility of the link- and transaction layer, and of the logical sub-block of the physical layer. Tektronix provides the only serial logic analyzer acquisition module enabling full visibility of the logical sub-block of the physical- and above layers.