Agilent/Keysight 83486A Digital Communications Analyzer Plug-In

The Agilent/Keysight 83486A is a plug-in module that extends the optical and electrical measurement capabilities of compatible lightwave test systems. It delivers integrated dual-channel analysis for telecommunications and data communications waveforms, combining a 2.5 GHz optical channel with user-selectable electrical bandwidth (12.4 GHz or 20 GHz) to support diverse signal characterization tasks.

– Technical Specifications

Optical Channel
• Bandwidth: 2.5 GHz specified; characteristic to 3.0 GHz
• Wavelength Range: 1000 nm to 1600 nm
• Switchable Filters: 155/622 Mb/s SONET/SDH or 1063/1250 Mb/s datacom. Option H48 adds 2488 Mb/s fourth-order filters; Option 040 meets ITU-TS G.957 and TANWT-000253 requirements; Option 041 supports Fibre Channel 1063 and Gigabit Ethernet
• Input Connector: 62.5/125 µm multimode fiber (optical interface connectors sold separately)
• Calibrated Reference Receivers: 155, 622, 1063, 1250, 2488 Mbit/s for SDH/SONET, Fibre Channel, and Gigabit Ethernet transmitter testing
• Calibration Accuracy: Valid for average optical calibration powers of 200 ±50 µW
• Maximum Safe Input Power: 10 mW peak

Electrical Channel
• Bandwidth: 12.4 GHz or 20 GHz user-selectable. Option 100 provides 2.0 GHz to 12 GHz (1 GHz to 15 GHz typical) in High Speed Mode
• Input Connector: 3.5 mm male
• Nominal Impedance: 50 Ω
• DC Offset Range: ±500 mV
• Dynamic Range: ±400 mV relative to channel offset
• Maximum Safe Input Voltage: ±2 V DC + peak ac (+16 dBm)

Trigger Performance
• Limited Mode: DC to 100 MHz bandwidth
• Normal Mode: DC to 2.5 GHz bandwidth; 40 mVpp sensitivity at 100 MHz, rising linearly to 200 mVpp at 2.5 GHz; trigger jitter <2.5 ps rms + 5E-5×delay
• High Speed Mode (Option 100): 200 mVpp sensitivity from 2.0 GHz to 12 GHz (sine wave); jitter <2 ps rms for delay <100 ns (typically 1.3 ps)
• Trigger Level Range: ±1 V

– Key Features

• Dual-channel integration supports simultaneous optical and electrical measurements
• Flexible filter options address SONET/SDH, datacom, Fibre Channel, and Gigabit Ethernet standards
• Low trigger jitter performance enables precision waveform characterization
• ESD protection required at front-panel input connectors

– Compatibility & Integration

Compatible with Keysight 83480A and 86100A/B/C mainframes. Optical interface connectors from the 81000xI Series are required and sold separately.