6 Series MSO

Key performance specifications

With the lowest input noise and up to 8 GHz analog bandwidth, the 6 Series MSO provides the best signal fidelity for analyzing and debugging today's embedded systems with GHz clock and bus speeds. The remarkably innovative pinch-swipe-zoom touchscreen user interface coupled with the industry's largest high definition display and 4 FlexChannel^® inputs that let you measure one analog or eight digital signals per channel, the 6 Series MSO is ready for today's toughest challenges and tomorrow's too.

FlexChannel^® technology enables maximum flexibility and broader system visibility

The 6 Series MSO redefines what a Mixed Signal Oscilloscope (MSO) should be. FlexChannel technology enables each channel input to be used as a single analog channel, eight digital logic inputs (with the TLP058 logic probe), or simultaneous analog and spectrum views with independent acquisition controls for each domain. Imagine the flexibility and configurability this provides.

You can change the configuration at any time by simply adding or removing TLP058 logic probes, so you always have the right number of digital channels.

Previous-generation MSOs required tradeoffs, with digital channels having lower sample rates or shorter record lengths than analog channels. The 6 Series MSO offers a new level of integration of digital channels. Digital channels share the same high sample rate (up to 25 GS/s), and long record length (up to 250M points) as analog channels.

Unprecedented signal viewing capability

The stunning 15.6 inch (396 mm) display is the largest display in the industry. It is also the highest resolution display, with full HD resolution (1,920 x 1,080), enabling you to see many signals at once with ample room for critical readouts and analysis.

The viewing area is optimized to ensure that the maximum vertical space is available for waveforms. The Results Bar on the right can be hidden, enabling the waveform view to use the full width of the display.

The 6 Series MSO offers a revolutionary new Stacked display mode. Historically, scopes have overlaid all waveforms in the same graticule, forcing difficult tradeoffs:

• To make each waveform visible, you vertically scale and position each waveform so that they don't overlap. Each waveform uses a small percentage of the available ADC range, leading to less accurate measurements.

• For measurement accuracy, you vertically scale and position each waveform to cover the entire display. The waveforms overlap each other, making it hard to distinguish signal details on individual waveforms

The new Stacked display eliminates this tradeoff. It automatically adds and removes additional horizontal waveform 'slices' (additional graticules) as waveforms are created and removed. Each slice represents the full ADC range for the waveform. All waveforms are visually separated from each other while still using the full ADC range, enabling maximum visibility and accuracy. And it's all done automatically as waveforms are added or removed! Channels can easily be reordered in stacked display mode by dragging and dropping the channel and waveform badges in the Settings bar at the bottom of the display. Groups of channels can also be overlaid within a slice to simplify visual comparison of signals.

The massive display also provides plenty of viewing area not only for signals, but also for plots, measurement results tables, bus decode tables and more. You can easily resize and relocate the various views to suit your application.

Exceptionally easy-to-use user interface lets you focus on the task at hand

Touch interaction finally done right

Oscilloscopes have included touch screens for years, but the touch interface has been an afterthought. The 6 Series MSO 15.6" display includes a capacitive touchscreen and provides the industry's first oscilloscope user interface truly designed for touch.

The touch interactions that you use with phones and tablets, and expect in a touch enabled device, are supported.

• Drag waveforms left/right or up/down to adjust horizontal and vertical position or to pan a zoomed view
• Pinch and expand to change scale or zoom in/out in either horizontal or vertical directions
• Drag items to the trash can or drag them off the edge of the screen to delete them
• Swipe in from the right to reveal the Results Bar or down from the top to access the menus in the upper left corner of the display

Smooth, responsive front panel controls allow you to make adjustments with familiar knobs and buttons, and you can add a mouse or keyboard as a third interaction method.

Variable font size

Historically, oscilloscope user interfaces have been designed with fixed font sizes to optimize viewing of waveforms and readouts. This implementation is fine if all users have the same viewing preferences, but they don't. Users spend a significant amount of time staring at screens, and Tektronix recognizes this. The 6 Series MSO offers a user preference for variable font sizes; scaling down to 12 points or up to 20 points. As you adjust the font size, the user interface dynamically scales so you can easily choose the best size for your application.

Attention to detail in the front-panel controls

Traditionally, the front face of a scope has been roughly 50% display and 50% controls. The 6 Series MSO display fills about 85% of the face of the instrument. To achieve this, it has a streamlined front panel that retains critical controls for simple intuitive operation, but with a reduced number of menu buttons for functions directly accessed via objects on the display.

Color-coded LED light rings indicate trigger source and vertical scale/position knob assignments. Large, dedicated Run/ Stop and Single Sequence buttons are placed prominently in the upper right, and other functions like Force Trigger, Trigger Slope, Trigger Mode, Default Setup, Auto-set and Quick-save functions are all available using dedicated front panel buttons.

Windows or not - you choose

The 6 Series MSOoffers you the choice of whether to include a Microsoft Windows™ operating system. Opening an access panel on the bottom of the instrument reveals a connection for a solid state drive (SSD). When the SSD is not present, the instrument boots as a dedicated scope with no ability to run or install other programs.

When the SSD is present, the instrument boots in an open Windows 10 configuration, so you can minimize the oscilloscope application and access a Windows desktop where you can install and run additional applications on the oscilloscope or you can connect additional monitors and extend your desktop.

