Announcement of an Exempt Purchase

To characterize the data transmission of next-generation optical transceivers with various modulation schemes such as PAM4 and QAM, we need to upgrade our existing setup. Our next-generation high-speed VCSEL devices have demonstrated 50 GHz bandwidth. To fully explore its potential, an transmitter-side testing equipment is required to generate at least 100 Gbaud/s modulation signals. In order to conduct the proposed research, an arbitrary waveform generator with high-speed capabilities is the only option.

This purchase is exempt from the usual selection processes of the Procurement Code because the procurement expenditure is for performing sponsored research and other sponsored activities under grants and contracts funded by the sponsor or by sources other than State appropriations. (30 ILCS 500 / 1-13(b)(8)) The Keysight M8194A Arbitrary Waveform Generator supports sample rate up to 120 GSa/s with 8 bits vertical resolution. It can generates 100 Gbaud/s NRZ, PAM4 and QAM signals which satisfies the requirements to characterize optical transceivers with 50 GHz bandwidth. It also has 512 kSa waveform memory per channel which allows up to PRBS15 bit sequence. It includes a maximum of four channels allows basic QAM measurement. When used in combination with our existing Keysight DCA-X Oscilloscope, M8194A can perform accurate channel corrections and transmitter-side equalizations.