The Advanced Cable Tester v2 features an option to create custom cable profiles for specific criteria different from the standard cable specification. This enables testing of cables with more or less stringent requirements.
Here, we will provide the steps to create your own custom profile and discuss what criteria can be personalized.
Custom cable profiles can be configured from each of our supported cable types within our library:
- USB Type-C to USB Type-C (Type-C 1.3, USB 3.2 and earlier specifications)
- USB Type-C to USB Standard-A (USB 3.2 and earlier version specifications)
- USB Type-C to USB Micro-B (USB 3.2 and earlier version specifications)
- USB Type C to USB Standard-B (USB 3.2 and earlier version specifications)
- USB Standard-A to USB Micro-B (USB 3.2 and earlier version specifications)
- USB Standard-A to USB Standard-B (USB 3.2 and earlier version specifications)
- Lightning (USB 2.0) to USB Standard-A
- Lightning (USB 2.0) to USB Type-C
- HDMI Type A to HDMI Type A (HDMI 2.1 and earlier version specifications)
- DisplayPort to DisplayPort (DisplayPort 1.4 and early version specifications)
Copying and Editing an Existing Profile
1. Select an existing cable profile from our preconfigured library of cable types.
a. The drop-down menu allows us to filter for a specific cable type. In our example, we will be copying and editing a Type-C to Type-C profile: USB Full-Featured Type-C Cable SuperSpeed Gen2, 3A (please note that the custom profile settings in these examples could differ depending on the cable type).
2. Click “Copy and Edit”
Profile Naming and Custom Tags
3. Profile Name and Profile Description can be customized to fit your own profile.
4. Custom tags can also be created to differentiate tests using this custom profile. The custom tag is displayed on the top of each test report. This can be used to track details of the DUT, or information relating to the manufacturing process. For example, a "Lot" custom tag could be entered so that at the time of test, the lot information can be saved to the test report for future reference.
Example of cable test with custom tag:
Pin Continuity
5. You can edit the wiring configurations and any presence or absence of certain pins/wires.
a. Wiring: Shield Configuration can be set to “Shield tied to GND”, as per the latest revision specific 1.3 on Type-C, “Shield separate from GND”, and “No Shield” if there is no shield present.
b.
b. Wiring: Ignore VCONN can be set to “False” if your cable does not include an Ra Resistor. Disabling this will let B5 shorts be detected as part of continuity testing.
c. Continuity of pins including wiring of VBUS, VCONN/B5, CC, High-Speed, SuperSpeed, and SBU1/SBU2 lines can be configured to your specific requirements.
DC Resistance
6. DC Resistance measurements on each tested pin can be edited per your custom minimum or maximum values within the number fields.
The various DC Resistance measurements that can be edited include:
- VBUS/GND Pin Maximum
- Shell to GND Maximum
- GND Wire Maximum
- CC Wire Maximum
- B5/VCONN to B5/VCONN Minimum
- B5/VCONN to B5/VCONN Maximum
- B5/VCONN to GND Maximum
- B5/VCONN to GND Min
- Measure SBU1/SBU2
- SBU1/SBU2 Wire Maximum
- Shield Maximum
E-Marker
7. Users can choose whether or not the cable has an E-Marker present. If selected to be present, E-Marker VDO’s can be set using custom settings including:
- Active Cable
- Power Delivery R3.0
- SOP”
- VID
- PID
- XID
- Latency
- Cable Termination
- Firmware and Hardware Version
- Current Capacity
- Data Speed
For Current Capacity and Data Speeds, dropdown menu options allow users to choose between our set of preconfigured values.
a. Current Capacity: Choose between three Amps and Five Amps:
b. Data Speed: Choose between USB 2.0, USB Gen 3.1 Gen 1, and USB 3.1 Gen 2:
Quiescent Current
8. Testers can also edit the Quiescent Current of the E-Marker if present:
a. E-Marker Initial Test: Users can choose whether or not to perform the E-Marker Initial Test, which tests the quiescent current consumption when idle and reads the value immediately upon power up. Testers can specify the E-Marker’s maximum current consumption.
b. E-Marker Steady State Test: Users can choose whether or not to perform the E-Marker Steady State Test, which tests the quiescent current consumption when idle and reads the value after waiting for the current consumption to settle. The maximum current can be modified and the delay time can also be set for the full test, which determines how long to delay before measuring the E-Markers current consumption.
Signal Integrity and Eye Diagrams
9. Select whether or not the cable is active, where VBUS and VCONN power will be enabled during testing.
Hi-Speed Settings:
10. For Hi-Speed pair testing, users can edit the Hi-Speed Test Bitrate for the D+/D- pair. This can be set to any bitrate between 1030-12800.
11. Hi-Speed Insertion Loss values are pre-configured to comply per the cable’s specification, but can easily be edited to fit custom requirements, making it easier or stricter to pass cable signal quality. Users can adjust the Loss (in dB) relative to the Frequency (MHz) to change the shape of the eye mask within the eye-diagram used to determine whether the cable passes or fails the signal integrity assessment. Based on your inputs, the insertion loss chart and mask will adjust accordingly.
SuperSpeed Settings:
12. For SuperSpeed pair testing, users can edit the SuperSpeed Test Bitrate for the TX1/TX2/RX1/RX2 pairs. This can be set to any bitrate from 1030-12800.
13. Like Hi-Speed settings, SuperSpeed Insertion Loss values are also pre-configured to comply per the cable’s specification, but can easily be edited to fit custom requirements, making it easier or stricter to pass cable signal quality. In relation to the Frequency (MHz) and inputs for Loss (dB), the insertion loss chart and mask in the eye-diagram will adjust accordingly.
Passing eye-diagram taken at 10Gbps
Using your Custom Profile
14. Once you’ve entered your values for all the test parameters, click “Save”.
15. Navigate back to the home Main page and select your newly created profile
16. Once you’ve selected your profile, insert your cable and testing will begin immediately.
For more information on the Advanced Cable Tester v2 and its capabilities, please contact us at sales@totalphase.com.
For a PDF version of this App Note, please visit this link.