Summit M5x Protocol Analyzer /Jammer

Teledyne LeCroy is the main supplier of protocol analyzers and exercisers to companies developing SSD and other similar storage products using the new NVMe, SATA Express and SCSI Express high-speed serial data standards. Protocol analyzers and exercisers are used by developers and validation engineers to directly record and examine data traffic on serial data communication links between devices and systems. This equipment enables developers to reduce debug and test schedules, lower engineering development costs on new products and meet aggressive time-to-market requirements.

	Title	Time
	NVMe Protocol Analysis Features for Storage Development and Test	36:27

As storage developers make the transition from legacy SAS and SATA protocol-based SSDs to the more advanced NVMe and SATA Express technologies, they are encountering limitations in available design and test tools including limited trace recording times and a lack of standardized analysis reports for PCIe-based storage. These two issues are significant for the newer technologies of NVMe and SATA Express due to the following:

• High performance SSD testing can require recording data traffic beyond a few minutes. This is not possible for many protocol analyzers due to limitations in their recording architectures.
• While some test tool suppliers have claimed support for the NVMe and SATA Express protocols, support for these protocols has remained minimal. This has hampered developer's productivity due to the use of reporting systems designed for the older technologies, which are not optimized for quality testing on NVMe and SATA Express products.

The Summit T34 protocol analyzer, specifically targeted at PCIe storage applications, now supports long trace recordings with a new NVMe Enhanced Mode. The Summit T34 can also be configured with up to 64 GB of trace recording memory. NVMe Enhanced Mode builds on and optimizes the existing deep buffer memory to allow users long recording time capability. Depending on the speed of the DUT (Device Under Test), the recording time can be maximized to up to several hours for a single trace capture. This feature is useful for tasks such as measuring performance or determining how well your Queue handling algorithms are functioning. An example of the metrics that are now available include the ability to measure the NVMe queue distribution over a sustained period of time. The ability to gather queue behavior for long periods helps driver and OS developers fine tune their applications and balance queue loads for optimized product performance.

With over a decade of experience in providing PCI Express, SAS/SATA and other serial data protocols with standardized error analysis and product performance reports, Teledyne LeCroy has now created an NVMe and SATA Express SSD Performance and Analysis capability. Trace Expert™, a new feature in the PCIe Protocol Suite, creates a detailed report that the SSD industry requires to obtain a common understanding of how their SSD or storage systems are operating and includes information on the necessary PCIe based components. Information such as NVMe queues, commands, doorbell and control registers and many other metrics are captured, analyzed and organized into a detailed report providing developers a comprehensive status document for their products including a wide range of performance statistics.

In addition to the standard storage protocols, all of our NVMe platforms also fully support, Trusted Computer Group (TCG), Single Root I/O Virtualization (SRIOV), Multi-Root I/O Virtualization (MRIOV) and Address Translation Services (ATS). A full list of capabilities, views and reports can be found on the product pages (listed below) for each of our analyzers.

NVMe over PCIe Specification Decoding and Analysis - NVMe Initialization Decoding
• Decode NVMe Commands
• Analyze NVMe Queues
• NVMe Multiple Pointer Based Transactions
• NVMe Power Management
• Extract the PCIe SSD Base Address automatically

The Summit M5x Protocol Analyzer /Jammer is the computer industry’s first platform to not only support today’s PCIe 4.0 specification but is designed to also support both the next generation PCIe 5.0 (32GT/s) specification as well as the Gen-Z Specification. The Summit M5x introduces new error injection (jamming) capabilities for PCIe and Gen-Z testing in addition to high speed recording and analyzing. The Summit M5x protocol analyzer/jammer features the PCIe industry’s first PCIe 4.0 "RAS" Error and Gen-Z jamming test capability.

The Summit M5x platform is PCIe 5.0 ready and supports up to 32 GT/s transmission speeds. Summit M5x users who are using PCIe 4.0 today can upgrade to PCIe 5.0 by purchasing a software license upgrade along with any necessary probes that they may need for their environment. Monitoring and analyzing other high-speed protocols that leverage the PCIe electrical specification but using their own protocols such as Gen-Z and CCIX are also supported on this analysis platform.

