LeCroy Protocol Test Card

The Teledyne LeCroy Protocol Test Card (PTC) is a multimodal test board used for checking adherence to the protocol-oriented sections of the PCI Express 2.0 specification. The PTC has been developed in close collaboration with Intel®, and is specifically designed to meet industry requirements for next generation development tools for PCI Express. The card is easily operated using a graphical interface that allows link and transaction tests to be selected and run. Results are displayed clearly with a pass or fail marker for each individual test.

This new tool will be used by validation and test engineers to check for functionality and interoperability of add-in cards, systems, and chips using PCI Express 2.0. The tests are mainly defined to check the platform (BIOS, OS and RC) and add-in devices (endpoints, switches, and bridges) in the form of an add-in card. The PTC Card is easy to use and works at both 5 GT/s and 2.5 GT/s. Simply insert the card into a PCI Express socket and test the PCI Express host or device for conformity to specifications.

Key Specifications

• Transaction Layer, Data Link Layer and Firmware (BIOS/EFI) tests for PCI Express 2.0 and 1.x
• MidBusconnector for analyzer debugging
• Teledyne LeCroy connector for Summit™ T2-16 Protocol Analyzer
• Field-upgradeable FPGA
• USB 2.0 connector for topology simulation mode
• x16 Connector for testing add-in cards from x1 to x16 lane widths

Key Benefits

• Reduces time-to-market through higher quality interoperability test
• Tests both platforms (root complexes) and add-in devices (endpoints)
• Ensures compliance to PCI Express 2.0 and PCI Express 1.x specifications
• Supports 2.5 and 5 GT/s speeds
• Supports testing with x1, x4, x8, and x16 add-in cards
• Easy to use
• Portable & low cost

The card operates in the following test modes:

• Add-In-card test mode
• Topology Simulation(BIOS Test) mode

Both of the test modes can be controlled by either a command line interface or by changing a dipswitch on the PTC card itself.