The Astronics/EADS/Talon Instruments 2108 is a VXI-based serial bus emulator and analyzer designed for real-time simulation, characterization, and stress testing of serial communication interfaces. Operating as a register-based VXI module, it supports up to four independent transmit and/or receive channels per slot, each capable of emulating industry-standard protocols including SONET, T1/DS1, RS-422/485, USB, IEEE-1394, Ethernet, MIL-STD-1553, and custom serial buses. The instrument analyzes serial buses up to 200 MHz and supports signal levels to 15 V.
## Technical Specifications
• **Channel Configuration:** Up to 4 transmit and/or receive channels per VXI slot, independently addressable
• **Analysis Bandwidth:** Serial buses up to 200 MHz
• **Voltage Support:** Up to 15 V
• **Buffer Architecture:** Dual 4 Meg ping-pong buffers enabling continuous real-time data transfer and fast VXI controller communication
• **Protocol Emulation:** SONET, T1/DS1, RS-422/485, USB, IEEE-1394, Ethernet, MIL-STD-1553, and custom/modified serial buses
• **Data Patterns:** Pre-defined custom waveforms of variable length, Pseudo Random Bit Sequences (4 to 65535 bit times), user-defined data (4 to 48 bits)
• **Transmit/Receive Modes:** Binary, Binary plus tri-state, Binary plus user-defined state, Binary plus error state
• **Encoding:** Standard encoding and formatting schemes with on-the-fly parity calculation for 8-bit words
## Key Features
• Integrated serial logic analyzer for real-time data viewing and event searching by trigger counts or patterns
• Margin and limit testing via imposed impairments on data, clock, and control lines
• GUI-based programming, analysis, and debugging environment
• Template-based data alignment and display configuration
• Modular UUT I/O transmit and receive modules connected via front panel connectors
## Typical Applications
Automated test environments and R&D labs requiring serial interface validation without physical hardware endpoints. Supports margin analysis, protocol compliance testing, and signal integrity characterization across multiple serial standards.
## Compatibility & Integration
Register-based VXI module compatible with standard VXI controllers and instrumentation platforms.