Summit M5x introduces a new probing methodology that eliminates the need of a traditional “interposer” type probe to interface with systems under test. This is ideal for server-based systems that utilize horizonal insertion. The Summit M5x supports PCIe 4.0, Gen-Z and CCIX at up to x16 link widths and PCIe 5.0 link widths up to x8. The Summit M5x can be configured with up to 128GB of trace memory, which is advantageous for users requiring long protocol recordings. The protocol analyzer can be controlled through USB or remotely through 1000baseT Ethernet. The Summit M5x protocol analyzer can also be synchronized with other high-speed protocol analyzers from Teledyne LeCroy using CrossSync, functionality that enables time‐aligned packet traffic as well as cross triggering from multiple high‐speed serial busses as may be needed to design, debug and validate across bridges.

With advanced features such as support for PCI Express 4.0/5.0 and Gen-Z specifications, data rates of 2.5, 5, 8, 16 and 32GT/s, lane widths from x1 to x16, and a full 128 GB of trace memory, the Summit M5x Protocol Analyzer provides unmatched capability and flexibility for developers and users of advanced PCI Express and Gen-Z products. The Summit M5x is by far the most advanced and sophisticated Protocol Analyzer available in the market today.

The Summit M5x protocol analyzer/jammer features the PCIe industry’s first PCIe 4.0 jamming test capability. The Summit M5x can modify, replace, insert or delete traffic between a PCIe root complex and endpoint to verify adherence to design specifications and identify potential errors in protocol behavior. Unlike PCIe jammers of past years, jamming the transmission between the root complex and endpoint is done within normal operating PCIe specifications instead of breaking the specification by creating out of spec latencies and retransmissions. The Summit M5x also introduces for the first time NVMe and NVMe-MI protocol jamming as well. The analyzer and jammer combination features on the Summit M5x make this a powerful testing tool for PCIe and NVMe validation and development labs.

With its PCIe 4.0 compliant jamming capability, the Summit M5x delivers test functionality sought after by engineers trying to ensure improved system robustness. Moreover, the Summit M5x quickly and easily injects PCIe RAS (Reliability, Accessibility and Serviceability) errors including Correctable, Uncorrectable and Fatal errors between a standard Root Complex and Endpoint in adherence to design specifications to identify potential error handling problems. The RAS testing functionality supports PCIe links up to 16 lanes at 16GT/s and is run using the LinkExpert software to fully automate the testing and validation of system level error handling and reporting mechanisms.

The Summit M5x is the industry’s first Gen-Z capable Protocol Analyzer and Jammer. the Summit M5x can inject errors and manipulate traffic between a Gen-Z requester and responder to verify adherence to design specifications and identify potential errors in protocol behavior.

As with other Teledyne LeCroy Protocol analyzers, the Summit M5x leverages the intuitive and powerful CATC Trace analysis software system, embedding a deep understanding of the protocol hierarchy and intricacies. The colorful, intuitive and easy to use graphical display allows you to quickly capture and validate PCI Express and Gen-Z product designs.

The raw recording mode, BitTracer, allows bytes to be recorded as they come across the link, allowing debugging of PHY layer problems and combining the features of a logic analyzer format with a protocol analyzer format.

The Summit M5x also supports Ethernet LAN port as a standard feature. By connecting over a LAN, engineers can operate the system remotely (e.g., install the client software on their desktop systems, and control an analyzer operating in a remote lab). Also, multiple engineers working collaboratively can time-share use of a single analyzer, reducing the need for an additional analyzer for each engineer, and increasing the cost effectiveness of the product.

By leveraging years of experience in protocol analysis tools for emerging markets, Teledyne LeCroy's protocol analyzers blend sophisticated functionality with practical features to speed the development of IP cores, semiconductors, storage, graphics, servers, workstations, bridges, and switches.