Tektronix is introducing two new products, the TPR1000 and TPR4000 power rail probes that merge with the 12-bit 5 or 6 Series MSO mixed signal oscilloscopes, offering the lowest system noise out of any power rail measurement solution currently on the market. Carefully measuring and analyzing power rails is imperative to maintain power efficiency and boost signal amplitudes lower.
The novel probes utilize a set of four connectors for small, difficult-to-access test points that reduce connection frustration. Here are some of the challenges typically associated with generating accurate power rail measurements:
- Noise from the oscilloscope and probe is identical to the noise and ripple of the DC supply.
- Oscilloscopes don’t have enough offset to shift DC rails onto the display.
- Low-impedance probes can load down a power rail, altering the way it performs. However, high-impedance, high-attenuation probes can be noisy. The perfect probe would present a high resistance to DC but 50 ohms for AC.
- Probes may not have sufficient bandwidth to see GHz noise that can affect high-speed drivers.
The new probes by Tektronix are capable of addressing each of the concerns listed above. The extremely low noise contribution of the probes aids in the measurement of the noise on a DUT, which is well below a millivolt. Both probes offer up to 60 V offset, 1 V dynamic range and up to 4 GHz of bandwidth.
The probes are set for shipment in late March 2019. Pricing for the 1 GHz TPR1000 and 4 GHz TPR4000 single-ended power rail probes and the TPR4KIT accessory kit are between $4,000 and $6,000.
[Image Source: Tektronix]
Filed Under: Product design