Whether you run Windows or not, the oscilloscope operates in exactly the same way with the same look and feel and UI interaction.

Need higher channel density?

The 6 Series is also available as a low-profile digitizer - the LPD64. With four SMA input channels plus an auxiliary trigger input, in a 2U high package and 12-bit ADC's, the 6 Series Low Profile Digitizer sets a new standard for performance in applications where extreme channel density is required.

Experience the performance difference

With up to 8 GHz analog bandwidth, 25 GS/s sample rates, standard 62.5 Mpts record length and a 12-bit analog to digital converter (ADC), the 6 Series MSO has the performance you need to capture waveforms with the best possible signal fidelity and resolution for seeing small waveform details.

Digital Phosphor technology with FastAcq™ high-speed waveform capture

To debug a design problem, first you must know it exists. Digital phosphor technology with FastAcq provides you with fast insight into the real operation of your device. Its fast waveform capture rate - greater than 500,000 waveforms per second - gives you a high probability of seeing the infrequent problems common in digital systems: runt pulses, glitches, timing issues, and more. To further enhance the visibility of rarely occurring events, intensity grading indicates how often rare transients are occurring relative to normal signal characteristics.

Industry leading vertical resolution and low noise

The 6 Series MSO provides the performance to capture the signals of interest while minimizing the effects of unwanted noise when you need to capture high-amplitude signals while seeing smaller signal details. At the heart of the instrument are 12-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) that provide 16 times the vertical resolution of traditional 8-bit ADCs.

A new High Res mode applies a hardware-based unique Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter based on the selected sample rate. The FIR filter maintains the maximum bandwidth possible for that sample rate while preventing aliasing and removing noise from the oscilloscope amplifiers and ADC above the usable bandwidth for the selected sample rate.

High Res mode always provides at least 12 bits of vertical resolution and extends all the way to 16 bits of vertical resolution at ≤ 625 MS/s sample rates and 200 MHz of bandwidth. The following table shows the number of bits of vertical resolution for each sample rate setting when in High Res.

Sample rate	Number of bits of vertical resolution
25 GS/s	8
12.5 GS/s	12
6.25 GS/s	13
3.125 GS/s	14
1.25 GS/s	15
≤625 MS/s	16

New lower-noise front end amplifiers further improve your ability to resolve fine signal detail.

A new TEK061 front end amplifier sets a new standard for low-noise acquisition providing the best signal fidelity to capture small signals with high resolution.

A key attribute to being able to view fine signal details on small, high-speed signals is noise. The higher a measurement systems' intrinsic noise, the less true signal detail will be visible. This becomes more critical on an oscilloscope when the vertical settings are set to high sensitivity (like ≤ 10 mV/div) in order to view small signals that are prevalent in high-speed bus topologies. The 6 Series MSO has a new front-end ASIC, the TEK061, that enables breakthrough noise performance at the highest sensitivity settings. The table below shows a comparison of typical noise performance of the 6 Series MSO and prior generations of Tektronix oscilloscopes in this bandwidth range.

50 Ω, RMS voltage, typical

Bandwidth	V/Div	6 Series MSO	DPO7000C	MSO/DPO70000C
1 GHz	1 mV	54.8 µV	90 µV 1	N/A
	10 mV	90.9 µV	279 µV	N/A
	100 mV	941 µV	2.7 mV	N/A
4 GHz	1 mV	97.4 µV	N/A	N/A
	10 mV	192 µV	N/A	500 µV
	100 mV	1.92 mV	N/A	4.3 mV
8 GHz	1 mV	158 µV	N/A	N/A
	10 mV	342 µV	N/A	580 µV
	100 mV	3.46 mV	N/A	4.5 mV

Triggering

Discovering a device fault is only the first step. Next, you must capture the event of interest to identify root cause. The 6 Series MSO provides a complete set of advanced triggers, including:

• Runt
• Logic
• Pulse width
• Window
• Timeout
• Rise/Fall time
• Setup and Hold violation
• Serial packet
• Parallel data
• Sequence
• Video
• Visual Trigger
• RF Frequency vs. Time
• RF Magnitude vs. Time

With up to a 1 Gpoint record length, you can capture many events of interest, even thousands of serial packets in a single acquisition, providing high-resolution to zoom in on fine signal details and record reliable measurements.

Visual trigger - Finding the signal of interest quickly

Finding the right cycle of a complex bus can require hours of collecting and sorting through thousands of acquisitions for an event of interest. Defining a trigger that isolates the desired event speeds up debug and analysis efforts.

Visual Trigger extends the 6 Series MSO's triggering capabilities by scanning through all waveform acquisitions and comparing them to on-screen areas (geometric shapes). An unlimited number of areas can be created using a mouse or touchscreen, and a variety of shapes (triangles, rectangles, hexagons, or trapezoids) can be used to specify the desired trigger behavior. Once shapes are created, they can be edited interactively to create custom shapes and ideal trigger conditions.

By triggering only on the most important signal events, Visual Trigger can save hours of capturing and manually searching through acquisitions. In seconds or minutes, you can find the critical events and complete your debug and analysis efforts. Visual Trigger even works across multiple channels, extending its usefulness to complex system troubleshooting and debug tasks.

