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connectivityZONE Products for the week of December 8, 2008
Vitesse Semiconductor Says...
Vitesse Unleashes VScope Embedded Waveform Viewing Technology for Video Broadcast Applications
Technology complements Vitesse performance-leading crosspoint portfolio
Meeting the explosive growth of high definition video broadcasting production, Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation has embedded its breakthrough VScope Integrated Circuit (IC)-based waveform viewing technology into its latest Clock and Data Recovery (CDR) product offerings which are now capable of improving signal integrity for uncompressed high definition 1080i/1080p signals.
The explosion in high-definition (HD) video distribution increases signal integrity requirements on video broadcast equipment. To this end, monitoring links in real time for Quality of Service parameters becomes essential. Studio backbones with hundreds of HD streams are taxing the capabilities of test equipment to monitor these signals. VScope is a breakthrough in this segment as it embeds the waveform viewing circuitry in the actual video transceiver chip, as the VSC3406, allowing a real-time, economical monitoring function for the live video feeds.
Demonstrated live at Inter BEE 2008, this industry-first combination of video-capable CDR and VScope oscilloscope functionality uniquely provides remote diagnostic and monitoring capabilities that enable manufacturers to verify the signal integrity of high-definition video broadcast signals.
Vitesse VScope and CDR technology is applicable to a range of equipment from broadcast video systems to networking/telecommunications carrying a mix of both high definition video and data traffic. The VSC3406 is capable of transmitting and receiving high definition video signals while introducing new architectural options for equipment carrying video and data traffic. In addition, the VScope function can be combined with Vitesse performance-leading crosspoint products, allowing a new level of visibility for system debug and remote monitoring across a full video router matrix.
“VScope technology is ideal for Video broadcast production where monitoring and maintaining a high-level of high-speed signal integrity across hundreds/thousands of live multi-gigabit links is essential. Vitesse was first to introduce input signal equalization in crosspoint switches and now has a decade of successful product developments that have been the cornerstone of several industry-leading video routers,” said Juan Garza, product marketing manager at Vitesse. “VScope is a game-changing technology that complements these crosspoints and is certainly positioned to become a revolutionary new way to improve quality of service in video broadcast.”
Integrating waveform viewing in the CDR circuitry is an economical and practical leapfrog advancement in attaining and maintaining real-time signal health information of HD video streams. VScope can also be used in conjunction with devices in Vitesse’s performance leading crosspoint portfolio such as the VSC3144 144x144 Crosspoint or VSC3172 72x72 Crosspoint. Used together, the VScope function can be implemented to monitor signals across hundreds of live links thereby facilitating improved signal quality and stronger system reliability.
About VScope
Vitesse’s patented technology offers a more accessible and cost-effective signal analysis tool that can be remotely monitored through network connections. VScope technology leapfrogs current signal integrity methods to scan the input data eye within the chip itself and produces the industry’s first offering of true in-line imaging of the real-time data stream on a per-pin basis.
EN-Genius Says…
Vitesse has built high-speed crosspoints used in video switches for years but has now added a clever new twist by adding its chip-on-scope diagnostic capability by using an external chip that taps the switch’s sense lines. They’re now using SerDes transceivers scope-on-chip technology that sits at the heart of Vitesse VScope-equipped VSC3406 6.375 Gbit/s multi-rate backplane transceiver (reviewed here February 2008) to meet the challenges of high-rate (1080I/P at 1.5 & 3 Gbit/s) digital video. While the implementation is a two-chip solution that tacks the VSC3406 onto an existing crosspoint devices, I expect that it’s a preview of an integrated version that would be a logical development for the mid-2009 timeframe.
Although the 3 Gbit/s data rate required to support studio-quality 1080P video is much slower than the 5 – 10 Gbit/s speeds the technology is required to deal with in networking environments, the unique waveforms used by video represent a new set of challenges. One of the things you don’t see in the data world is the set of so-called pathological patterns that can have up to 14 “0s” followed by 14 “1s” which would cause most telecom-oriented transceivers’ CDRs to lose phase lock. The VSC3406 however, stays locked with video waveforms, no matter how unruly they are.
To demonstrate how useful it can be, Vitesse has cooked up a cute little evaluation board using the VSC3144 switch chip and the VSC3406 transceiver. It serves as a self-contained signal integrity test unit with signal generator, and oscilloscope that can be configured and controlled by any PC via a standard USB port interface. VSC3144 SENSE and INJECT lines can be tied to the VSC3406 VScope function, allowing it to monitor any one of the switch’s signal lines. When applied in real-world environments, it should make signal integrity tuning and troubleshooting of the frequently-reconfigured lash-ups between video equipment that are common in video studios.
Vitesse sees this pairing as a natural fit for products like video routers, transmission, and distribution equipment used within TV networks to ship uncompressed video between sources and production facilities which already make heavy use of crosspoint switch devices like the VSC3144. The embedded diagnostic capability afforded by adding a single VScope device could be a big value-add feature in large switch matrices which often drive 150 m cable runs. In these applications, Vitesse can supply a simple, inexpensive way to let broadcast engineers verify signal quality and quickly diagnose any problems they do find. I’m not a video expert but, if broadcast equipment makers making the move to HD digital signals are facing the same signal integrity problems that networking equipment vendors face with their multi-Gigabit backplanes and uplinks, adding signal analysis capabilities to Vitesse video crosspoint devices should find a warm welcome.
Both the VSC3144 and the VSC4306 are available immediately in production quantities.
Product Page VSC3144
Product Page VSC3406
VScope information
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