Voyager M4x

Teledyne LeCroy has developed six generations of its industry leading USB protocol verification system since the introduction of USB in 1995. Each successive generation of the Teledyne LeCroy USB analyzer family has built upon the previous knowledge and expertise. Today, Teledyne LeCroy offers a broad range of USB test systems with unprecedented functionality, accuracy and user friendliness. The enormous cost of discovering problems after a product is released far outweighs the investment in Teledyne LeCroy's de-facto standard USB analysis tools. Their use improves the speed and efficiency of the debug, test and verification for USB semiconductor, device, and software vendors. Analyzers or bus "sniffers" also play an essential role in avoiding costly interoperability problems by allowing developers to verify compliance with the USB specification.

Consistent with the growing popularity of digital media, the USB-IF announced USB 3.0 in late 2007 targeting 10X the current USB bandwidth by utilizing two additional high-speed differential pairs for "SuperSpeed" transfer mode. The USB 3.0 specification was released in late 2008 and commercial products began shipping in late 2009. Teledyne LeCroy has pioneered the development of verifications systems for this new technology. The only company that offers a complete line of USB 3.0 test solutions covering transmitter test to protocol test, and every step in between, Teledyne LeCroy helps developers achieve their goals of performance, quality, reliability and time-to-market for SuperSpeed technology.

USB, or Universal Serial Bus, is a connectivity standard that enables computer peripherals and consumer electronics to be connected to a computer without reconfiguring the system or opening the computer box to install interface cards. The USB 1.0 specification was introduced in January 1996. The original USB 1.0 specification had a data transfer rate of 12 Mbit/s The first widely used version of USB was 1.1, which was released in September 1998. It provided 12 Mbps data rate for higher-speed devices such as disk drives, and a lower 1.5 Mbps rate for low bandwidth devices such as joysticks. USB 2.0 specification was released in April 2000 and was ratified by the USB-IF at the end of 2001 to develop a higher data transfer rate, with the resulting specification achieving 480 Mbit/s

USB today provides a fast, bi-directional, low-cost, serial interface that offers easy connectivity to PCs. A hallmark for USB operation has been the ability for the host to automatically recognize devices as they are attached and install the appropriate drivers. With features such as backward compatibility with previous devices and hot "plug-ability", USB has become the de-facto standard interface for various consumer and PC peripheral devices. The USB standard allows up to 127 devices connected to a Host System. USB designates low, full, high-speed connectivity between devices compatible with the 2.0 specification. Most full speed devices include lower bandwidth mice, keyboards, printers, and joysticks. The use of high speed USB has exploded with the rapid growth in digital media in the consumer electronics market including media players, digital cameras, external storage and smart phones.

SuperSpeed USB is designator for links operating at the 5 GHz frequency and compatible with the USB 3.0 specification. SuperSpeed USB provides a high performance connection topology for applications that utilize larger files or require higher bandwidth. SuperSpeed USB is backward compatible with USB 2.0, resulting in a seamless transition process for the end user. SuperSpeed USB offers a compelling opportunity for digital imaging and media device vendors to migrate their designs to higher performance USB 3.0 capable interface.

NEC/Renesas was the first chip vendor to introduce host controllers for USB 3.0 (5/18/2009). The first motherboards featuring USB 3.0 ports from Asus and Gigabyte followed in late 2009. In the first half of 2010, dozens of SuperSpeed devices began shipping as vendors rushed to deliver solutions using the 5Gbps signaling speed of USB 3.0. Expect mass adoption into high-bandwidth applications in late 2010.

From its emergence in 1995 as a low-cost connection interface for keyboards and mice, USB has steadily expanded its presence in computing and consumer electronics to become the most popular peripheral interconnect in history. USB continues to be dominant for the following reasons:

• Mature, proven technology
• Backward-compatible and low cost
• Easy plug and play operation
• Data transfer speeds suitable for a variety of applications

As evidenced by USB popularity, several extensions of the technology have been introduced to try and capitalize on its installed base/ popularity. An example of this extension, which is supported and approved by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), is USB On-The-Go (OTG). Designed to allow portable computing devices, such as cell phones and digital cameras, the ability to connect to other USB devices as either a host or peripheral, OTG promises improved interoperability for an enormous number of USB enabled devices.

