The growth of AI infrastructure is driving power demand in data centers and related systems. This is pushing power supply vendors to develop higher-power and higher-density designs, including systems built for the latest HVDC (High-Voltage Direct Current) power architectures. Engineers power conversion devices and power supplies rely on automated test platforms such as Chroma’s ATS 8000 to carry out automated tasks including waveform capture, debugging, and calibration during power system development.
Credit: Rohde & Schwarz
The MXO oscilloscopes support real-time waveform capture in automated test environments.
The ATS 8000 is designed for automated testing of various power conversion devices and power supplies. Chroma has now added support for the MXO Series digital oscilloscopes from Rohde & Schwarz as one of several available hardware options that can be integrated into the system. In automated power testing applications, oscilloscopes play a critical role in capturing transient behavior and dynamic waveforms in real time.
High accuracy for high-voltage testing environments
Based on MXO-EP processing ASIC technology developed by Rohde & Schwarz, the next-generation MXO Series offers waveform capture rates of up to 4.5 million acquisitions per second. This helps reduce measurement blind spots and provides a more accurate real-time representation of the signal behavior. With advanced digital triggering, adjustable sensitivity, and exceptionally low trigger jitter, the MXO can detect even very small signal anomalies with pixel-level trigger accuracy. In HD mode, the oscilloscopes support up to 18-bit resolution and input sensitivity as low as 0.5 mV/div.
High channel count for high-density power delivery
To meet the power demands of high-density power delivery in AI-driven data centers, a single power rack often needs to support multiple power modules, as well as battery backup units (BBU) and capacitor backup units (CBU) in series or parallel setups. These requirements can create complex measurement challenges involving more than eight channels. The MXO Series includes models with up to eight channels and supports multi-instrument synchronization through the Rohde & Schwarz ScopeSync architecture, allowing several instruments to operate in a primary-secondary setup with up to 24 synchronized channels. This capability supports debugging work and helps align manual checks with automated test results.
Flexible test platform for real-world applications and production line environments.
Thanks to Chroma’s PowerPro 5 control software, engineers can adapt the test systems to specific use cases and run external programs written in C# or Python as part of the test flow. This makes it possible to add custom analysis steps, such as decoding control frames from serial communication buses or applying product-specific calibration routines, meeting engineers’ flexibility requirements in both real-world applications and production-line environments.
Evan Tsai, Product Manager for ATS 8000 Software Solutions from Chroma, said: “Drawing on many years of experience in automated testing, we consider efficiency and flexibility to be extremely important in the AI-driven era. The addition of support for the Rohde & Schwarz MXO Series oscilloscopes expands the ATS 8000 platform in response to new demands in advanced power testing. Looking ahead, Chroma will continue to develop automated testing technologies that provide power supply manufacturers worldwide with more comprehensive, precise, and reliable measurement solutions, jointly paving the way for highly efficient AI-driven energy systems.”
Jithu Abraham, Director Product Management Oscilloscopes at Rohde & Schwarz said: “Power electronics engineers developing complex power systems used in AI data center infrastructure need measurement tools that can capture fast signal behavior and support complex multi-channel setups. By adding our MXO Series to Chroma’s well-established ATS 8000 platform, these users can now access next-generation oscilloscope technology within their existing automated test workflows.”