Tektronix Extends Mid-Range Oscilloscope Leadership

BEAVERTON, Ore., Dec. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tektronix, Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of oscilloscopes, today announced that it has extended its leadership in the mid-range oscilloscope segment with the introduction of the MSO/DPO5000B Series offering bandwidth up to 2 GHz with10 GS/s sample rate and 50M standard record length. This best-in-class acquisition performance together with advanced analysis capabilities give designers the comprehensive test capabilities they need for today's faster and more complex embedded systems at an affordable mid-level price point.

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A number of trends are driving change in the mid-range oscilloscope segment. Faster-speed serial buses such as USB 2.0, USB HSIC and Ethernet are increasingly being used in embedded designs. These in turn introduce new design challenges like embedded clocks or tighter jitter budgets and often require more specialized analysis and compliance testing to ensure interoperability. Another key application is power conversion efficiency, driven in part by the emergence of new disruptive technologies such as SiC and GaN with increased switching speeds, requiring oscilloscopes with higher bandwidth, faster sampling rates and specialized probing. Despite the increased design specifications, equipment budgets remain tight, meaning that labs are looking for flexibility and versatility in critical test instrumentation.

"Tektronix mid-range oscilloscopes are used in more embedded system and power conversion development labs than any other brand of instrument on a global basis," said Dave Farrell, general manager, Mainstream Oscilloscopes at Tektronix. "The reason for this success stems from our class-leading performance and features across every single point of evaluation – from raw performance to serial decode to probing options and customizable analysis. With the MSO/DPO5000B we are further enhancing our mid-range offerings in ways that will boost engineering productivity while actually rolling back prices substantially on higher-end models."

The Complete Package
As speeds increase, higher bandwidth oscilloscopes are a requirement. The MSO/DPO5000B Series offer the most complete performance in a mid-range oscilloscope with 2 GHz bandwidth, 10 GS/s sampling, up to 250 M record length, 250,000 waveform per second capture rate, and >11 bits resolution with HiRes acquisition. This performance is augmented by the industry's highest bandwidth 1 GHz passive probe with loading of just 4 pF. DPX intensity grading technology helps engineers find elusive glitches and other transients in seconds.

Since mid-range oscilloscopes are often shared across engineering teams and moved from station to station, all MSO/DPO5000B models are now equipped standard with a 480 GB solid state disk for more rapid start-up and greater data storage capacity. This means engineers have a more reliable storage system along with waveform and setup storage flexibility.  

Adding to an already extensive set of tools for waveform capture, measurement and analysis, the MSO/DPO5000B Series oscilloscopes now include Visual Trigger support as a standard feature. Visual Trigger and search allow users to create triggers based on shapes such as rectangles or hexagons making it much easier to capture complex waveforms on multiple channels. The unique Wave Inspector allows users to quickly search through waveforms for faster troubleshooting and discovery of anomalies on live and captured signals.

For designers working on mixed signal designs, the MSO5000B models offer 16 digital channels for serial bus triggering and decode, time-aligned with analog signals. Support is available for all major mid-speed and lower speed embedded and automotive buses. Limit testing is now standard along with mask and serial data compliance options.

New Power Measurement and Analysis Solution
To support power conversion applications, Tektronix is announcing a new version of DPOPWR Advanced Power Measurement and Analysis software. Using this software, designers can configure multiple measurements with custom defined settings, measure and analyze power dissipation in switching devices, and evaluate magnetic parameters in a single acquisition. The addition of new measurements such as Inrush Current, Capacitance, and Reactive Power provide more insight for input and output characterization of power supplies.

New BroadR-Reach Testing
Adding to the new oscilloscopes' versatility, Tektronix now offers automated debug and compliance testing support for BroadR-Reach.  Option BRR allows the use of a single Tektronix oscilloscope for the full range of tests required by the specification including power spectral density (PSD) and return loss measurements. Until now, engineers have been required to use a spectrum analyzer and a network analyzer respectively for these tests. In addition to an issued patent, Tektronix has a pending patent application covering this testing technology. This "one-box" solution simplifies setup complexity and reduces equipment expense.

Pricing & Availability
For lower-data rate applications, the MSO/DPO5000B oscilloscopes start at $12,300 US MSRP for 350 MHz 4-channel DPO models. At the high end of the series, 2 GHz MSO5000B models are priced at $24,800 US MSRP, a more than $12,000 savings compared to existing models when including the value of now standard options. Ten to 20 percent savings are also offered for other specialized option bundles and probes. All models and options are available now worldwide.

Wondering what else Tektronix is up to? Check out the Tektronix Bandwidth Banter blog and stay up to date on the latest news from Tektronix on Twitter and Facebook.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty-five years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test equipment for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge at www.tektronix.com.

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.

SOURCE Tektronix, Inc