SerialTek is a provider of innovative data storage test tools and solutions since 2007. SerialTek solutions support the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), SATA (Serial ATA), PCI Express (PCIe) and Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) protocols.

Kodiak™ PCIe 6.0 / CXL 3.x Protocol Test SystemNew

Kodiak has a state-of-the-art architecture that revolutionizes the standards of protocol analyzers. With its innovative design and comprehensive feature set, Kodiak empowers CXL, PCIe, and NVMe developers with unparalleled visibility into complex PCI Express designs and enables efficient analysis of PCIe, CXL, and NVMe protocols.

Kodiak™ 6th gen

Powerful Kodiak Features

  • CXL, PCIe, NVMe, DOE/IDE, SMBUS and all sideband signals supported
  • No tuning required (I.e. No calibration). Kodiak’s Rx automatically and quickly equalizes (EQs) the PCIe signals at all data rates
  • Embedded trace processing architecture and accelerated performance
  • Deep Trace Buffers
    • – 72GB, 144GB or 288GB
  • Internal Trace Storage (SSD)
    • – 2, 4, or 8TB
  • Direct Attach Storage
    • – Two OCuLink (PCIe) ports
    • – Two USB 3.1 ports
  • Network and Direct Connectivity
    • – Two 10GbE SFP+ (optical/copper)
    • – One 1GbE RJ-45
  • Supports single-port (1×4) and dual-port (2×2) analysis in one platform
  • Real-time traces in memory (prior to saving). Users can review and analyze captured traces without downloading the trace to a client PC
  • Touchscreen LCD for analyzer setup, control, and status

Kodiak™ PCIe Gen5 Analysis System New

PCIe Analysis Platform with Embedded Hardware, Calibration-Free SI-Fi™ Probing and Automatic Equalization, Internal SSD Storage, Touchscreen LCD, and Standard PCIe Cabling.

Kodiak™ PCIe Gen5 Analysis System

Powerful SerialTek Features

  • No tuning (calibration) required, Kodiak’s Rx automatically equalizes (EQs) the incoming PCIe signals at all data rates
  • Embedded trace processing architecture and the fastest performance
  • Up to 144GB Trace Buffers
  • Internal up to 4TB Trace Storage (SSD) and access for multiple users
  • Direct Attach Storage, including two PCIe OCuLink ports and two USB 3.2 ports
  • Two 10GbE SFP+ (optical/copper) and one 1GbE RJ-45 connections for fast and reliable connectivity
  • Multi-user access to Kodiak PCIe Gen5 Analyzer allow maximizing usage of test tool
  • Real-time access to traces in memory prior to downloading
  • Touchscreen LCD for analyzer configuration, control and status

SI-Fi™ PCIe Gen5 Interposers New

SerialTek’s PCIe Gen5 Slot (AIC) Interposers with SI-Fi technology are specially designed test adapters that are physically placed in between the PCIe slot and a PCIe endpoint to intercept and relay a copy of the high-speed signaling and discrete data lines to the Kodiak PCIe Analysis system in real-time. Together with the Kodiak™, SerialTek’s Gen5 (32.0 GT/s) PCI Express® (PCIe®) interposers with SI-Fi™ allow users to monitor an unprecedented variety of PCIe bus traffic with unparalleled power and ease.

SI-FI™ PCIe Gen5 Interposers

Enabled by SerialTek’s proprietary SI-Fi™ technology, users can save hours over legacy approaches requiring interposer calibration.

This technology improves critical test coverage by providing high signal integrity, even over changing conditions, such as link training (LTSSM), Power Management, Hot Plug, Reset, and other tests where the physical link/lane characteristics may change.

SI-Fi™ PCIe Gen5 Interposers continue SerialTek’s TCO approach. With the focus on signal integrity, QSFP-DD based cables connect each interposer to the analyzer. These cables are readily available and rated greater than 32GHz, resulting in uncompromised SI at all PCIe transfer rates. All sideband signals are passed through the interposer from Root Complex (Host) to Controller (Device), and all are made available to the analyzer for trigger, decode, and analysis.

