Agilent analysis software for USB protocol analysers

Agilent Technologies Inc has announced an analysis software suite for the U4611A, U4611B and U4612A family of USB protocol analysers. The suite features MegaZoom technology, offering USB device designers quick and easy insight into their designs’ behaviour, and streamlining USB test and validation.

USB 3.0 designs have been adopted as a default connection for external disk drives and adapters for high-speed networks, placing greater demand on USB performance. The MegaZoom technology analyses operations in real time with a full view of the connection’s performance, helping designers optimise both new and existing USB devices.

MegaZoom technology in the U4611A and U4611B quickly analyses massive amounts of data and drills into the detail designers need. Features include: up to 18 GB of deep memory data capture without the sluggish response times and complex user interfaces inherent with traditional analysers; and patented indexing techniques performed in proprietary FPGA designs that let MegaZoom analyse the 5 Gbps bidirectional data of USB 3.0 in real time.

Results are displayed in seconds, providing instant access to all events in the capture with a single click.

MegaZoom is not a special mode - it performs at full bandwidth in every capture, regardless of additional triggers and analysis performed by the analyser.

The software allows the U4611A, U4611B and U4612A USB protocol analysers to monitor and capture bus activity and provide immediate access to the full detail of the entire data capture buffer - up to 18 GB. Real-time performance information is calculated, counted, logged and graphed in a single display. Performance data allows designers to quickly and easily identify the events that are causing throughput problems, endpoint data retry and communication errors.

In addition to providing a complete set of features for measuring packet performance, the new Link Training Status State Machine (LTSSM) views allow designers to see the real-time current state of the USB link while performance information is collected. This same LTSSM information is captured and stored with the data capture for full detailed analysis.