Once multiple areas are defined, a Boolean logic equation can be used to set complex trigger conditions using on-screen editing features.

TekVPI Probe Interface

The TekVPI^® probe interface sets the standard for ease of use in probing. In addition to the secure, reliable connection that the interface provides, many TekVPI probes feature status indicators and controls, as well as a probe menu button right on the comp box itself. This button brings up a probe menu on the oscilloscope display with all relevant settings and controls for the probe. The TekVPI interface enables direct attachment of current probes without requiring a separate power supply. TekVPI probes can be controlled remotely through USB or LAN, enabling more versatile solutions in ATE environments. The 6 Series MSO provides up to 40 W of power to the front panel connectors, sufficient to power all connected TekVPI probes without the need for an additional probe power supply.

Convenient high-speed passive voltage probing

The TPP Series passive voltage probes offer all the benefits of general-purpose probes - high dynamic range, flexible connection options, and robust mechanical design - while providing the performance of active probes. Up to 1 GHz analog bandwidth enables you to see high frequency components in your signals, and extremely low 3.9 pF capacitive loading minimizes adverse effects on your circuits and is more forgiving of longer ground leads.

An optional, low-attenuation (2X) version of the TPP probe is available for measuring low voltages. Unlike other low-attenuation passive probes, the TPP0502 has high bandwidth (500 MHz) as well as low capacitive loading (12.7 pF).

TDP7700 Series TriMode Probes

The TDP7700 Series TriMode probes provide the highest probe fidelity available for real-time oscilloscopes. The TDP7700 is designed for use with the 6 Series MSO, with full AC calibration of the probe and tip's signal path based on unique S-parameter models. The probe communicates the S-parameters to the scope via the TekVPI probe interface and the 6 Series MSO includes them to achieve the very best signal fidelity possible from probe tip to acquisition memory. Connectivity innovations such as solder-down tips with the probe's input buffer mounted only a few millimeters from the end of the tip, the TDP7700 Series probes provide unmatched usability for connecting to today's most challenging electronic designs.

With TriMode probing one probe setup makes differential, single ended, and common mode measurements accurately. This unique capability allows you to work more effectively and efficiently, switching between differential, single ended and common mode measurements without moving the probe's connection point.

IsoVu™ Isolated Measurement System

Whether designing an inverter, optimizing a power supply, testing communication links, measuring across a current shunt resistor, debugging EMI or ESD issues, or trying to eliminate ground loops in your test setup, common mode interference has caused engineers to design, debug, evaluate, and optimize "blind" until now.

The revolutionary Tektronix IsoVu technology uses optical communications and power-over-fiber for complete galvanic isolation. When combined with the 6 Series MSO equipped with the TekVPI interface, it is the first, and only, measurement system capable of accurately resolving high bandwidth, differential signals, in the presence of large common mode voltage with:

• Complete galvanic isolation
• Up to 1 GHz bandwidth
• 1 Million to 1 (120 dB) common mode rejection at 100 MHz
• 10,000 to 1 (80 dB) of common mode rejection at full bandwidth
• Up to 2,500 V differential dynamic range
• 60 kV common mode voltage range

High-side gate voltage measurement with IsoVu

The following image shows a comparison of the high-side gate voltage for a standard differential probe versus an optically isolated probe. For both at turn-off and turn-on, high-frequency ringing can be seen on the gate after the device’s gate passes through the threshold region. Due to coupling between the gate and power loop, some ringing is expected. However, in the case of the differential probe, the ringing has a significantly higher amplitude than is measured by the optically isolated probe. This is likely due to the changing reference voltage inducing common mode currents within the probe and an artifact of a standard differential probe. While the waveform measured by the differential probe appears to pass the maximum gate voltage of the device, the more accurate measurement of the optically isolated probe makes it clear that the device is within specification. Application designers using standard differential probes for gate voltage measurements should use caution as it may not be possible to differentiate between the probing and measurement system artifact shown here and an actual violation of the device ratings. This measurement artifact may cause the designer to increase the gate resistance to slow down the switching transient and reduce the ringing. However, this would unnecessarily increase losses in the SiC device. For this reason, it is essential to have a measurement system that accurately reflects the actual dynamics of the device, in order to appropriately design the system and optimize performance.

Comprehensive analysis for fast insight

Basic waveform analysis

Verifying that your prototype's performance matches simulations and meets the project's design goals requires careful analysis, ranging from simple checks of rise times and pulse widths to sophisticated power loss analysis, characterization of system clocks, and investigation of noise sources.

The 6 Series MSO offers a comprehensive set of standard analysis tools including:

• Waveform- and screen-based cursors
• 36 automated measurements. Measurement results include all instances in the record, the ability to navigate from one occurrence to the next, and immediate viewing of the minimum or maximum result found in the record
• Basic waveform math
• Basic FFT analysis
• Advanced waveform math including arbitrary equation editing with filters and variables
• FastFrame™ Segmented Memory enables you to make efficient use of the oscilloscope’s acquisition memory by capturing many trigger events in a single record while eliminating the large time gaps between events of interest. View and measure the segments individually or as an overlay.

