VIAVI / Timing and Synchronization Testing
Calnex Paragon neo-A

Calnex Paragon neo-A (PAM4) PTP and SyncE Timing Test Platform up to 400GbE

PTP and SyncE timing test platform adding PAM4 56G interfaces for synchronization testing up to 400GbE.

NRZ optical interfaces
100MbE SFP, 1GbE SFP, 10GbE SFP+, 25GbE SFP28, 40GbE QSFP+, 50GbE QSFP28, 100GbE QSFP28, 100GbE QSFP28 DCO
Passive DAC
Passive DAC supported on all NRZ line rate interfaces and on PAM4 56G for Paragon neo-A
Electrical interfaces
1000/100 BASE-T: RJ45
PAM4 56G optical interfaces
50GbE SFP56, 100GbE SFP-DD, 200GbE QSFP-DD, 400GbE QSFP-DD
Datasheet

Overview

The Calnex Paragon neo-A (PAM4) is the PAM4 variant of the Paragon neo platform, providing PTP and SyncE testing at speeds up to 400GbE. In addition to the NRZ optical interfaces of the Paragon neo, it offers PAM4 56G interfaces from 50GbE SFP56 to 400GbE QSFP-DD.

The instrument is intended for network equipment manufacturers working against enhanced timing standards such as ITU-T G.8273.2 Boundary Clocks and O-RAN compliant O-DU and O-RU equipment. It emulates PTP clocks, applies Time Error and SyncE impairments, and measures Time Error and SyncE wander simultaneously, with a conformance test application for standards-defined test sequences.

Key Features

  • Calnex Analysis Tool (CAT) for evaluating Time Error, MTIE and TDEV against ITU-T masks
  • PTP Field Verifier (PFV) analysis of PTP protocol conformance to standards-based or user-defined profiles
  • PTP and SyncE testing at speeds up to 400GbE
  • PAM4 56G interfaces including 400GbE QSFP-DD
  • Conformance test application with two-click configuration of standards-defined test sequences
  • Emulation of PTP timeTransmitter and timeReceiver clocks with Time Error impairments
  • Simultaneous measurement of SyncE wander and PTP Time Error
  • ESMC (SSM) message generation and decode to ITU-T G.8264

Specifications

Interfaces
NRZ optical interfaces
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 100MbE SFP, 1GbE SFP, 10GbE SFP+, 25GbE SFP28, 40GbE QSFP+, 50GbE QSFP28, 100GbE QSFP28, 100GbE QSFP28 DCO
Optical interfaces all optional
Passive DAC
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 Passive DAC supported on all NRZ line rate interfaces and on PAM4 56G for Paragon neo-A
Electrical interfaces
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 1000/100 BASE-T: RJ45
PAM4 56G optical interfaces 50GbE SFP56, 100GbE SFP-DD, 200GbE QSFP-DD, 400GbE QSFP-DD
Paragon neo-A only; optical interfaces all optional
Reference Clocks
External reference inputs
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 2.048 MHz, 10 MHz, T1 BITS clock (1.544 Mb/s), E1 MTS (2.048 Mb/s)
Lock internal timing reference to external reference
Internal reference frequency stability over temperature
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 better than ±1 x 10-9
Internal reference short term phase stability
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 better than 500 ps
Clock reference output ports
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 2 x 10 MHz/2.048 MHz Reference Outputs (BNC)
Phase measurement
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 1 pps – BNC (unbalanced), 1 pps – RJ48 (balanced)
Frequency measurement
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 BNC (unbalanced), RJ48 (balanced)
1 pps + ToD reference input
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 1 pps Unbalanced Input (BNC), 1 pps Balanced Input + ToD (RJ48)
ToD format: CCSA, ITU-T, NMEA
1 pps + ToD reference output
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 1 pps Unbalanced Output (BNC), 1 pps Balanced Output + ToD (RJ48)
ToD format: CCSA, ITU-T, NMEA
PTP
Standards
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 IEEE 1588, G.8273.2, G.8272, All relevant ITU-T G.826x/827x standards
Supported profiles
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 IEEE 1588V2 and ITU-T G.8275.1, G.8275.2, G.8265.1
PTP Time Error measurement accuracy (NRZ optical)
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 Better than 1 ns for NRZ optical interfaces
Except 100 MbE: 5 ns
PTP Time Error measurement accuracy (PAM4 optical and electrical)
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 Better than 5 ns for PAM4 optical and electrical interfaces
Except 1 GbE (15 ns)
timeTransmitter/timeReceiver emulation
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 Emulate PTP timeTransmitter with full parametric control; Emulate PTP timeReceiver; Add Time Error patterns e.g. G.8273.2, G.8271.1, G.8271.2, G.8261, user-defined
SyncE
Jitter/wander measurement
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 ITU-T G.8262.1, G.8262 and O.174. Jitter/Wander Generation, Wander Transfer, Jitter/Wander Tolerance, Phase Transient, built-in frequency offset plus generation of sinusoidal, MTIE and TDEV Wander.
ITU-T masks
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 G.8261, G.8262, G.8262.1, G.8261.1
Wander measurements
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 TIE, MTIE, TDEV, clock FFO
Phase wander measurement resolution
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 250 ps
General
Control interface
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 Web-based GUI with built-in controller enables use of any PC or Android Tablet with any browser with screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. RJ45 LAN connection to instrument
Remote control
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 Scripting via TCL, Perl and Python; Automatic Script Recorder for TCL, Perl and Python; Compatible with Calnex Test Sequencer (CTS)
Mechanical
Dimensions (w x h x d)
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 45 x 17 x 40 cm
Weight
Calnex Paragon neo, Calnex Paragon neo-A
 13 kg

Specifications are taken from the manufacturer's documentation. See the datasheet for complete and current values.

Applications

  • Boundary clock testing to ITU-T G.8273.2
  • Transparent clock testing to ITU-T G.8273.3
  • PTS and APTS clock testing to ITU-T G.8273.4
  • TimeTransmitter clock testing to ITU-T G.8272/8272.1
  • O-RAN O-DU and O-RU testing

Documents & Resources

Calnex Paragon neo and Paragon neo-A (PAM4) Data Sheet
datasheet · PDF