Agilent Technologies 8G Fibre Channel Mastering the Test Challenges

Transcription

1 Agilent Technologies 8G Fibre Channel Mastering the Test Challenges

2 Introduction Navigating You Through Complexity The Integrated Solution for 8G Fibre Channel Test Whether you are designing boards, devices or systems, storage solutions are expected to work without compromise in complex environments. Our need to store more data, access it faster, and rely on it more pushes up the data rate. The next generation of Fibre Channel runs at 8.5 Gb/s, a doubling of the speed that has an exponential effect on the complication of design. Whether in electrical or optical signals, from physical layer to the protocol stack, testing at 8.5 Gb/s confronts you with new challenges. Agilent has the measurement expertise, the knowledge base and a full portfolio of products to help you tackle the intrinsic and the interfacing problems across the different types of signals and the various communication layers. Our proven and trusted solutions can help resolve issues earlier and reduce iterations in the development cycle. This means getting the device to production faster, and thus maximizing its potential for the business, as the 8G Fibre Channel standard is adopted and the market evolves. A breadth and complexity of challenges dominate 8G Fibre Channel development efforts. Whether testing boards, cables, transmitters, receivers, or whole systems, the scope of Agilent s portfolio, including new products specifically for 8G Fibre Channel, meets your needs with: Powerful opportunities to exercise and stress Productive insights into real performance Increased test productivity through ease of setup and understandable results Only Agilent can address your test needs as you move from physical to link, network and session layers. This simplifies comparing results throughout design and development, as well as between development cycles. Unified platforms make it even easier to test across protocols, for example to cross-correlate between protocols inside and outside the server, at the junction where PCI Express interacts with Fibre Channel. 2

3 Simplifying Analysis FC-4 Protocol Mapping Layer k The introduction of the dual purpose 8G Fibre Channel SAN Tester and Protocol Analyzer is a key component of Agilent s strategy for the Fibre Channel storage market. With this new introduction, Agilent provides the complete spectrum of 8G Fibre Channel test tools to our customers from physical layer compliance test tools to upper layer performance, scalability test and debugging tools. This ability to provide test expertise through all the aspects of the technology is unique to Agilent, and highly valued by our customers. David Churchill Vice President and General Manager Digital and Network Solutions Business Unit Protocol Analyzer Future FC-3 Common Services Layer k Closing the Gap FC-2 FC-1 Network Layer Data Link Layer k k SAN Tester Protocol Analyzer FC-0 Physical Layer k DCA-J Real Time Scope PXIT J-BERT 3

4 FC-0 Physical Layer Ensuring Fundamental Integrity Physical test for 8G Fibre Channel Essential tools for the 8G Fibre Channel designer Wide bandwidth analog measurements Communication analysis Signal integrity analysis Bit error ratio test Interference and jitter analysis Jitter tolerance tests...all in a test setup that suits the way you work! Whether developing or manufacturing sub-assemblies, transceiver modules or hosts, the optical and electrical characteristics of the interface are often the most important criteria for your product. Under the pressure of time, you need reliable, interpretable results that help you make progress, and you need straightforward instrumentation to help you get them quickly. The straightforward sampling oscilloscope As a leader in optical communication test, the Agilent 86100C Infiniium DCA-J Mainframe is also emerging as a standard for optical transceiver test of 8G Fibre Channel. This is due to the ease with which it makes the necessary measurements, and the clarity with which it presents the results. Rather than deep configuration menus, a single, physical button is all you need to get easily understood results. Compliance measurements For example, just press the Jitter Mode button to separate interference and jitter details for 8G Fibre Channel devices. This also includes Relative Intensity Noise (RIN or RIN OMA) a measurement unique to the Infiniium DCA-J. In Eye/Mask Mode you can run quick compliance checks for validation and manufacturing test. Apart from the flexibility to handle the sampling rates defined for 8G Fibre Channel, the 86105C optical/electrical module can also test earlier FC generations. Reassuring confidence For confidence in the characteristics of components or tracks on PC boards, single button, dual channel, differential TDR simplifies measuring impedance and S-parameters. Onboard TDR/TDT calibration eliminates the effects of your text fixtures: a great help in simplifying and speeding up development. 4