Interposer Key Features

  • No tuning (calibration) required, Kodiak’s Rx automatically equalizes (EQs) the incoming PCIe signals at all data rates
  • No tuning (calibration) required. Host and Device signals pass through the interposer, allowing for real-world PCIe link training and easier setup
  • Supports PCI Express Gen 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0
  • Access to all sidebands, including SMBus
  • Accurate capture of PCIe traffic at line rates from 32.0 GT/s (Gen5) down to 2.5 GT/s (Gen1)
  • Passive tapping to avoid masking, hiding, or cleaning up electrical and/or link issues
  • Low-cost, flexible, high-performance cabling for reliable analyzer to interposer connections

Kodiak™ PCIe Gen4 Analysis System

The Kodiak Platform: Innovative, State-of-the-Art

SerialTek’s new PCIe®/NVMe™ analysis platform is an embedded architecture that delivers unparalleled advances in capture, search, and processing acceleration.

KODIAK™ PCIE GEN4 Analysis System

Kodiak PCIe/NVMe Analysis Platform with Embedded Hardware, Real-Time Protocol Processor™, Calibration-Free SI-Fi™ Probing and Automatic Equalization, Internal SSD Storage, Touchscreen LCD, and Standard PCIe Cabling.

  • No tuning (calibration) required.
    • Kodiak’s Rx automatically equalizes (EQs) the PCIe signals at all data rates.
  • Embedded trace processing architecture and fastest performance.
  • Real-Time Protocol Processor
    • – Automatically captures PCI Config Space, Controller Registers, and NVMe Queues
    • – No boot trace needed
    • – Native NVMe triggers by device (BDF), Queues, and Packet/Event
    • – Native NVMe filters by device (BDF), Controller Registers, Queues, and Packet/Event
  • Deep Trace Buffers
    • – 36GB, 72GB, 144GB
  • Internal Trace Storage (SSD)
    • – 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
    • – Read-only access for non-primary users
  • Direct Attach Storage
    • – Two OCuLink (PCIe 3.0) ports
    • – Two USB 3.1 ports
  • Network and Direct Connectivity
    • – Two 10GbE SFP+ (optical/copper)
    • – One 1GbE RJ-45
  • Single-port (1×4) and dual-port (2×2) analysis in one platform
  • Real-time access to traces in memory (prior to downloading)
    • – Users can review and analyse captured traces without downloading the trace
  • Touchscreen LCD for Analyzer setup and status

SI-Fi™ PCIe Gen4 Interposers


Together with the new Kodiak™, SerialTek’s Gen4 (16.0 GT/s) PCI Express® (PCIe®) and Non-volatile Memory Express® (NVMe®) interposers with SI-Fi™ allow users to monitor an unprecedented variety of PCIe and NVMe bus traffic with unparalleled power and ease.

Enabled by SerialTek’s proprietary SI-Fi™ technology, users can save hours over legacy approaches requiring interposer calibration.

SI-Fi™ PCIe Gen4 Interposers

This technology improves critical test coverage by providing high signal integrity, even over changing conditions, such as link training (LTSSM), Power Management, Hot Plug, Reset, and other tests where the physical link/lane characteristics may change.

Each lane’s analog signal is received at the probe’s differential input and distributed to two separate phase matched differential outputs with a nominal gain of 0dB, allowing the Host and Device signals to pass through the interposer, allowing for real-world PCIe link training and easier set-up of the analyzer and DUT.

SI-Fi™ PCIe Gen4 Interposers continue SerialTek’s TCO approach. With the focus on signal integrity, flexible, low-cost, SFF-8644-based cables connect each interposer to the analyzer. These cables are readily available and rated greater than 20GHz, resulting in uncompromised SI at all PCIe transfer rates.