In addition, there are now dozens of USB device classes addressing everything from health care systems to isochronous video applications. Mass storage remains one of the most popular USB applications as consumers have embraced all types of digital media. The T10 committee has now finalized USB Attached SCSI (UAS) protocol which enables several significant improvements over legacy mass storage protocols including command queuing and streamed IO. Of particular interest is the new battery charging specification which provides a standard mechanism allowing devices to draw current in excess of the USB specification when connected to wall chargers or fast charging host controllers. In addition to the traditional data interchange application, the battery charging specification has solidified USB's dominant role as the interface of choice in the portable electronics market.

USB was initially introduced as a host to peripheral interconnect with the goal of putting most of the intelligence on the host-side. The OTG specification added an optional peer-to-peer capability to devices but had limited adoption to date. So the vast majority of USB devices typically fall into 2 categories:

• Hosts
  • PCs, Macs and laptops
• Peripherals
  • All devices designed to attach to a host (examples)

The role of the host controller (plus software) is to provide a uniform view of IO systems for all applications software. For the USB IO subsystem in particular, the host manages the dynamic attach and detach of peripherals. It automatically performs the enumeration stage of device initialization which involves communicating with the peripheral to discover the identity of a device driver that it should load, if not already loaded. It also provides device descriptor information that drivers can use enable specific features on the device. Peripherals add functionality to the host system or may be standalone embedded operation. When operating as a USB device, peripherals act are slaves that obey a defined protocol. They must react to requests sent from the host. It's largely the role of PC software to manage device power without user interaction to minimize overall power consumption. The USB 3.0 specification redefines power management to occur at the hardware level with multiple power states designed to reduce power usage across the IO system.

• USB Implementer's Forum
• Intel
• Microsoft

Teledyne LeCroy’s legendary Voyager analyzer platform provides the industry’s most accurate and reliable capture of USB 3.2, USB4 and Thunderbolt™ 3 protocol for fast debug, analysis and problem solving. Leveraging Teledyne LeCroy's cutting-edge T.A.P.4™ probe technology and industry-leading analysis software, the newest Voyager is the ultimate, all-in-one test solution for USB.

The Voyager M4x features the industry’s highest fidelity probe design and provides unmatched reliability when testing devices at the full USB4 Gen3x2 (40Gb/s aggregate) speed. Designed to sit inline between host and hub, the M4x will non-intrusively record all USB Type-C signaling including USB 3.2 / USB4 / TBT3 data, side-band and CC (PD) messages. Hot plug any combination of USB4 host and hub and the Voyager system will record the speed negotiation handshake and lock at the specified rate. Full support for capturing USB 3.2 bonded traffic (20 Gb/s aggregate) over Type-C also fills a critical need for developers targeting Superspeed USB 3.2 applications.

The Voyager utilizes the legendary CATC Trace - the industry's de facto standard display and shows all packets labeled and interleaved in a single view. Traffic from the logical USB4 and side-band channels can be individually filtered, searched or exported from the trace. The Transfer level can be expanded and collapsed to show the logical layer including all ordered sets and control packets. While in line, it will record and display all register reads and writes to provide an unambiguous picture of the router and path configuration space. The HopID window allows precise hiding of traffic based on Hopid and Protocol Defined Function (PDF). Isolating traffic on specific paths provides a coherent picture of the full configuration sequence for each PCIe, USB or DP adapter within the network.

• Capture / Analyze USB4 including PD & SBU traffic - See end-to-end host, hub, and device operation
• Integrated analyzer / exerciser - Multifunction system simultaneously generates and captures USB4 protocol traffic
• USB Type-C & PD analyzer - Capture Type-C and Power Delivery protocol messages and state changes
• CATC Trace Analysis Software - Expand / Collapse transport layer for faster interpretation of USB traffic
• T.A.P.4™ probing - Proven analog front-end architecture to provide the truest picture of power-on link training
• Up to 32GB Recording Capacity - Capture long recording sessions for analysis and problem solving
• Hide / Show Traffic by Hopid - HopID Filtering makes it easy to focus the analysis on specific paths/functions
• Detects numerous USB4 Link & Protocol errors - Critical link and timing errors are detected and labeled
• External Trigger In / Out - Use the Voyager to identify any packet and toggle a scope or logic analyzer (via SMA connectors)
• Cascade Multiple Analyzers - Synchronize recordings across multiple analyzers including legacy USB 3.x Voyager systems
• Hardware Triggering - Trigger on USB4 protocol events to isolate important traffic, specific errors or data patterns
• Gbe or USB 3.0 Upload - Sustained transfer rates of 600Mbps over Gbe provide instant access to captured data

