Product Overview

The 800GE component ecosystem has evolved rapidly. Most major networking companies are developing networking equipment that have 800GE front panel and/or upload ports. The same PAM4 encoded signaling and Forward Error Correction (FEC) technologies, that were widely adopted for 400GE ports, are being used with 106.25 Gb/s (namely, 53 Gbaud) electrical lane front panel interfaces for 800GE. Switch ASICs now support up to 106.25 Gb/s lanes with PAM4 modulation and FEC — easing the transition from 400GE to 800GE. Testing new port speeds 1x800GE, 2x400GE, 4x200GE, and 8x100GE is the new challenge, however, testing legacy 400GE PAM4 and 100GE NRZ speeds is also essential. Bandwidth requirements for internet applications are driving the need for testing line-rate traffic of 25.6 and 51.2 Tbps networking equipment.  

Keysight has extended its AresONE 800GE platforms to support all the 800GE, 400GE, and 100GE PAM4 and NRZ related speeds to address ever-increasing market test needs.

• Multi-Rate Configuration: Supports multiple rates including default 800GE, 400GE, and 100GE through PAM4 modulation.
• NRZ Support: Provides 100GE-related data rates over 26 Gb/s and 10 Gb/s electrical channels as required.
• Line-Rate Performance: Delivers per-port and per-stream statistics at all speeds.
• Advanced Receiver Eye Histogram Analysis Option: Offers in-depth, user-selectable per-channel PAM4 signal waveform analysis.
• Multi-Protocol Support: Supports industry-standard RFC benchmarking, and uses the IxNetwork protocol emulation application to verify Layer 2 to Layer 3 routing and switching performance and scalability.

Key Features

• AresONE 800GE Dual Interface Model-M with QSFP-DD800 and OSFP800 ports enables L1–L3 testing of optical transceivers, and active and passive fiber and copper interconnects from 10GE to 800GE in a single platform. 
• One platform for 800GE, 400GE, and 100GE with PAM4 and NRZ signaling, with 106.25Gb/s host electrical lane signaling and downshift to the electrical lane speeds to 53Gb/s, 26Gb/s and 10Gb/s for the lower-speed Ethernet speeds. All the required FEC types and a full array of in-depth performance statistics are included on a single platform. 
• Each port is independent. So different speeds and signaling modes can be set as required on a per front panel port basis.
• Up to 4 users can be on the Dual Interface Model-M, working independently, at the same time.
• Optimizes power and cooling requirements and supports optical transceivers that require up to 30 watts per port.
• Dual Interface Model-M chassis can synchronize with multiple other AresONE and XGS chassis to test high density 800GE/400GE /100GE switching platforms.
• High-latency measurement resolution at 0.625 ns at the 800GE and at 400GE.
• ± 105ppm line frequency adjustment that can be adjusted per front panel port for 800GE PAM4 speed mode. 
• Layer 1 BERT support:
  --  106 Gb/s lane mode: Layer 1 BERT capability with per-lane and per-port BER statistics, ability to send PRBSQ patterns PRBS-13Q and PRBS-31Q. Additional test pattern controls, per lane clock ppm adjustment, and pattern detection are included.
  --  53 Gb/s mode: Layer 1 BERT with PRBS-7Q, PRBS-9Q, PRBS-11Q, PRBS-13Q, PRBS-15Q, PRBS-20Q, PRBS-23Q, and PRBS-31Q pattern support.
  --  NRZ speed mode: Layer 1 BERT with PRBS-7, PRBS-9, PRBS-11, PRBS-13, PRBS-15, PRBS20, PRBS-23, and PRBS-31 pattern support.
• Advanced Rx Eye Histogram Analysis Option that provides in-depth, user-selected, per-lane PAM4 signal shape analysis, symbol error rate (SER) statistics, comparison of signal quality between lanes and an array of vertical eye measurements on 53Gb/s and 106Gbs/ electrical lanes. Note that you must have one of the purchasable options 905-1107 or 905-1108. See the Ordering section.
• Digital Optical Monitoring (DOM) : Automatically provides information from the interconnect device plugged into the test port, along with the device status, electrical power, temperatures, power class, laser power and various LOL and LOS threshold and alarm monitoring information. The DOM also provides feedback when alarms and thresholds are exceeded.

The Keysight AresONE 800GE dual-inferface tester is widely used in the following key application areas:

         
2. AI/ML Networking and Data Center Performance Optimization
       •  High-Density Traffic Emulation and Stress Testing: Generates large-scale mixed traffic (e.g., PAM4 and NRZ signal mixed loads) to simulate high-concurrency data transfer scenarios in AI clusters, verifying network capacity and low-latency performance.  Supports FEC (Forward Error Correction) testing on 112G PAM4 electrical interfaces to optimize data transmission reliability in AI networks.

3. Standardization and Multi-Vendor Environment Testing
       •  Industry Standard Compliance Testing: Complies with standards such as CEI-112G-Linear-PAM4 and IEEE 802.3ck, covering key metrics like Electrical Eye Closure Quadrant (EECQ), ensuring equipment meets data center and carrier certification requirements.

4. R&D and Full-Cycle Production Testing
       •  Chip and ASIC Validation: Provides line-rate traffic generation capabilities to test the extreme performance of network processors (e.g., 5nm 224G PHY modules), including signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) and receiver equalization capability.
       •  Automated Testing and Rapid Deployment: Supports scripted test workflows to enable end-to-end validation from R&D to production, reducing test complexity and improving efficiency.