Agilent/Keysight N4917BACA

The Keysight N4917BACA is automated software for stressed receiver sensitivity testing of optical receivers operating at 100 Gb/s. It delivers standard-compliant characterization across 10GBASE, 25GBASE, and 100GBASE variants, orchestrating a complete test system that includes BERT, arbitrary waveform generator, digital sampling oscilloscope, optical reference transmitter, tunable laser, and optical attenuator. The software automates calibration of stressed optical eyes and NRZ signals while allowing independent control of extinction ratio, vertical eye closure, jitter components (J2, J4, J9), and optical modulation amplitude.

It supports both electrical loopback and DUT control interfaces for full jitter tolerance compliance and margin testing, with customizable scripting for device-specific measurement protocols.

Technical Specifications

• Data rate: 100 Gb/s


• Standards: IEEE 802.3ba, IEEE 802.3-2015 clause 88, and associated MSAs (CLR4, CWDM4, 4WDM, PSM4)


• Optical reference transmitter: up to 25.78125 Gb/s


• Tunable laser: O-band for LR4/ER4 operation, or 850 nm for SR4

Key Features

• Automated stressed receiver testing with repeatable optical eye and NRZ calibration


• Adjustable stress parameters: extinction ratio, vertical eye closure magnitude (VECP), signal effective coherence (SEC), J2, J4, J9, and optical modulation amplitude (OMA)


• Unified instrument control via single software interface


• Jitter tolerance testing with margin compliance verification


• DUT control and scripting interface for customized testing and reporting

Supported Standards

• 10GBASE-SR/ER/LR


• 25GBASE-ER/-LR/-SR


• 100GBASE-LR4/-ER4/-SR4


• Multi-Source Agreements: CLR4, CWDM4, 4WDM, PSM4

Compatibility & Integration The N4917BACA integrates with Keysight M8040A BERT and associated test instruments including arbitrary waveform generators, digital sampling oscilloscopes, optical reference transmitters, tunable laser sources, and optical attenuators. Specific instrument compatibility and software versions require verification for optimal system performance.