Gigamax Technologies to demonstrate its ScopemaX system at DesignCon in Santa Clara

Feb 3 2010

Gigamax Technologies today announced it will be demonstrating its newly released ScopemaX, a 12.5GHz oscilloscope-based serial data measurement system for under $30,000, at DesignCon this week in Santa Clara, California. ScopemaX is the industry’s first product to give engineers the ability to extend the bandwidth of a lower cost oscilloscope to the next data rate in their product roadmap. The product was developed using the advanced research and expertise of former industry leader, Wavecrest. Former employees of Wavecrest joined to form Gigamax in 2009 and secured investment funding to purchase the Wavecrest IP and equipment. The new company will continue to support existing Wavecrest products well as develop new products and technologies for the test equipment market.

“Wavecrest earned its reputation as a leader in signal integrity analysis with its unprecedented speed and accuracy for over 20 years. Gigamax is excited to extend the Wavecrest technology with this initial product and others to come.”

“ScopemaX is setting a significantly new price and performance standard for the industry. For example, engineers analyzing a 6 Gbps signal were looking at a price tag of up to $125K for a high-bandwidth scope. Now, by adding ScopemaX to a lower-end, low-cost scope, they can essentially get the same results for a fraction of the cost,” said Chuck Olson, Gigamax president and CEO. “Wavecrest earned its reputation as a leader in signal integrity analysis with its unprecedented speed and accuracy for over 20 years. Gigamax is excited to extend the Wavecrest technology with this initial product and others to come.”

ScopemaX represents a breakthrough technology that sets a new standard for price vs. performance. ScopemaX dramatically enhances system analysis capabilities by increasing the bandwidth of an existing real-time oscilloscope to 12.5GHz while allowing users to analyze high-speed serial data systems with rates up to 9Gbs. ScopemaX measurement systems combine the best features of three different instruments: signal fidelity of a sampling oscilloscope, continuous record of a real-time oscilloscope and precise time measurement of a TIA.

The power of ScopemaX is its ability to be a front-end signal processor for popular real-time oscilloscopes from manufacturers such as Agilent, LeCroy and Tektronix. The combination of the ScopemaX and a low bandwidth real-time oscilloscope delivers access to advanced analysis features found previously only in significantly more expensive, high-bandwidth systems. With the advent of SERDES in low-cost FPGA’s by leaders such as Altera, Lattice and Xilinx, the ScopemaX is ideally suited for system designers who previously didn’t require high-bandwidth equipment in their labs.

Pricing and Availability

The ScopemaX starts at $29,995 and is immediately available for purchase directly through Gigamax Technologies and its representatives.