All sideband signals are passed through the interposer from Root Complex (Host) to Controller (Device), and all are made available to the analyzer for trigger, decode, and analysis.

  • SI-Fi™ Interposers require no calibration.
  • Supports PCI Express Gen 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 Accurate capture of PCIe data traffic at line rates including 16.0 GT/s (Gen4), 8.0 GT/s (Gen3), 5.0 GT/s (Gen2), and 2.5 GT/s (Gen1).
  • Single U.2 / U.3 interposer supports both single-port and dual-port capture (only one analyzer is needed for dual-port).
  • “Passive” tapping to avoid masking, hiding, or “cleaning up” electrical and/or link issues.
  • Low-cost, flexible, high-performance cabling for reliable analyzer to interposer connections

Panda iTAP™ Embedded PCIe Analysis


Panda iTAP™ Embedded PCIe Analysis
Panda iTAP™ Embedded PCIe Analysis


Convenient Access to Embedded PCIe Applications

The Panda appliance conveniently brings together SerialTek’s iTAP™ technology and BusXpert™ software with Broadcom PEA technology to smartly solve the problem of analyzing embedded PCIe links in ICs such as the Broadcom PEX89000 PCI Express Gen 5.0 ExpressFabric Platform. The iTAP software is a specialized “tap” framework that is fully integrated with BusXpert, the feature-rich analysis software developed for the revolutionary Kodiak™ PCIe 5.0 Protocol Analysis System.

With the increasing ubiquity of sophisticated, highly integrated systems employing switches and chip-to-chip interconnects, physical limitations to accessing PCIe traffic can prove quite challenging. With the easy access provided by the Panda appliance and SerialTek’s PCIe software packages, developers are able to quickly set up, capture, decode, and view PCIe trace data captured on-chip by Broadcom’s PCIe Embedded Analyzer (PEA) technology. When used in conjunction with the Kodiak Protocol Analysis System, developers can seamlessly transition between Kodiak’s extremely deep traces and iTAP’s embedded traces from all instances of PEA stations / ports.

Powerful Features

  • Advanced BusXpert analysis software with collaborative web UI
  • Can be used in conjunction with Kodiak PCIe 5.0 protocol analyzers with the same UI
  • Captures TLPs, DLLPs, and Ordered Sets
  • 288K capture buffers per station / port
  • Synchronized multi-station capture
  • Filtering capabilities:
    – Discard TLPs, DLLPs and Ordered Sets
    – Compression of repeating bytes
  • Triggering capabilities:
    – Two-level triggering on input trace data
    – Input trigger can be pin-based or routed from internal signals
    – Output trigger can be routed to other trace buffer instances and to a chip output pin

Busxpert Micro II PCIe/NVME Gen 2, 3 Protocol Analyzer


The BusXpert Micro II PCI Express® (PCIe®) analyzer is SerialTek’s third analyzer designed and optimized for equipment manufacturers that are developing storage products and solutions using PCI Express technology. With support for data rates of 2.5 GT/s, 5.0 GT/s (Gen 2) and 8.0 GT/s (Gen 3) and bus widths of x1, x2 and x4, the Micro II provides accurate capture, analysis and deep insight of PCIe traffic at all layers of the protocol stack. It offers the same ease-of-use, multiple display views, powerful triggering, and attractive price points that are

BusXpert Micro II PCI Express®

the hallmarks of SerialTek storage protocol products, and adds the benefits of a small form factor and zero calibration.

The BusXpert supports up to 36GB of capture buffer, pre-indexed and compressed trace data, multiple analysis processors, and instant display of the captured data. The BusXpert also features easy-to-use triggering, pre-/post-capture filtering, textual search and sequence search, and many different displays of captured PCI Express traffic. It is available in a variety of configurations to fit specific requirements for buffer size, protocols, and budget.