Standard amplitude and time measurements annotate the waveform display with visual bars and markers to indicate relative information. Measurement results tables provide comprehensive statistical views of measurement results with statistics across both the current acquisition and all acquisitions.

Callouts

1. Note: Write and position a text box on the screen.
2. Arrow: Write and position a text box, then add an arrow to a specific location on the screen.
3. Rectangle: Write text and outline a specific region on the screen indicated by a resizable box.
4. Bookmark: Create a dynamic readout at a specific time relevant to a trigger point. This readout includes text, magnitude of the signal, signal units, as well as a line and target indicating the bookmark reference point.

Documenting test results and methods is critical when sharing data across a team, recreating a measurement at a later date, or delivering a customer report. With a few taps on the screen, you can create as many custom callouts as needed; enabling you to document the specific details of your test results. With each callout, you can customize the text, location, color, font size, and font.

Navigation and search

Finding your event of interest in a long waveform record can be time consuming without the right search tools. With today's record lengths of many millions of data points, locating your event can mean scrolling through literally thousands of screens of signal activity.

The 6 Series MSO offers the industry's most comprehensive search and waveform navigation with its innovative Wave Inspector^® controls. These controls speed panning and zooming through your record. With a unique force-feedback system, you can move from one end of your record to the other in just seconds. Or, use intuitive drag and pinch/expand gestures on the display itself to investigate areas of interest in a long record.

The Search feature allows you to automatically search through your long acquisition looking for user-defined events. All occurrences of the event are highlighted with search marks and are easily navigated to, using the Previous ( ← ) and Next ( → ) buttons found on the front panel or on the Search badge on the display. Search types include edge, pulse width, timeout, runt, window, logic, setup and hold, rise/fall time and parallel/serial bus packet content. You can define as many unique searches as you like.

You can also quickly jump to the minimum and maximum value of search results by using the Min and Max buttons on the Search badge.

Mask and limit testing (optional)

Whether you are focused on signal integrity or setting up pass/fail conditions for production, mask testing is an efficient tool to characterize the behavior of certain signals in a system. Quickly create custom masks by drawing mask segments on the screen. Tailor a test to your specific requirements and set actions to take when a mask hit is registered, or when a complete test passes or fails.

Limit testing is an insightful way to monitor the long-term behavior of signals, helping you characterize a new design or confirm hardware performance during production line testing. Limit tests compare your live signal to an ideal, or golden version of the same signal with user-defined vertical and horizontal tolerances.

You can easily tailor a mask or limit test to your specific requirements by:

• Defining test duration in number of waveforms
• Setting a violation threshold that must be met before considering a test a failure
• Counting violations/failures and reporting statistical information
• Setting actions upon violations, test failure, and test complete

User-defined filtering (optional)

In the broad sense, any system that processes a signal can be thought of as a filter. For example, an oscilloscope channel operates as a low pass filter where its 3 dB down point is referred to as its bandwidth. Given a waveform of any shape, a filter can be designed that can transform it into a defined shape within the context of some basic rules, assumptions, and limitations.

Digital filters have some significant advantages over analog filters. For example, the tolerance values of analog filter circuit components are high enough that high order filters are difficult or even impossible to implement. High order filters are easily implemented as digital filters. Digital filters can be implemented as Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) or Finite Impulse Response (FIR). The choice of IIR or FIR filters are based upon design requirements and application.

The 6 Series MSO has the ability to apply designated filters to math waveforms through a MATH arbitrary function. Option 6-UDFLT takes this functionality a level deeper, providing more than MATH arbitrary basic functions and adds flexibility to support standard filters and can be used for application centric filter designs.

Filter types supported on the 6 Series MSO include:

• Low pass
• High pass
• Band pass
• Band stop
• All pass
• Hilbert
• Differentiator
• Custom

Filter response types supported on the 6 Series MSO include:

• Butterworth
• Chebyshev I
• Chebyshev II
• Elliptical
• Gaussian
• Bessel-Thomson

The Filter Response control is available for all Filter Types except All-pass, Hilbert, or Differentiator.

Filter designs can be saved, recalled, and applied once any editing has been completed.

Protocol decode and analysis (optional)

During debugging, it can be invaluable to trace the flow of activity through a system by observing the traffic on one or more serial buses. It could take many minutes to manually decode a single serial packet, much less the thousands of packets that may be present in a long acquisition.

And if you know the event of interest that you are attempting to capture occurs when a particular command is sent across a serial bus, wouldn't it be nice if you could trigger on that event? Unfortunately, it's not as easy as simply specifying an edge or a pulse width trigger.

The 6 Series MSO offers a robust set of tools for working with the most common serial buses found in embedded design including I²C, SPI, eSPI, I3C, RS-232/422/485/UART, SPMI, SMBus, CAN, CAN FD, CAN XL, LIN, FlexRay, SENT, PSI5, CXPI, Automotive Ethernet, MIPI C-PHY,MIPI D-PHY, USB 1.0 (1.5 Mbps), USB 1.1 (12 Mbps), USB 2.0 (480 Mbps), eUSB2.0, USB3.0 (5 Gbps), Ethernet 10/100, EtherCAT, Audio (I2S/LJ/RJ/TDM), MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, Spacewire, 8B/10B, NRZ, Manchester, SVID, SDLC, 1-Wire, MDIO, and NFC.

