Low-Profile 14-Bit Oscilloscopes for High-Density Automated Test Ecosystems

Keysight Technologies is releasing the XR3, a low-profile 14-bit oscilloscope designed to increase measurement capacity in rack-based test systems. This four-channel, mixed-signal instrument addresses the growing complexity of automated diagnostic platforms within the aerospace, defense, manufacturing, and physics sectors.

Overcoming Rack Density and Signal Constraints
As automated test systems require more integrated analysis capabilities, engineers face severe constraints regarding equipment rack density, cabling configurations, and undesirable signal skew. Traditional bench oscilloscopes consume significant physical space when scaled for synchronization, forcing a trade-off between full-featured measurement flexibility and compact form factors. The new architecture resolves this bottleneck by condensing benchtop-class measurement performance into a scalable one-rack-unit (1U) design. By minimizing the hardware footprint, the system allows engineers to scale performance within the automated test ecosystem without the spatial limitations of conventional instruments.

Hardware Architecture and Real-Time Signal Processing
The system is built around a custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)—the MegaZoom 5—paired with a native 14-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC). This hardware configuration yields a 50-microvolt root mean square (µVrms) noise floor and an update rate of 1.3 million waveforms per second. Offering 100 megapoints of memory per channel and selectable bandwidths ranging from 200 MHz to 1 GHz, the instrument is engineered to capture minute signals and rare transient events. Additionally, functions such as zoom, filtering, zone triggering, and color grading operate in real time natively on the hardware, ensuring the update rate is preserved during intensive signal analysis.

Multi-Channel Synchronization and Software Integration
To support multi-channel environments, the instrument features an autosensing 10 MHz reference input and output for synchronizing clocks and triggers across multiple units. This configuration enables the integration of over 100 time-correlated channels within a single multi-blade system. Hardware-based auto-sync, auto-discovery, and auto-deskew mechanisms remove complexity from the configuration process. For software integration, the system includes native protocols for decoding, power supply testing, and jitter analysis. It can also run Infiniium 2026 software—a program native to the XR8 model—on an external controller, providing a unified user interface to visualize and manage multiple units from a single display.

Additional Context
This section details technical specifications and competitive benchmarking not included in the original news release.

In the automated test equipment market, the Keysight XR3 competes with established 1U high-resolution instruments such as the Teledyne LeCroy T3DSO4000L-HD series and the Tektronix Low Profile digitizers. Both Teledyne LeCroy and Tektronix offer scalable, multi-channel rack-mounted oscilloscopes designed for high-density validation and manufacturing environments. The XR3 differentiates itself within this competitive landscape by utilizing a native 14-bit ADC to achieve a 50-µVrms noise floor, combined with a proprietary ASIC that sustains a high update rate of 1.3 million waveforms per second. Furthermore, the capacity to synchronize over 100 time-correlated channels positions it as a highly scalable architecture for complex physics and defense testing applications.

Edited by Aishwarya Mambet, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.

www.keysight.com