Driven by the demand for more bandwidth, the Universal Serial Bus (USB) continues to evolve to higher data rates. The 10 Gbps USB 3.1 delivers more than double the practical data rate compared to the current 5 Gbps USB 3.0. On the other hand, the new Type-C connector size is much smaller than the current Standard-A connector and is about the size of the USB 2.0 micro-B connector today.

It is a 24-pin connector with symmetric form factor, which allows the users to plug the cable in either way. In addition, it provides extra pins for power up to 100W, and display standards are looking at this as well. DP and HDMI have specs that allow them to run over the current USB cable assemblies and the same will be true with the Type-C cable assembly.

The increase in data rate and the new small connector result in even tougher requirements for the physical layer to ensure interoperability. The E5071C ENA Option TDR can achieve a complete characterization of time and frequency domain tests for USB 3.1 and USB Type-C connectors and cables assemblies.

"Keysight MOIs are available for a number of different high-speed digital applications such as HDMI, Ethernet and PCI Express," said Akira Nukiyama, vice president and general manager, Keysight's Component Test Division. "Our newest addition to this list, the USB 3.1 and USB Type-C Connectors and Cable Assemblies, are just two more examples of how we are working to provide our customers with the functionality they need to address any high-speed measurement challenge."