5 86100C Infiniium DCA-J Infiniium 80000B Series Oscilloscopes J-BERT N4903A Reliable real-time results Agilent s Infiniium 80000B Real-Time Oscilloscopes have the cleanest signals and least intrusive probing for 8G Fibre Channel. The lowest noise floor and jitter measurement floor of real-time scopes in the industry, enable more accurate measurements without giving away margin to your test equipment. Agilent s superior signal integrity helps you uncover more problems, earlier in the development cycle, when they are easier, cheaper and faster to fix. Affordable bandwidth upgrades for example, from 6 GHz if you are working on 4G Fibre Channel, to 13 GHz for 8G Fibre Channel ensures you pay just for what you need, and continue to get the most of your test investment. Comprehensive coverage Analysis software tools complement the base performance of the Infiniium real-time scope. These tools have been developed in combination with leaders in the High-Speed Digital Test field and thus provide the industry required test solutions. For 8G Fibre Channel the software analysis tools that have been developed are, performance validation and compliance, EZJIT Plus jitter analysis and serial data analysis. The High Speed Serial Data Analysis Package simplifies validating the integrity of signals with embedded clocks, and so on. With recording, decoding and search capabilities, it also helps review signals as the receiver sees them which continue to be useful beyond the physical layer. The automation possible with Agilent s applications software a particular strength of the series scopes eliminates sources of error, increases repeatability and, by simplifying setting up and running, minimizes your test and training effort. Quick and accurate receiver tolerance tests The Agilent J-BERT N4903A provides built-in, calibrated jitter sources for stressing receivers at 8.5 Gb/s and beyond. The pattern generator offers calibrated sinusoidal and random jitter, and the required sinusoidal interference to stress the electrical or optical interfaces of transceiver modules. Automated jitter tolerance tests minimize the effort of 8G Fibre Channel design validation. The error detector s built-in clock data recover (CDR) with adjustable loop bandwidth ensures accurate total jitter measurements. The N2100 PXIT DCA s Vector Sampling approach with the color-coded eye diagram enables higher throughput for manufacturing. The DCA-J is an effective way for validating signal integrity for designs complying with high speed serial standards, with embedded clocks. Fit for manufacturing Agilent also has a solution for the Fibre Channel manufacturing environment with the PXIT family of products. This modular solution with the N2100B DCA and N2101B BERT can provide transceiver test capability for all Fibre Channel rates up to and including 8G Fibre Channel. The small form factor, high throughput, scalability and low cost, all contribute to ensure a significant decrease in the cost of test. Quick and accurate receiver characterization and compliance testing based on the J-BERT s calibrated, built-in jitter sources. Fast and easy validation of performance and compliance. 5

6 FC-1, FC-2 Data Link & Network Layers Essential tools for the 8G Fibre Channel designer Replace missing devices Generate traffic Inject errors... all in a single solution Closing the Gap Stimulus and analysis for FC-1 and FC-2 Whether developing hardware or testing in manufacturing, the complexity you have to master for next generation storage devices is increasing at rates exponential to the speed without a similar stretch in development schedules. And because this is at the forefront of development, tools that can stimulate and exercise your devices effectively have been hard to come by. Agilent s dual-purpose 8G Fibre Channel module is unique in the Fibre Channel test market by providing for the continuum of test, from FC-1 to FC-4. This includes encoding and scrambling validation at FC-1, flow control testing at FC-2, up to services testing at FC-4. It encompasses functional through to performance and scalability testing. This makes it a single investment for all Fibre Channel tests. The costeffectiveness of the solution is further improved by using the same hardware platform used as earlier 1G, 2G and 4G modules, and for other protocols, such as PCI Express. This also lets you correlate data and trigger across protocols, simplifying development of many next generation HBAs and storage ICs. 6

7 Product quality is very important to us. We are dedicated to ensuring that all of our products meet the highest quality and performance. The Agilent 173x Series Fibre Channel Test Solution has been our test solution of choice at 4.5 Gb/s and we plan to use the new Agilent 8.5 Gb/s modules in our development and validation to ensure that we exceed market and customer s expectations with our new 8G introduction. Laura Mikrut Senior Director of Switch Testing at QLogic Corporation Generating realistic scenarios The SAN Tester application for the 8G Fibre Channel module creates realistic network and interoperability scenarios. On FC-1, this means generating traffic, and providing statistics that give an insight into the switching rate, stability over long periods, reaction to different types of traffic and sizes of frames, and so on. For 8G Fibre Channel, the introduction of Scrambling/Descrambling at FC-1 makes such tests even more critical to validate interoperability. On FC-2, the SAN Tester can model missing devices and various topologies, such as N_Port or Loop port, and the corresponding traffic profiles. It also includes manipulating flow control ordered sets and creating flow control errors. This accelerates checking different aspects of your chip, board or system design, and gives you confidence in how it reacts to or copes with problems. performance issue, such as high latency on a port, or if the flow control mechanism is not working effectively, this can trigger the Protocol Analyzer to capture the data for analysis. The close linkage thus speeds up root cause analyses significantly. Ensuring robust scalability But the abilities of the SAN tester go beyond testing functionality and performance. By simulating large environments, and creating heavy traffic conditions, it can help you understand the behavior of each of the layers of your device under different scalability and worst case scenarios. On FC-1, this means statistics on your devices share of the bandwidth or how much traffic each port handles, for example. On FC-2, the SAN Tester can generate error events or exceptions, such as a server going down, every 20 minutes or every 20 seconds to stress the system. This compresses month s worth of significant network failures into a weekend s testing, for confidence in the long term stability of your device. With the test scalability up to 64 ports, you can also transition your test setup to 8G Fibre Channel at your own pace. The SAN Tester maintains its position as the de facto standard for active testing in the storage industry, by being able to ensure the design meets the standard early in the development cycle. And if problems are uncovered, the flexibility of the SAN Tester is complemented by the sophisticated triggering and visualization of the Protocol Analyzer application. This can examine the data traffic in greater detail. For example, if the SAN Tester detects a 173x Series Fibre Channel Test Solution SAN Tester Real-time Measurement Configurable Traffic 7

