FarSync BERT (for Windows 10 [x64] Windows 8/8.1 [x64] Windows Server 2012 [x64], Windows Server 2008 [x64]) FarSite Communications Ltd (www.farsite.com) Release 4.1.0.4 23rd Feb 2021 ============================== CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. REQUIRED SERVICE PACKS 3. INTERNAL CLOCKING 4. LEDS 5. CABLES 6. USB SUPPORT 7. FIXED ISSUES 8. KNOWN ISSUES 9. SUPPORT CONTACTS ============================== 1. INTRODUCTION The FarSync Bit Error Rate Tester (BERT) is a Windows-based application that is used to test the quality of both synchronous and asynchronous lines. Industry-standard test patterns are used to identify bit error rates for the line under test. The results of the tests are collated and displayed as industry-standard metrics e.g. Errored Seconds (ES) etc. FarSync BERT runs on Windows versions as listed above. If you need to use an older version of Windows then please contact support@farsite.com for further assistance. The Farsync Bert can be used with a USB-attached FarSync Flex device or a (2 port) FarSync T2Ee card to connect to the line under test. The driver included in this release must be used with Flex V3 but is also backwards compatible with Flex V2. Every FarSync Flex is clearly labelled on the side. This label will contain the device serial number and the hardware version. For example U200/0001 V2 For a version 2 Flex U300/0001 V3 For a version 3 Flex For installation and usage details please refer to index.html on this release image. All references in this product to Windows includes all the Windows versions listed above. 2. REQUIRED SERVICE PACKS Windows 10 - SP1 Windows 8 - SP1 Windows Server 2008 - SP2 3. INTERNAL CLOCKING 3.1 Internal Clocking on V.11 (X.21) lines Internal clocking for V.11 lines generates the clock signal on pins 6 and 13. 3.2 Internal Clocking on V.24 (RS232C / X.21bis) lines Internal clocking for V.24 lines generates the clock signal on pins 15 and 17. 4. LEDS Please refer to the FarSync Flex Quick Start Guide (available in this package as QSG_Flex_V1.0.4.pdf) or FarSync T2Ee Quick Start Guide (available in this package as QSG_T2Ee_V1.0.2.pdf) for information regarding the device's LED operation. It has been noted that in some cases, when there is an unterminated cable connected to the device/card (i.e. the cable is not connected to a network) the LED may incorrectly indicate that a clock has been detected. Please only interpret the LED's clock detection indication when the Flex is physically connected to your network. 5. CABLES The following FarSync DTE cables are supplied with the FarSync BERT-USB: - KCR1-V2: RS232C (V.24) or RS530 (RS422) DTE - UCX1: X.21 (V.11) DTE - UCV1: V.35 DTE or - KCV1-V2: V.35 DTE (with TT signal) These cables can be used when the FarSync Flex is required to appear as a physical DTE to the network. Ensure that you set the Interface value accordingly within the FarSync BERT configuration. A loopback plug (TEST-T2U) is also supplied with the product to enable the BERT to be run in loopback mode. Additional alternative cables may be purchased separately if required - these include: - X.21 (V.11) DCE - cable name UCX1-DCE - RS232C (V.24) DCE - cable name KCR1-V2-DCE - RS530 (RS422) DCE - cable name KCR1-V2-DCE - RS449 (V.36) DTE - cable name KC449 Note that there is no need for a DTE/DCE setting in the FarSync BERT software - the configuration is determined by the choice of cable alone. A loopback plug (TEST-T2U) is also supplied with the product to enable the BERT-USB to be run in loopback mode [simply connect the test plug directly to the port on the Flex]. The following FarSync DTE cables are supplied with the FarSync BERT-PCIe: - 1 x FCR2: RS232C (V.24) or RS530 (RS422) DTE - 2 x TCV1: V.35 DTE - 2 x TCX1: X.21 (V.11) DTE - 2 x TC449: 449 DTE These cables make the FarSync T2Ee appear as a physical DTE to the network. Ensure that you set the Interface value accordingly within the FarSync BERT configuration. A loopback plug (TEST-DB25F) is also supplied with the product to enable a port of the FarSync T2Ee to be run in loopback mode [simply connect the test plug to one of the ports of the supplied FCR2 cable]. 6. USB SUPPORT Please note that the FarSync BERT requires that the Flex be connected to the host PC in High Speed mode (i.e. via a USB2 or USB3 port - not USB1.1). The fsinfo utility (in the utils folder on the FarSync BERT cd) can be used, once the Flex is connected (and its driver installed), to determine whether the associated port is suitable or not. As you move the Flex to alternative ports, fsinfo will dynamically update its display according to the type of USB port in use. 7. FIXED ISSUES/ENHANCEMENTS The following enhancements/fixes have been included in the current version (4.1.0): a) Major improvements to the handling of customer specified test patterns including: user patterns up to 64Mb, no byte alignment requirement for test patterns, improved performance in the handling of larger patterns b) Add further sample applications for using the BERT API - they now include apps written in: Python, C# and VBS as well as LabVIEW c) Improved handling of multiple instances of FarSync BERT (for multi-line tests) when using the BERT GUI or BERT API d) Support added for the control of DTR and RTS signals prior to starting the test as well as for toggling these signals during a test. Control is also available through the BERT API e) Improved accuracy of PRBS error count rates and fast error rate reporting f) Correction to the FarSync BERT GUI's USR pattern support with regard to the selection of the pattern indicated by the PATTERN dial position g) Correction to the test length used when the LENGTH value is configured in the range 10^4..10^8 h) Increased resolution in BertClient's command line output - now in E notation i) Support for time-limited tests of more than 504 seconds j) Support added for the handling of custom clocking rates k) Further improvements to the focus handling of the FarSync BERT GUI's Results Pane l) Enable multiple properties to be set via the BERT_API after