User guide

Table 1
Fraction Exponent Instrument Display
1/10,000
1 x 10
-4
1E-4
1/100,000
1 x 10
-5
1E-5
1/1,000,000
1 x 10
-6
1E-6
1/10,000,000
1 x 10
-7
1E-7
Understanding SER
Symbol error ratio (SER) is the symbol ratio of the number of errored symbols to
the total number of symbols received.
For example, a single error will result in a one symbol error in 1000 symbols where
each symbol consists of 10 bits that corresponds to a SER of 1/1000 or 1x10
-3
. This
would be displayed on the instrument as 1E-3. Refer to the following table to
familiarize yourself with how SERs are displayed. Notice that smaller exponents
correspond to higher SERs, and larger exponents correspond to lower SERs.
Table 2
Fraction Exponent Instrument Display
1/1
1 x 10
0
1E+0
1/10
1 x 10
-1
1E-1
1/100
1 x 10
-2
1E-2
1/1000
1 x 10
-3
1E-3
1/10,000
1 x 10
-4
1E-4
1/100,000
1 x 10
-5
1E-5
1/1,000,000
1 x 10
-6
1E-6
1/10,000,000
1 x 10
-7
1E-7
Planning the Test 1
Agilent J-BERT N4903B High-Performance Serial BERT 13