Protocol search enables you to search through a long acquisition of serial packets and find the ones that contain the specific packet content you specify. Each occurrence is highlighted by a search mark. Rapid navigation between marks is as simple as pressing the Previous ( ← ) and Next ( → ) buttons on the front panel or in the Search badge that appears in the Results Bar.

The tools described for serial buses also work on parallel buses. Support for parallel buses is standard in the instrument. Parallel buses can be up to 32 bits wide and can include a combination of analog and digital channels.

• Serial protocol triggering lets you trigger on specific packet content including start of packet, specific addresses, specific data content, unique identifiers, and errors.
• Bus waveforms provide a higher-level, combined view of the individual signals (clock, data, chip enable, and so on) that make up your bus, making it easy to identify where packets begin and end, and identifying sub-packet components such as address, data, identifier, CRC, and so on.
• The bus waveform is time aligned with all other displayed signals, making it easy to measure timing relationships across various parts of the system under test.
• Bus decode tables provide a tabular view of all decoded packets in an acquisition much like you would see in a software listing. Packets are time stamped and listed consecutively with columns for each component (Address, Data, and so on).

NFC decode and analysis (optional)

Evaluating the performance margins of NFC designs is often difficult due to an inability to trace the protocol-level result down to the parametric signal level. This means marginal passes may result in failures later in the test flow, especially when designs are susceptible to interference and signal integrity issues caused by design trade-offs or nearby electronics, requiring time consuming debug across multiple instruments like a protocol analyzer and RF signal analyzer.

The NFC Protocol Decode and Search option on the 6 Series MSO offers users the ability to view the transaction of the NFC link and trace the result through every step of signal manipulation in the standard, from the protocol-level down to the fundamental signal level to gain insight into exactly how your NFC chip, tag, reader, or mobile device is performing.

NFC transactions can be long. The software option uniquely uses the data coming from the hardware DDC used for Spectrum View, which allows for sample rate compression, saving transfer time and memory, allowing for 100s of milliseconds or even seconds of signal data to be captured and analyzed.

Additionally, because I/O signals are not always available to probe and trigger on from the device under test, triggering on the RF envelope itself is also a challenge considering NFC’s small modulation index. With Spectrum View, you can trigger on the 13.56 MHz envelope using RF vs. Time traces and triggers, which is also unique amongst instruments.

This capability simplifies up-front design validation and also provides a powerful debugging tool in a single instrument when failures do occur.

Spectrum View

It is often easier to debug an issue by viewing one or more signals in the frequency domain. Oscilloscopes have included math-based FFTs for decades in an attempt to address this need. However, FFTs are notoriously difficult to use for two primary reasons.

First, when performing frequency-domain analysis, you think about controls like Center Frequency, Span, and Resolution Bandwidth (RBW), as you would typically find on a spectrum analyzer. But then you use an FFT, where you are stuck with traditional scope controls like sample rate, record length and time/div and have to perform all the mental translations to try to get the view you’re looking for in the frequency-domain.

Second, FFTs are driven by the same acquisition system that’s delivering the analog time-domain view. When you optimize acquisition settings for the analog view, your frequency-domain view isn’t what you want. When you get the frequency-domain view you want, your analog view is not what you want. With math-based FFTs, it is virtually impossible to get optimized views in both domains.

Spectrum View changes all of this. Tektronix’ patented technology provides both a decimator for the time-domain and a digital downconverter (DDC) for the frequency-domain behind each FlexChannel. The two different acquisition paths let you simultaneously observe both time- and frequency-domain views of the input signal with independent acquisition settings for each domain. Other manufacturers offer various ‘spectral analysis’ packages that claim ease-of-use, but they all exhibit the limitations described above. Only Spectrum View provides both exceptional ease-of-use and the ability to achieve optimal views in both domains simultaneously.

Traditionally, performing RF measurements, such as RF Channel Power (CHP), Adjacent Channel Power Ratio (ACPR), and Occupied Bandwidth (OBW), required a dedicated spectrum or signal analyzer or spectrum analyzer software. This additional hardware or software leads to more complexity and higher costs. Available standard with Spectrum View, integrated RF Measurements on each channel saves users time, bench space, and costs with the ability to validate RF transmitter CHP, ACPR, and OBW directly on the oscilloscope.

Additionally, the DDC significantly reduces the required sample rate to resolve a signal compared to a conventional FFT since it becomes a function of span rather than center frequency. This allows for reduced file sizes, improved frequency resolution, and faster spectrum update rates, leading to a more responsive and accurate solution capable of capturing 10's of seconds of spectrum data.

Visualizing changes in the RF signal (optional)

RF time domain traces make it easy to understand what’s happening with a time-varying RF signal. There are three RF time domain traces that are derived from the underlying I and Q data of Spectrum View:

• Magnitude – The instantaneous amplitude of the spectrum vs. time.
• Frequency – The instantaneous frequency of the spectrum relative to the center frequency vs. time.
• Phase – The instantaneous phase of the spectrum relative to the center frequency vs. time.

Each of these traces can be turned on and off independently, and all three can be displayed simultaneously.

The data is stored as in-phase and quadrature (I&Q) samples and precise synchronization is maintained between the time domain data and the I&Q data.

