The PicoScope 9400 Series SXRTOs are a new class of oscilloscopes that combine the benefits of real-time sampling, random equivalent-time sampling and high analog bandwidth:

PicoScope 9400 Series SXRTO

• SXRTO (sampler-extended real-time oscilloscope)
• 9404-16 and 9402-16: 16 GHz bandwidth, 22 ps transition time and 2.5 TS/s (0.4 ps resolution) random equivalent-time sampling
• 9404-05 and 9402-05: 5 GHz bandwidth, 70 ps transition time and 1 TS/s (1 ps resolution) random equivalent-time sampling
• Pulse, eye and mask testing down to 45 ps and up to 11 Gb/s
• 12-bit 500 MS/s ADCs
• Intuitive and configurable touch-compatible Windows user interface
• Comprehensive built-in measurements, zooms, data masks and histograms
• ±800 mV full-scale input range into 50 Ω
• 10 mV/div to 0.25 V/div digital gain ranges
• Up to 250 kS trace length, shared between channels
• Optional clock recovery trigger on all models – 5 or 8 Gb/s
• Recovered clock and data outputs

The PicoScope 9400 Series sampler-extended real-time oscilloscopes (SXRTOs) have two or four high-bandwidth 50 Ω input channels with market-leading ADC, timing and display resolutions for accurately measuring and visualizing high-speed analog and data signals. They are ideal for capturing pulse and step transitions down to 22 ps, impulse down to 100 ps, and clocks and data eyes to 8 Gb/s (with optional clock recovery).

The PicoScope SXRTOs offer random sampling, which can readily analyze high-bandwidth applications that involve repetitive signals or clock-related streams. Unlike other sampling methods, random sampling allows capture of pre-trigger data and does not require a separate clock input.

The SXRTO is fast, with quick generation of random sampling waveforms, persistence displays and statistics. The PicoScope 9400 Series has a built-in internal trigger on every channel, with pre-trigger random sampling to well above the Nyquist (real-time) sampling rate. Bandwidth is up to 16 GHz behind a 50 Ω SMA(f) input, and three acquisition modes—real-time, random and roll—all capture at 12-bit resolution into a shared memory of up to 250 kS.

The PicoSample 4 software is derived from our existing PicoSample 3 sampling oscilloscope software, which embodies over ten years of development, customer feedback and optimization.

The display can be resized to fit any window and fully utilize available display resolution, 4K and even larger or across multiple monitors. Four independent zoom channels can show you different views of your data down to a resolution of 0.4 ps. Most of the controls and status panels can be shown or hidden according to your application, allowing you to make optimal use of the display area.

A 2.5 GHz direct trigger can be driven from any input channel, and a built-in divider can extend the off-channel trigger bandwidth to 5 GHz. On the 16 GHz models, a further external prescaled trigger input allows stable trigger from signals of up to 16 GHz bandwidth and, from the internal triggers, recovered clock trigger is available (if optional clock recovery is fitted) at up to 8 Gb/s. With this option, recovered clock and data are both available on SMA outputs on the rear panel. The price you pay for your PicoScope SXRTO is the price you pay for everything – we don’t charge you for software features or updates.

These compact units are small enough to place on your workbench close to the device under test. Now, instead of using remote probe heads attached to a large benchtop unit, all you need is a short, low-loss coaxial cable. Everything else you need is built into the oscilloscope, with no expensive hardware or software add-ons to worry about, and we don’t charge you for new software features and updates.

Typical applications

• Telecom and radar test, service and manufacturing
• Optical fiber, transceiver and laser testing (optical to electrical conversion not included)
• RF, microwave and gigabit digital system measurements
• Signal, eye, pulse and impulse characterization
• Precision timing and phase analysis
• Digital system design and characterization
• Eye diagram, mask and limits test up to 8 Gb/s
• Clock and data recovery at up to 8 Gb/s
• Ethernet, HDMI 1, PCI, SATA and USB 2.0
• Semiconductor characterization
• Signal, data and pulse/impulse integrity and pre-compliance testing

High-bandwidth probes

The PicoConnect 900 Series low-impedance, high-bandwidth probes are ideal companions for the PicoScope 9400 Series, allowing cost-effective fingertip browsing of fast signals. Two series are available:

• RF, microwave and pulse probes for broadband signals up to 5 GHz (10 Gb/s)
• Gigabit probes for data streams such as USB 2, HDMI 1, Ethernet, PCIe and SATA

Other features

Bandwidth limit filters

A selectable analog bandwidth limiter (100 or 450 MHz, model-dependent) on each input channel can be used to reject high frequencies and associated noise. The narrow setting can be used as an anti-alias filter in real-time sampling modes.

Frequency counter

A built-in fast and accurate frequency counter shows signal frequency (or period) at all times, regardless of measurement and timebase settings and with a resolution of 1 ppm.

Clock and data recovery

Clock and data recovery (CDR) is now available as a factory-fit optional trigger feature on all models.

Associated with high-speed serial data applications, clock and data recovery will already be familiar to PicoScope 9300 users. While low-speed serial data can often be accompanied by its clock as a separate signal, at high speed this approach would accumulate timing skew and jitter between the clock and the data that could prevent accurate data decode. Thus high-speed data receivers will generate a new clock, and using a phase-locked loop technique they will lock and align that new clock to the incoming data stream. This is the recovered clock and it can be used to decode and thus recover data accurately. We have also saved the cost of an entire clock signal path by now needing only the serial data signal.

In many applications requiring our oscilloscopes to view the data, the data generator and its clock will be close at hand and we can trigger off that clock. However, if only the data is available (at the far end of an optical fiber for instance), we will need the CDR option to recover the clock and then trigger off that instead. We may also need to use the CDR option in demanding eye and jitter measurements. This is because we want our instrument to measure as exactly as possible the signal quality that a recovered clock and data receiver will see.

When fitted, the PicoScope 9400 CDR option can be selected as the trigger source from any input channel. Additionally, for use by other instruments or by downstream system elements, two SMA(f) outputs present recovered clock and recovered data on the rear panel.