the test has been started m) Improved synchronisation support at speeds lower than 4800 baud when hardware mode is selected n) Increased validation of user inputs when using the GUI o) Resolved Plug and Play issue when FarSync BERT is running as a multidrop slave device p) Fixed an issue with RS485 multidrop specific synchronisation support q) Ensure LOS Rate is reset to 0 when synchronisation is made The following enhancements/fixes were included in version (4.0.3): a) Microsoft signed FarSync Flex and T-Series drivers as required by later Windows 10 installs b) Correct problem whereby, on Windows 10, the FarSync GUI can fail to regain focus after switching to another windows c) Correct potential display issues on Windows 10 with the FarSync GUI's results pane d) Enhance error rate reporting for PRBS patterns e) Support user pattern filenames with spaces in name and/or path f) Enable ERR injection support in Hardware Mode in LOS - previously SYNC was required The following enhancements/fixes were included in version (4.0.2.7): a) The FarSync Flex driver has been updated to provide compatibility with the FarSync Flex V3. The following enhancements/fixes were included in version (4.0.2.6): a) The fsbert install package has been signed. The following enhancements/fixes were included in version (4.0.2.5): a) The version of the BertClient in the LabView folder was behind the version that was installed with the GUI. This had been corrected. b) The fsbertif.dll has been enhanced to detect more reliably the end of a test. c) The FarSync Flex firmware has been updated (to version 3.04) to fix an issue of false reporting the of LOS signal under some test conditions and to support the following native clock rates 200Khz, and 10.71Mhz The following enhancements/fixes were included in version (4.0.2): a) Support for the use of User Test Patterns b) Support for testing devices/cabling on Multi-Drop networks c) Support for testing Round Trip Delays d) Support for bi-directional clocking The following enhancements/fixes were included in version (3.0.0): a) Support for hardware-based BERT operation b) Support for line rates up to 16Mbps c) Add global reset to defaults menu option d) Rationalisation of UI with respect to colours and error/information dialogs e) Support for both 32 and 64-bit LabVIEW The following enhancements/fixes were included in version 2.0.4: a) Support for Flex V1 devices. b) Terminal Timing support for V.35 c) Fix to support of NRZIClocking when using a Flex V2 device c) Fix to correct problem with 4-wire, point-to-point RS485 configuration d) Fix to a problem whereby persistently starting/stopping a test could cause the port to not be available for a short period of time The following enhancements/fixes were included in version 2.0.3: a) FarSync Flex V2 and FarSync T2Ee support b) Manchester and Conditioned Di-Phase encoding support c) Terminal Timing support d) 4-wire, point-to-point RS485 support e) Data Inversion support f) support for all patterns in all Async data formats (e.g. character lengths) Note that it is not recommended that 1:1 is used in async mode since synchronisation cannot always be guaranteed g) native configuration support for all port properties directly from the BERT GUI h) audible alerts i) Reporting of line errors (FRAMING, PARITY) j) LabView API extended to include all options now available in both GUI and script mode The following enhancements/fixes were included in version 1.2.0: a) multiple port/Flex support (incl. x64 platforms) b) configuration support to limit log file size c) support to enable the BERT software to not be tied to a specific Flex instance e.g. to work with 'any' Flex device (regardless of installed device number) d) add Burst Mode support e) add support to display rates in either Ratio or Percentage format The following problems have been fixed in Version 1.1.6: a) correct INT/EXT clocking configuration error b) timestamps now include a date prefix The following problems were fixed in Version 1.0.5: a) asynchronous tests are no longer dependent on the clocking setting (both INT or EXT behave the same in async mode) b) correct a specific ES/SES/AS counter misassignment 8. KNOWN ISSUES The following known issues with this current FarSync BERT release are brought to your attention. a) Data reception stops after resuming from power save mode, i.e. sleep or hibernate. It is recommended that you disconnect the Flex before entering power save mode. b) the QRSS test pattern should not be used with 3rd party BERT test equipment c) the FarSync Flex firmware version to be used with the FarSync BERT is V3.0.6 (see \flash folder in this distribution image) or higher for Flex V2 or V4.1.2 (see \f3flash folder in this distribution image) or higher for Flex V3 d) when injecting errors please be aware that, when running at higher speeds, it is possible that multiple errors may be inserted e) when running asynchronous tests with fixed patterns (as opposed to pseudo random patterns), it is recommended that all connections are made before starting the test – but note the pattern recommendations in the Pattern section of the product help documentation f) it is recommended that a FarSync Flex V2 or V3 is used if FM0/FM1 encoding is required (i.e. as opposed to using the Flex V1) g) Terminal Timing is not supported if the NRZI Clocking option is used h) Multi-Drop (2 and 4-Wire) tests can be performed in SYNC mode only. i) USR pattern lengths can now be up to 64Mb. This can be useful when needing to send large patterns to a peer. However, note that the use of large files can result in long synchronisation times at the BERT receiving in USR pattern mode. It is therefore recommended, where receive synchronisation is required at BERT running in USR pattern mode, to keep the USR pattern length down to < 1024 bytes and the line rate to < 512Kbps 9. SUPPORT CONTACTS Support information and updates can be found on the FarSite web site at http://www.farsite.com For general support enquiries email or telephone +44 (0) 1256 330461 during normal UK office hours.