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Tektronix AWG7000 Arbitrary Waveform Generators Answers Customers’ Need for Speed


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Fastest, Most Capable, and Versatile Signal Source Meets Needs for High-Speed Serial Data and Wideband Digital RF Test Challenges

INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, San Francisco, September 25, 2006 - Tektronix, Inc. (NYSE: TEK), a leading, worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, announced the new AWG7000 Series of Arbitrary Waveform Generators (AWG). The AWG7000 is the world’s fastest AWG, designed to meet the test needs for high-speed serial data buses and wideband digital RF devices. With 5.8 GHz bandwidth, 10 bit resolution, and sample rates up to 20 GS/s, the AWG7000 is the only AWG that can produce high-speed real-life waveforms with imperfections including noise, jitter, pre/de-emphasis and multi-level signaling up to 10 Gb/s. The AWG7000 is the fastest, most capable, and versatile signal source available for high-speed serial and wideband RF signals.

Design engineers who are developing new technologies such as SATAIII, PCI Express 2, 2x XAUI, HDMI 1.3, ultra-wideband (UWB), the latest storage devices and radar need to process large amounts of data at faster speeds, broader bandwidths and higher frequencies, and often involving the latest high-speed standards. An AWG is used by engineers in design and test processes to create, replicate and generate either ideal, distorted or “real-life” signals including noise, jitter, glitches and other imperfections to assist with prototype, debug, verification, and standards compliance for the latest serial data or wideband digital RF designs.

“Engineers have told us that they need greater performance, capability, and versatility from their signal source to keep pace with the latest technology,” said Mike Higashi, Vice President, Signal Sources Product Line, Tektronix. “Tektronix designed the AWG7000 to minimize complexity for users and to provide the performance needed to match increasing serial data rates and the advance of wideband digital RF technologies. The AWG7000 can create, replicate or generate any signal and can generate up to six signals simultaneously. No other AWG can match the performance, capability and flexibility of the AWG7000. The AWG7000 will assist engineers with the development of better products and with a lower investment of time and money.”

“Engineers working with high-speed serial technologies such as the next generation of PCI Express need high performance testing tools to simulate real-world conditions,” said Jim Pappas, director of initiative marketing, Intel Corporation. “Companies such as Tektronix are developing tools to provide the capabilities that designers need to appropriately stress test their high-speed designs.”

New Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) Powers High Speed AWG
The AWG7000 Series is based upon a new high performance platform that incorporates a new Digital-to-Analog (DAC) converter to produce greater precision and performance. The DAC utilizes an IBM silicon germanium (SiGe) 7HP process that increases vertical resolution and sample rate to establish new performance benchmarks for signal fidelity and timing resolution. With the flexibility to create, replicate and generate virtually any type of signal, the AWG7000 is the most capable and versatile signal source available.

The sample rate has increased from 4.2 GS/s in previous generation products to 20 GS/s with the AWG7000 Series providing engineers with 4x the performance compared to any other AWG. The AWG7000 is able to generate signals including imperfections such as noise and jitter up to 10 Gb/s with 45ps rise time (20/80) for high-speed serial data applications and modulated digital RF/IF signals of 5 GHz for wideband applications including advanced radar. The combination of industry-leading AWG7000 performance attributes matches the test needs of new generations of high-speed serial and wideband digital RF technologies.

“Engineering is constantly under pressure to develop products faster and more cost effectively,” said David Erisman, Chief Technology Officer, X-COM Systems. “As system designs become more advanced and complex, the ability to create accurate signals in a realistic test environment becomes increasingly important. The user interface and waveform development tools of the AWG7000 enable engineers to easily generate, very early in the development process, the exact waveform, data stream or mixed signal needed for testing design concepts before committing them to hardware. The Tektronix AWG7000 provides breakthrough performance and more capabilities and ease of use than any signal source we have seen. The AWG7000 will definitely improve our ability to develop leading products and solutions for our customers.”

Greater Capability and Productivity
Tektronix User Experience designers researched signal source customer usage patterns and needs to determine requirements for the AWG7000. Based upon this research, the AWG7000 is equipped with a 10.4 inch LCD touch screen color display and an intuitive user interface employing Windows XP to help engineers be more productive.

Connectivity features include GPIB and Gigabit Ethernet. The units come with 1 or 2 analog channels and 2 and 4 marker outputs enabling the generation of mixed-signal waveforms that provide for analog signals and digital control channels. The AWG7000 enables easy data interchange with third-party software including MatLab, MathCad and Microsoft Excel which are often used in the creation and generation of waveforms, data streams and mixed signals as an aid to design, prototype, debug and test compliance of the latest products.

Pricing and Availability
The AWG7000 Series is available immediately for order. U.S. MSRP for the AWG7000 Series starts at $60,000 for the 5 GS/s AWG7051.

About Tektronix
Tektronix is a leading supplier of test, measurement, and monitoring products, solutions and services for the communications, computer, and semiconductor industries - as well as military/aerospace, consumer electronics, education and a broad range of other industries worldwide. With 60 years of experience, Tektronix enables its customers to design, build, deploy, and manage next-generation global communications networks, advanced and pervasive technologies. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix has operations in 19 countries worldwide. Tektronix’ Web address is www.tektronix.com.

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Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.



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