When RF vs. Time traces are activated, IQ data can be captured and exported to file for more advanced analysis within 3^rd party applications.

With frequency on the x-axis, time on the y-axis, and power level indicated by variations in color, the Spectrogram display (included with option RFVT) offers enhanced insight into changes in signal amplitude and frequency content over time, allowing you to see where and when changes in spectral activity occur. This makes it ideal for displaying trends in spectral data such as when diagnosing complex spurious, frequency hopping, multi-channel, and dynamic signals.

Spectrogram benefits include:

• Ability to view all spectrum activity in a given span and acquisition immediately, without having to specify FFT overlap or Spectrum Time
• Quickly compare spectrum at different moments in time using time-correlated cursors and up to three overlaid spectrum traces
• Pinch and zoom in on spectral activity of interest with display resolution and FFT overlap automatically optimized
• Adjust center frequency, span, RBW, and amplitude color-scaling as needed to view all signals of interest
• Simultaneously view trends in multi-channel or non-contiguous spectrum by activating spectrograms on each available oscilloscope channel and independently setting center frequency and amplitude scaling

Triggering on changes in the RF signal (optional)

Whether you need to find the source of electromagnetic interference or understand the behavior of a VCO, hardware triggers for RF versus time make it easy to isolate, capture, and understand the RF signal behavior. Trigger on edges, pulse widths, and timeout behavior of RF magnitude vs. time and RF frequency vs. time.

Comprehensive vector signal analysis with SignalVu-PC (optional)

The Tektronix 6 Series MSO, combined with available analysis software, offers cost-effective mid-range performance as a 4 channel, 8 GHz bandwidth multichannel, multi-domain Vector Signal Analysis (VSA) solution

When analysis needs go beyond the basic spectrum, amplitude, frequency, and phase vs. time you can employ the SignalVu-PC vector signal analysis application. This enables in-depth transient RF signal analysis, detailed RF pulse characterization, and comprehensive analog and digital RF modulation analysis.

Tektronix’ mixed signal oscilloscope based approach to 5G test, with dedicated DDC’s on each channel and 5G New Radio (NR) SignalVu-PC VSA software, offers a novel approach to validate 5G NR designs that the traditional RF engineer may not have considered previously due to technical limitations offered by traditional FFT-based oscilloscopes, and offers benefits for analyzing both time, frequency, and modulation domains simultaneously across multiple channels.

• The separate digital signal path for time and frequency domains and phase-matching between channels are critical for beamformer calibration.
• You can also analyze digital and analog/RF data simultaneously, to validate latency, modulation accuracy, and perform power efficiency or system-level debugging.

5G NR transmitter measurements core supported features

The 5GNR option (5GNRNL-SVPC) supports 5G NR modulation analysis measurements according to Release 15 and Release 16 of 3GPP’s TS 38 specifications, including:

• Analysis of uplink and downlink frame structures
• For the downlink, supported test models for FDD and TDD
• For the uplink, supported test models for FDD
• Modulation Accuracy (including Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) and IQ error)
• Channel Power (CHP)
• Adjacent Channel Power (ACP)
• Spectrum Emission Mask (SEM)
• Occupied Bandwidth
• Power vs Time (PVT)
• Summary table with all scalar results for Modulation Accuracy, ACP, CHP, SEM, and OBW measurements
• In-depth analysis and troubleshooting with coupled measurements across domains, use multiple markers to correlate results to find the root cause.
• Automate measurements using SCPI commands and save/recall configuration parameters and measurement results in .TIQ or .CSV format
• Configurable parameters of PDSCH or PUSCH for each component carrier

To enable the SignalVu-PC application on your 6 Series MSO Oscilloscope, three options are required.

1. To run the application on the instrument, the Windows SSD (6-WIN) needs to be installed in the oscilloscope.
2. The Spectrum View RF versus time traces option (6-SV-RFVT) needs to be installed in the oscilloscope to enable I/Q data transfer.
3. The Connect (CONxx-SVPC) license needs to be installed on the SignalVu-PC to enable base features of application, which includes 16+ RF measurements and displays.

The RF digital down converters and integrated measurement engines behind each channel have your complex mixed-signal and mixed-domain analysis needs covered in one instrument.

Advanced pulse analysis (optional)

The per-channel DDC available on the 6 Series MSO offers the ability to analyze RF signals independently on all channels, including configuration of separate timing, triggering and measurements. This capability extends to evaluation of time, frequency and modulation domains simultaneously when using the SignalVu-PC VSA software.

The Advanced Pulse Analysis Option (SVPNL-SVPC) allows you to analyze multiple radar signals across measurement channels on a common timebase with independent or coordinated controls and measurements.

Jitter analysis

The 6 Series MSO has seamlessly integrated the DPOJET Essentials jitter and eye pattern analysis software package, extending the oscilloscope's capabilities to take measurements over contiguous clock and data cycles in a single-shot real-time acquisition. This enables measurement of key jitter and timing analysis parameters such as Time Interval Error and Phase Noise to help characterize possible system timing issues.

Analysis tools, such as plots for time trends and histograms, quickly show how timing parameters change over time, and spectrum analysis quickly shows the precise frequency and amplitude of jitter and modulation sources.

