SANBlaze Patented iRiser5 for Precision Signal Control and Measurement

SANBlaze Technology Inc. announced its iRiser5 device which brings precise signal control and measurement to Gen5 PCIe NVMe testing with the SBexpress-DT5 and SBExpress-RM5 PCIe NVMe test systems.

iRiser5 device

“iRiser5 brings precision control of the PCIe lanes in the data path from the NVMe device to the host, and out-of-band signals such as reset (PERST) and Power, allowing users to design test scenarios specifically tailored to their testing needs,” said Vince Asbridge, president. “The patented SANBlaze iRiser5 can monitor drive power at up to 1M samples per second, giving near real-time power response as drives come online and handle resets or power cycles.”

Signals under control are timed at an 80nS interval in relation to each other, giving the user ultimate control over complex testing scenarios, such as a drive reset at a specific time after power is asserted.

“The SANBlaze FPGA controlled iRiser5 device enables back-to-back signal glitching at very granular intervals, currently unavailable elsewhere in the market today,” said Rick Walsh, SVP. “This state-of-the-art technology is exclusively patented and offered by SANBlaze to fulfill customer demands for test control and  precise power measurement.”

The iRiser5 operates with the SANBlaze standard riser capabilities, such as SRIS/SRNS and Power state testing, losing no functionality with the addition of the iRiser5 as an initial purchase, or post purchase as a hardware upgrade.

iRiser5 glitching
Gen5 PCIe lanes are under control of the iRiser5 and can be ‘glitched’ as fast as 10nS allowing for intentional error injection on PCIe. PCIe lanes can be enabled and disabled under software control such that tests can be designed to disable any or all of the four lanes connected to the NVMe device to test the response to actual failures of the PCIe subsystem.

The company’s DT5 and RM5 test systems are modular designs, with risers available for EDSFF devices. The iRiser5 occupies a riser slot in the DT5 or RM5 to provide this additional test functionality for EDSFF devices. User can install up to 4 iRiser5 devices in the SBExpress-RM5 system and up to 3 iRiser5 devices in the SBExpress-DT5 test system. Software to support iRiser5 is available from the company beginning with the 10.7 release.

Software IP
The firm’s V10.7 software package incorporates multiple new Certified by SANBlaze test suites, including FDP and OCP, other important updates, and customer-requested enhancements. The test suite runs o the company’s hardware, including the SBExpress-RM5 PCIe 5.0 NVMe rackmount test system and the SBExpress-DT5 PCIe 5.0 NVMe desktop test system.

Riser technology
The SBExpress-RM5 (rackmount) 16-drive test system and the SBExpress-DT5 (desktop) test system both employ the firm’s proprietary riser technology and conveniently use the same set of NVMe PCIe 5.0 risers. All the company’s risers are capable of single- and dual-port operation and can switch on-the-fly under software control. Risers are available for all NVMe form factors at PCIe 5.0 speed. The iRiser5 fits into the existing riser configuration with no loss of functionality.

Features of iRiser5

In addition to supporting the above, iRiser 5 includes these additional features:

• ​Precision control of PCIe/NVMe power and control signals while continuously monitoring the power of each device under test (DUT)
• Sequence of events can be scheduled on each signal line with up to 10 nanoseconds (nS) glitch precision, with each event action loading at 80nS interval to hours.
• Simple or complex sequences can be defined and loaded to iRiser from the host system.

Capabilities are for broad variety of teams
The Certified by SANBlaze software, the SBExpress-RM5, and the SBExpress-DT5 prove useful for a variety of teams, including firmware, manufacturing, development engineers, systems engineers, and field application engineers. Analysis tasks are easily automated with built-in error detection triggering, leading to fast and accurate problem resolution.

Availability
iRiser5 and the V10.7 software package that supports it is available, and the SBExpress-RM5 PCIe 5.0 rackmount NVMe SSD test system and the SBExpress-DT5 PCIe 5.0 Desktop NVMe SSD test system are shipping with minimal lead times. 

Resource:
Triggering a PCIe Analyzer from your SBExpress System