News - Component Test

PCI Express 5.0 M.2 Interposer for SSD Protocol Analysis

07 October 2021 - Teledyne LeCroy announced the PCI Express 5.0 M.2 interposer for analysis of both single-port and dual-port solid-state drives (SSDs) that support the PCI Express (PCIe) 5.0 and NVM Express (NVMe) protocols. The M.2 interposer, used in combination with a Teledyne LeCroy PCIe 5.0 Summit Protocol Analyzer, enables the capture and analysis of PCIe 5.0 traffic from M.2 form factor expansion cards or drives.

The PCIe 5.0 M.2 interposer improves debug of enhanced power management and link training equalization through Teledyne LeCroy’s new CrossSync PHY technology, enabling users to see and correlate both the physical and protocol layers in a unified time aligned view. No other solution gives this type of insight into link behavior.

The M.2 small form factor is used in the latest generation of high-end, ultra-fast, expansion cards and SSDs, and is gaining popularity in mobile, desktop, and enterprise platforms. Based on both PCIe 5.0 and NVMe protocols, the M.2 interface can support up to 32GT/s transfer speeds. With the availability of Teledyne LeCroy’s PCIe 5.0 M.2 interposer, design and test engineers can now test, identify issues, and optimize M.2 SSD performance.

The PCIe 5.0 M.2 interposer can connect with any of the Teledyne LeCroy PCIe 5.0 Summit protocol analyzers to capture and analyze PCIe bus traffic between a host backplane and a single-port or dual-ported SSD. The PCIe 5.0 M.2 Interposer supports up to four lanes in a single-port PCIe 5.0 link configuration or two ports each with two lanes in a dual-port SSD.

About CrossSync PHY

A CrossSync PHY-capable interposer probes a live PCI Express link for simultaneous capture of both oscilloscope and protocol analyzer traces, providing insight into protocol-directed electrical behaviors to design and validation engineers. The CrossSync PHY software option for Teledyne LeCroy LabMaster and WaveMaster oscilloscopes enables the oscilloscope’s MAUI user interface to be viewed directly alongside the industry-standard Teledyne LeCroy CATC protocol trace. The combination of the interposer and the software option permits the oscilloscope and protocol analyzer traces to be viewed, navigated, and analyzed in a time-correlated way unique to Teledyne LeCroy.

Availability

Three new PCIe 5.0 M.2 interposer models, which include the CrossSync PHY support, have been added to the Teledyne LeCroy PCI Express test solutions product line. The four new models (PE 222UIA-X, PE222UIA-1PHY, -2PHY, and -4PHY) add built-in oscilloscope probing corresponding to one, two or four lanes of the PCI Express interface, and allow for oscilloscope probing of sideband signals, reference clock and power rails. The new CrossSync PHY software option is available for Teledyne LeCroy LabMaster and WaveMaster oscilloscopes. All products are available for immediate order.

https://teledynelecroy.com/