Normal
This would give you a pass/fail test for a certain situation (the one you perform the test in), but does not tell you much about the riser itself, nor how it will work in other situations. If you know and can the environment in which the riser will be used, this testing is suitable and a lot cheaper than full signal testing.The benefit to proper 'eye pattern' testing is it tells you not only whether the riser will work, but exactly how much margin you have before it will get out of spec, and how it will go out of spec (which lets you track down which element is failing and how to improve it). For example, you can easily tell the difference between a crosstalk issue (and use the timing to determine exactly where in the riser the crosstalk is occurring) from an impedance mismatch issue. It also gives direct feedback on what's happening during interference testing, so you can track down where signal is 'leaking'.
This would give you a pass/fail test for a certain situation (the one you perform the test in), but does not tell you much about the riser itself, nor how it will work in other situations. If you know and can the environment in which the riser will be used, this testing is suitable and a lot cheaper than full signal testing.
The benefit to proper 'eye pattern' testing is it tells you not only whether the riser will work, but exactly how much margin you have before it will get out of spec, and how it will go out of spec (which lets you track down which element is failing and how to improve it). For example, you can easily tell the difference between a crosstalk issue (and use the timing to determine exactly where in the riser the crosstalk is occurring) from an impedance mismatch issue. It also gives direct feedback on what's happening during interference testing, so you can track down where signal is 'leaking'.