The front-end of the Voyager analyzer features USB4 rated connectors that support the full 40Gb/s data rate for loss-less capture of traffic from all active links simultaneously. The Voyager M4x platform includes 32GB of recording memory plus USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet links for uploading recorded traffic to the host PC. The Voyager is fully compatible with both active and passive cable environments. Field upgradeable firmware ensures future support for new features or changes to the USB specification.

The Voyager provides hardware triggering to pinpoint protocol events of interest. Trigger events can be specified at the lowest levels including bus states and ordered sets (TS1/TS2, De-Skew, CL2_ACK). Updates will address header fields including hop ID. For packet types (tunneled, control, credit_sync, etc..). Triggering on CC events including Alt-mode and PD messages, VBUS and CC voltage levels are also supported.

The exerciser adds a flexible traffic generation capability for USB4 and Thunderbolt™ 3 to the Voyager M4x platform. It allows users to transmit custom packets over standard USB Type-C cables with low-level control of headers, payloads, timing, and link states. Seamlessly integrated with the protocol analyzer, the M4x exerciser can emulate host or device router operations while recording the real response from the DUT. Leveraging the same proven architecture developed for SuperSpeed USB, the M4x exerciser adds Gen3x2 and Gen2x2 support allowing users to perform initial power-on, functional and compliance testing for next generation USB4 chipsets.

The Teledyne LeCroy Voyager can detect and flag real USB4, USB 3.2 and PD protocol errors. At the lower layers, training sequences, SCR content and CRC values are automatically checked for errors. Configuration Packet Timing is verified along with many USB 3.2 / USB4 logical layer timing requirements.

The Voyager software provides many mechanisms to measure and report on USB & PD protocol. With the Traffic Summary display, users can evaluate statistical reports at a glance or navigate to individual events. Users may select packets or link commands then jump to each occurrence with a single keystroke. Higher-level events are also tracked and reported at the logical transport layer.

For Tunneled PCI Express, Data Link Layer Packets (DLLP) and Transaction layer events are decoded allowing users to see critical fields like address and Requester ID. When capturing tunneled DisplayPort, AUX messages are separated from the video main data stream for easier interpretation. All fields for tunneled USB packets are fully decoded. Higher layer USB events including device class transactions will be decoded in a follow-on release.

The Voyager M4x offers broad support for USB Compliance testing including USB Type-C, PD, USB4 and USB 3.2 Link Layer. Utilizing Teledyne LeCroy’s Voyager exerciser capability, the Compliance Suite is an automated application that utilizes emulation scripts to mimic USB, PD, and Type-C link behaviors. The exerciser is used to initiate and respond to USB and PD commands like a real device while analyzing the response from the DUT. It communicates directly over Type-C cabling, records and analyzes every protocol exchange to determine correct behavior. For Type-C and PD Compliance, the exerciser leverages a comprehensive library of high-level commands to emulate Type-C source, sink and DRP behaviors. (see detailed descriptions under options tab.)

The Voyager M4x offers exclusive support for USB 3.2 10Gps and 20Gbps link layer testing. It’s also the foundation for performing USB4 protocol and logical layer conformance. The only solution capable of testing USB4 and USB 3.2 link layer, each compliance option is sold separately allowing users to scale up testing as needed.

The Voyager M4x Power Tracker option monitors and displays vBus power and current graphically in a time-line format. The voltages are synchronized to trace events allowing users to verify power state transitions at the protocol and electrical layers. Separate power graphs are provided for CC and VCONN making it easy to debug logical Type-C state transitions.

The Voyager system features countless innovations in data analysis to help reduce time-to-market for USB systems and devices. Combined with future enhancements bringing exerciser and compliance testing, the Voyager platform is well suited for low-level USB4 silicon validation as well as system and software level verification.