Approaching Perfect Receiver Tolerance Tests: Using an AWG to De-Embed the Test Fixture While Embedding Channel Response
Stressed-Receiver Tolerance testing (Rx testing) requires a reference transmitter that generates a test signal with specifically calibrated impairments combined with a test interconnect with a specified worst-case differential insertion loss frequency response. A test fixture is necessary for connecting the reference transmitter to the receiver being tested, the DUT (device under test). The test fixture may include cables, connectors, adapters, splitters, etc., whose response is necessarily included in the stressed-signal calibration. Calibration of the stressed signal is the most time-consuming and difficult step in Rx testing. This paper introduces an approach that has been effective in Rx testing for the HDMI and MIPI standards: Use of an AWG (arbitrary waveform generator) to embed the required test channel response and specified signal impairments – like jitter and noise – directly into the test signal. The technique simplifies the tests and makes them more repeatable: calibration time is reduced, and physical compliance/variable- ISI boards are eliminated along with most of the test fixture cables and connectors. We show how to embed channel characteristics in impaired waveforms along with common pitfalls, and then turn to a communication channel model for automotive standards that typically have long channels and disparate cables.
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