This SerialTek analyzer supports the PCIe protocol, including all TLP, DLLP, and Ordered Sets, and the NVM Express™ (NVMe) protocol.

PCIe 3 is the latest standard and is fully supported by SpecXpert, as are revisions 1.0a, 1.1 and 2.0 of the specification.

  • Accurate capture of all data line rates including 8GT/s, 5 GT/s and 2.5 GT/s
  • Decode all PCI Express traffic, including TLP, DLLP, and Ordered Sets
  • Automatic, instant decode support for Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe)–saved trace not required!
  • Portable and lightweight dedicated appliance; no need to hassle with and waste time swapping blades or modules
  • Automatically detect and update the PCIe config space, controller register and NVMe queue information
  • Can be used with any third-party PCIe generator

PCIe/NVMe Interposers


PCIe Gen3 Slot/AIC Interposer

SerialTek’s PCIe Gen3 Slot (AIC) Interposers with SI-Fi technology are specially designed test adapters that are physically placed in between the PCIe slot and a PCIe endpoint to intercept and relay a copy of the high-speed signaling and discrete data lines to the PCIe Analysis system in real-time.

PCIe Gen3 Slot/AIC Interposer

PCI Express slots are ubiquitous in ATX or ATX-based form factors in computing, storage, networking, and communication equipment applications. SerialTek’s PCIe Gen3 x4 slot interposer supports analysis of x1, x2, and x4 link-widths, though endpoints up to x16 may be plugged into the interposer. All relevant sidebands, including SMBus from the host or from external / third-party injection or generation tools are supported.

  • Compliant with PCI Express 1.x, 2.x and 3.0 specifications.
  • Accurate capture of PCIe data traffic at line rates including 8.0 GT/s (Gen3), 5.0 GT/s (Gen2), and 2.5 GT/s (Gen1).
  • Next-gen Interposer requires no calibration.
  • “Passive” tapping to avoid masking, hiding, or “cleaning up” electrical and/or link issues.
  • Low-cost, flexible, high-performance cabling for reliable analyzer to interposer connections.
  • Capture of M.2 and U.2 traffic via adapters.

Busxpert Micro II Series SAS/SATA Analyzer

The new SerialTek BusXpert Micro II revolutionizes the analysis of devices and systems utilizing the high speed SAS and SATA storage protocols. With key features found in few other SAS/SATA analyzers the Micro II is a portable, lightweight unit that supports up to 36 GBs of capture buffer, hardware accelerated gigabit Ethernet, pre-indexed and compressed trace data and multiple analysis processors.

Busxpert Micro II Series SAS/SATA Analyzer

This 4 port, 12 Gb/s analyzer is also compatible with slower speeds and protocols. A 2 port model, licensed upgradable to 4 ports, is also available. SATA data rates of 1.5 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, and 6 Gb/s are supported, as are SAS data rates of 3.0 Gb/s, 6.0 Gb/s, and 12.0 Gb/s. It is portable weighing 4.5 lbs or roughly the same as an average notebook computer; but it has the power and capabilities of solutions that are much, much larger. This makes it an ideal tool not only for lab environments but also for field and support engineers.

The analyzer employs next generation high-speed transceivers, providing for accurate and reliable first-time linkup. Two modes of linkup are supported. In addition, the analyzer supports optional user calibration controls to assist linkup under sub-optimal signal integrity conditions.

The software provides for a new and powerful waveform “eye” display. This is a unique capability, typically found on oscilloscopes, that allows for digital signals to be easily observed in a graphic form. The feature permits users to take control over sample rates and display resolution. Eye diagrams are used as an aid in obtaining the optimal signal integrity by graphically showing the effects of varying calibration settings on the received serial data. They may be saved as either a graphical image or a file containing all the data and options needed to reconstruct the eye diagram. Now SAS and SATA engineers have not only the ability to observe the upper layer protocol transactions but also the lower physical layer information in a single compact, portable unit.