Option 6-DJA adds additional jitter analysis capability to better characterize your device's performance. The 31 additional measurements provide comprehensive jitter and eye-diagram analysis and jitter decomposition algorithms, enabling the discovery of signal integrity issues and their related sources in today's high-speed serial, digital, and communication system designs. Option 6-DJA also provides eye diagram mask testing for automated pass/fail testing.

Power analysis (optional)

The 6 Series MSO has also integrated the optional power analysis package into the oscilloscope automatic measurement system to enable quick and repeatable analysis of power quality, input capacitance, in-rush current, harmonics, switching loss, safe operating area (SOA), modulation, ripple, Magnetics measurements, efficiency, amplitude and timing measurements, slew rate (dv/dt and di/dt), Control Loop Response (Bode Plot), and Power Supply Rejection Ratio (PSRR).

Measurement automation optimizes the measurement quality and repeatability at the touch of a button, without the need for an external PC or complex software setup.

Digital power management (optional)

The Digital Power Management and analysis (DPM) software option provides automated power rail measurements for Power Integrity Analysis on the 6 Series MSO oscilloscopes. The solution enables both simultaneous analysis of multiple power rails (using power rail probes) and sequencing of measurements (using passive probes). The solution is designed with the user work flow in mind to help design engineers meet their time-to-market needs. It also generates an automated report that includes measurements, test results, and plot images.

Key measurements include ripple, ripple-on-ripple, power sequencing, jitter analysis, transient analysis, power integrity and signal integrity analysis.

The Power Supply Induced Jitter (PSIJ) measurement acts as a tool that gives insights and confidence to signal integrity engineers to model the effects of hardware changes, to test their effectiveness before actually making them. The measurement provides essential results such as eye height, eye width, PJ, and TIE before and after filtering.

Inverter Motor Drive Analysis (IMDA)(optional)

During the design and validation of systems that utilize 3-Phase power, it can be difficult to correlate control systems and power electronics with the performance of the overall system.

This will give you deeper insights enabling you to debug the design, efficiency and reliability of:

• 3-Phase power inverters, converters, power supplies, and automotive 3-Phase designs for DC-AC topology
• Motors (brushless AC, brushless DC, induction, permanent magnet, universal, stepper, rotor)
• Drives (AC, DC, variable frequency, servo)

The automated measurements that are included with 6-IMDA are:

• Input analysis
  • Power quality with phasor diagram
  • Harmonics
  • Input voltage
  • Input current
  • Input power
• Ripple analysis
  • Line Ripple
  • Switching Ripple
• Output analysis
  • Phasor diagram
  • Efficiency
  • Mechanical Power
  • System Efficiency
• Wiring configurations
  • 1 Volt/1 Current - 1P2W
  • 2 Volt/2 Current - 1P3W
  • 2 Volt/2 Current - 3P3W
  • 3 Volt/3 Current - 3P3W
  • 3 Volt/3 Current - 3P4W

Compliance test

A key focus area for embedded designers is testing various embedded and interface technologies for compliance. This ensures the device passes the logo certification at plugfests and achieves successful interoperability when working with other compliant devices.

The compliance test specifications for high speed serial standards like USB, Ethernet, Memory, Display and MIPI are developed by the respective consortiums, or governing bodies. Working closely with these consortiums, Tektronix has developed oscilloscope-based compliance applications that not only focus on providing pass/fail results but also provide deeper insight into any failures by providing relevant measurement tools such as jitter and timing analysis to debug failing designs.

These automated compliance applications are built on a framework that provides:

• Complete test coverage per the specification.

• Fast test times with optimized acquisitions and test sequencing based on customized settings.

• Analysis based on previously-acquired signals, allowing the device under test (DUT) to be disconnected from the setup once all acquisitions are completed. This also allows analysis of waveforms acquired on a different oscilloscope or captured at a remote lab, facilitating a very collaborative test environment.

• Signal validation during acquisition to ensure the right signals are being captured.

• Additional parametric measurements for design debug.

• Custom eye diagram mask testing for insight into design margin.

• Detailed reports in multiple formats with setup information, results, margins, waveform screenshots and plot images.

Wide Bandgap Double Pulse Test (optional)

The Wide Bandgap Double Pulse Test application offers precise Wide Bandgap measurements that make device and the system validation easier. It has an ability to test SiC or GaN devices and also Si MOSFET and IGBTs. The application is compatible with all the Tektronix VPI probes and when used with the Tektronix IsoVu™ probes, it helps uncover all the hidden artifacts of SiC or GaN devices at the circuit level. The application offers automated measurements as per the JEDEC and IEC standards. It offers unique features such as per-cycle analysis with annotation, flexibility with custom reference level settings, configurable integration points, and power preset that can be set based on the DUT designs.

Following measurements are performed:

• Low side switching parameters and High side diode reverse recovery measurements
• Low side and High side switching parameters

Designed with your needs in mind

Connectivity

The 6 Series MSO contains a number of ports which you can use to connect the instrument to a network, directly to a PC, or to other test equipment.