8 FC-4 Protocol Mapping Layer Simplifying Analysis Master new challenges for FC Gb/s is a significant hurdle for the lower layers to overcome. But with increased new capabilities and heterogeneity in data centers, it also presents new challenges on FC-4, for interoperability between storage devices, servers and host base adapters. The Agilent Protocol Analyzer application is designed to troubleshoot errors in the stimulus and response environment of the network. This is why it integrates so closely with the SAN Tester. The linkage even means the SAN Tester can, by replaying data captured by a Protocol Analyzer at a customer site, reproduce issues for resolution by the support organization! Sophisticated triggering The multi-level, multi-state and even multiprotocol triggering sequencer on the Protocol Analyzer ensures it captures key events. A unique graphical interface makes it easy and quick to set up conditions of interest. The 8G Protocol Analyzer even includes Agilent s dual channel trigger sequencer, which can distinguish frame direction (for example, to trigger on buffer to buffer credit violation). Though such cases may be seldom, with the Protocol Analyzer you have the reassurance you can resolve such complex issues speedily. Apart from capturing data intelligently, features such as Agilent s unique Easy Flow, Context Sensitive display and color by frame-types help track, relate and identify command, status and data frames through multiple devices. This helps better understand and analyze protocol interactions, speeding up the time to insight. 8

9 Essential tools for the 8G Fibre Channel designer Trigger effectively Search and filter quickly Visualize clearly...all in an analyzer that integrates closely with your stimulus! Concentrated debugging time The optional SanAlytics post processing software has proven its value in fast debugging for previous generations of Fibre Channel testing. SanAlytics parses the whole trace data to give high-level, graphed and trended views of the information, and to identify performance, protocol, or flow control issues or errors. This takes tedium, time and effort out of finding areas that need your concentration. 173x Series Fibre Channel Test Solution Stressing services At FC-4, the SAN Tester continues to be valuable in testing the performance and scalability of software services (fabric controller, name and zone servers, and so on). It can mimic devices to fill up databases, e.g. name server, flood your device with requests and create worst case scenarios that ensure your services continue to respond promptly and behave reliably under stress. Protocol Analyzer Trace View SanAnalytics Exchange View 9

10 All the Help you Need Expertise and Excellence Meeting your test needs with the most complete portfolio Agilent is the only company to offer 8G Fibre Channel test tools from the Physical Layer through the Data Link and Network Layers to the Protocol Mapping Layer. Whatever your test challenge, Agilent can help you address issues before they become problems and help get products to market faster. FC-4 Protocol Mapping Layer FC-3 FC-1 & 2 Data Link & Network Layers } G Fibre Channel Test Module Supports Fibre Channel 1G to Fibre Channel 8G Dual purpose SAN Tester and Protocol Analyzer in one hardware Broad test coverage for accelerated bring up and troubleshooting Protocol Analyzer Trigger effectively Search and filter quality Visualise clearly SAN Tester Replace missing devices Generate traffic Inject errors FC-0 Physical Layer 86100C Infiniium DCA-J Mainframe (with options 001, 200 and 300) 86105C 9 GHz optical module 20 GHz electrical module (with option H85 or 197) 83496B Clock Recovery Module (with options 101, 200 and 300) 54754A Differential TDR/TDT (with N1024A Calibration Kit) 80000B Infiniium Real- Time Oscilloscope Lowest noise and jitter measurement floor Largest selection of applications packages Upgradeable bandwidth from 2 GHz to 13 GHz N5410A Fibre Channel Performance Validation and Compliance Software N5400A EZJIT Plus Jitter Analysis Software E2688A High-Speed Serial Data Analysis Software J-BERT N4903A High- Performance Serial BERT N2100B PXIT DCA N2101B PXIT BERT Quick and accurate jitter tolerance Ideal for optical/electrical testing transceiver test Pattern generator and error detector The PXIT product family includes the up to 12.5 Gb/s data rate (opt.c13) following modules: Calibrated jitter sources N2100B DCA (Opt.100 with RJ, PJ, BUJ, (opt.j10) 4 selectable filters up to 8.5GB/s) Calibrated sinusoidal interference N2101B BERT (opt.j20) (Opt 300 up to 10.7 Gb/s) Automated jitter tolerance (opt. J12) N2102 Pattern Generator CDR built-in as standard, tunable loop (Opt. 300 up to 11.1 Gb/s) bandwidth is optional (opt. CTR) 10

11 FC-4 Protocol Mapping Layer Manage increased new capabilities and heterogeneity Interoperability between storage devices, servers and host base adapters FC-3 FC-1 & 2 Data Link & Network Layers Master increasing complexity Stimulate and exercise devices effectively FC-0 Physical Layer Optical and electrical characteristics for developing modules or hosts Reliable, interpretable results for fast progressing

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