• Two USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 host ports on the front and four more USB host ports (two 2.0, two 3.0) on the rear panel enable easy transfer of screen shots, instrument settings, and waveform data to a USB mass storage device. A USB mouse and keyboard can also be attached to USB host ports for instrument control and data entry.
• The rear panel USB Device port is useful for controlling the oscilloscope remotely from a PC.
• The standard 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet port on the rear of the instrument enables easy connection to networks and provides LXI Core 2011 compatibility.
• The DVI-D, Display Port and VGA ports on the rear of the instrument let you duplicate the instrument display on an external monitor or projector.

Upgrade Automated Test Equipment (ATE) systems quickly and smoothly

Anyone working closely with automated test systems knows that moving to a new model or platform can be painful. Modifying an existing codebase for a new product can be prohibitively expensive and complicated. Now there's a solution.

All 6 Series MSO’s include a Programmatic Interface (PI) Translator. When enabled, the PI Translator acts as an intermediate layer between your test application and the oscilloscope. It recognizes a subset of legacy commands from the popular DPO/MSO5000B and DPO7000C platforms and translates them on the fly into supported commands for the 6 Series MSO. The Translator interface is designed to be human-readable and easily extensible, which means that you can customize its behavior to minimize the amount of effort required when transitioning to your new oscilloscope.

Remote operation to improve collaboration

Want to collaborate with a design team on the other side of the world?

The included e*Scope® capability enables fast control of an oscilloscope running the Embedded Operating System over a network connection. This can be viewed from any PC or device through a standard web browser.

Simply enter the IP address or network name of the oscilloscope and a web page will be served to the browser. Control the oscilloscope remotely in the exact same way that you do in-person using the built-in touchscreen. Alternatively for oscilloscopes with the Microsoft Windows 10 Operating System, you can use Windows Remote Desktop™ to connect directly to the instrument and control it remotely.

The industry-standard TekVISA™ protocol interface is included for using and enhancing Windows applications for data analysis and documentation. IVI-COM instrument drivers are included to enable easy communication with the oscilloscope using LAN or USBTMC connections from an external PC.

PC-based analysis and remote connection to your oscilloscope

Get the analysis capability of an award-winning oscilloscope on your PC. Analyze waveforms anywhere, anytime. The basic license lets you view and analyze waveforms, perform many types of measurements and decode the most common serial buses - all while remotely accessing your oscilloscope. Advanced license options add capabilities such as multi-scope analysis, more serial bus decoding options, and power measurements.

Key features of the TekScope PC analysis software include:

• Recall Tektronix oscilloscope sessions and waveform files from the equipment made by Tektronix and other vendors.
• Waveform file formats supported include .wfm, .isf, .csv, .h5, .tr0, .trc, and .bin
• Remotely connect to the Tektronix 4/5/6 Series MSO to acquire data in real-time
• Share the data remotely with your colleagues so that they can perform analysis and make measurements as if they were sitting in front of the oscilloscope
• Synchronize waveforms from the multiple oscilloscopes in real-time
• Perform advanced analysis even if your oscilloscope isn't equipped with TekScope PC analysis software

TekDrive collaborative test and measurement workspace

Using TekDrive, you can upload, store, organize, search, download, and share any file type from any connected device. TekDrive is natively integrated into the instrument for seamless sharing and recalling of files - no USB stick is required. Analyze and explore standard files like .wfm, .isf, .tss, and .csv, directly in a browser with smooth interactive waveform viewers. TekDrive is purpose built for integration, automation, and security.

Arbitrary/Function Generator (AFG)

The instrument contains an optional integrated arbitrary/function generator, perfect for simulating sensor signals within a design or adding noise to signals to perform margin testing. The integrated function generator provides output of predefined waveforms up to 50 MHz for sine, square, pulse, ramp/triangle, DC, noise, sin(x)/x (Sinc), Gaussian, Lorentz, exponential rise/fall, Haversine and cardiac. The AFG can load waveform records up to 128 k points in size from an internal file location or a USB mass storage device.

The AFG feature is compatible with Tektronix' ArbExpress PC-based waveform creation and editing software, making creation of complex waveforms fast and easy.

Digital Voltmeter (DVM) and Trigger Frequency Counter

The instrument contains an integrated 4-digit digital voltmeter (DVM) and 8-digit trigger frequency counter. Any of the analog inputs can be a source for the voltmeter, using the same probes that are already attached for general oscilloscope usage. The trigger frequency counter provides a very precise readout of the frequency of the trigger event on which you’re triggering.

Both the DVM and trigger frequency counter are available for free and are activated when you register your product.

Enhanced security option

The optional 6-SEC enhanced security option enables password-protected enabling/disabling of all instrument I/O ports and firmware upgrades. In addition, option 6-SEC provides the highest level of security by ensuring that internal memory never stores user settings or waveform data, in compliance with National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) DoD 5220.22-M, Chapter 8 requirements and Defense Security Service Manual for the Certification and Accreditation of Classified Systems under the NISPOM. This ensures that you can confidently move the instrument out of a secure area.

Help when you need it

Several helpful resources are included so you can get your questions answered rapidly without having to find a manual or go to a website:

• Graphical images and explanatory text are used in numerous menus to provide quick feature overviews.
• All menus include a question mark icon in the upper right that takes you directly to the portion of the integrated help system that applies to that menu.
• A short user interface tutorial is included in the Help menu for new users to come up to speed on the instrument in a matter of a few minutes.