Picotest

06/16/2026

Can we borrow your brain? 🧠
We've built a tool to help you find the right test setup — based on what you're measuring (impedance, PSRR, stability, ripple/noise, TDR…) and the instruments you already have (Bode 100/500, a scope, another VNA).
We've tested it in-house, but you're the real experts. Give it a go and tell us: does it point you to the setup you'd actually reach for?
👉 https://www.picotest.com/find-your-test-setup/
It's made for a niche — power and signal integrity engineers — so your technical feedback genuinely shapes where this goes. Comment or DM, we're all ears.
— The Picotest Team

06/15/2026

Tony Ambrose from Tektronix previews SEPIA, Scope Embedded Power Integrity Analysis, a new measurement technique designed for today’s nonlinear, time-variant DC-DC converters on a Tektronix 6 Series Oscilloscope. Rather than relying on traditional frequency-domain Bode plots, SEPIA extracts phase margin, equivalent circuit models, and stability insight directly from a high-speed step load response.

This video gives a quick look into why step load response is superior to traditional Bode plots and shows how power integrity measurement is evolving.

06/04/2026

We have a lot of information on our website about PDN validation using dynamic stepload testing and transient load current steppers. If you want to search the articles by Video, Product, or Article - even understand how we quote such a complex tool for your specific requirements - take a look at our Insights.

https://www.picotest.com/category/transient-load-step/

06/02/2026

Why the Picotest S2000 Load Stepper ended up on the benches behind today's highest-current designs:

— Fast current edges that excite real PDN impedance behavior, not just the low-frequency portion an electronic load can reach
— Ability to test power rail crosstalk
— Programmable step amplitude and timing, repeatable enough to correlate simulation to measurement instead of arguing with it
— Directly stimulates the rail under test, no probe-loop interpretation games

The reason it's in the hands of the teams behind today's most demanding power-delivery designs isn't marketing. It's that you can't validate a 2000A+ multi-phase multi-rail setup with a tool built for laptop SMPS — and the engineers responsible for those rails figured that out first.

If the stimulus side of your bench is what's limiting your confidence in the result, DM the man who built it and we will support the solution. Steven Sandler.

05/25/2026

Your simulation says the power integrity and PDN impednace is fine. Your hardware says otherwise.

The mismatch usually traces back to one place: the capacitor and ferrite bead models you're using were never measured properly.

The new Picotest Component Test Fixture (CTF), paired with the Bode 100 or Bode 500 VNA, or other VNA, gives you impedance and S-parameter measurements up to 3 GHz with pH-level fidelity — accurate enough to extract ESL, ESR, and full equivalent circuits that actually correlate with what's on your board.

What that earns you:

→ More Accurate simulation (SPICE/ADS/Simplis) models built from real measurements, not vendor datasheets
→ Better-targeted decoupling — smaller BOM, less board area
→ Confident PDN simulation from DC into the GHz range
→ Fewer late-cycle EMC and stability surprises

Designed specifically to solve the calibration limitations of the Bode platform.
Full breakdown of what's new in the Bode 100/500 ecosystem →

The OMICRON Lab Bode 100 and the newer Bode 500 VNAs have evolved significantly over the past 1–2 years. Combined with new Picotest accessories, software enhancements, and application workflows, today’s Bode platform supports measurements and modeling capabilities that previously required multip...

05/18/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined Steve Sandler and Tektronix's Seamus Brokaw on this week's "Hidden Measurement Errors in AI Data Center Power Integrity" webinar.

If you would like to watch the archived version of the webinar, simply click the following URL: https://app.webinar.net/r/boeY9Rz9gjX

The recurring theme: PDN measurements in high-current, fast-switching environments fail quietly. The waveform looks fine. The numbers look fine. The setup is the problem.

Three places measurements go sideways — and the Picotest gear built specifically for each:

→ J2154A, https://www.picotest.com/product/j2154a-perfectpulse-differential-tdr/
→ P2105A, https://www.picotest.com/product/p2105a-power-rail-tdr-and-impedance-probe/
→ P2104A, https://www.picotest.com/product/p2104a-1-port-transmission-line-pdn-probe/
→ J2115A, https://www.picotest.com/product/j2115a-probe-coaxial-isolator/
→ Port Saver - https://www.picotest.com/product/port-saver-instrument-protection-dc-block/

05/06/2026

The Picotest Load Stepper is built for transient load testing.

The Picotest browser probe and full custom Load Stepper board solutions are built for transient load testing in demanding power integrity and power supply environments.
The s2000 setup supports load steps up to 2000 A per nanosecond and helps engineers assess ultra-low impedance, transient response, and overall power supply performance in high-current power systems.
For teams working on high-power rails, fast transients, and full power supply characterization, this is about getting cleaner, more repeatable insight into real system behavior.

View more about the Load Stepper here - https://www.picotest.com/product/transient-load-steppers-for-power-systems-test-and-vrm-pdn-validation/

05/04/2026

AI data centers are pushing power delivery networks past where typical measurement setups can keep up. Massive currents, fast transients, and a probing system that can quietly lie to you if probe flatness, CMRR, or ground loops aren't handled correctly.

On Wednesday, May 13, Picotest's Steve Sandler and Tektronix's Seamus Brokaw team up for a Tech Briefs webinar on the hidden measurement errors that distort power integrity validation — and the practical techniques that fix them.

What you'll take away:
– Common measurement errors that affect PDN validation
– How probe flatness, CMRR, and noise change what your waveform actually shows
– Techniques to reduce ground loops and measurement noise
– Best practices for reliable PDN measurement in AI data center systems

45 minutes + live audience Q&A. Two sessions so you can pick your time zone:
Session 1 — 8:00 AM PDT / 5:00 PM CEST (EMEA-friendly)
Session 2 — 5:00 PM PDT / 8:00 AM CST, May 14 (APAC-friendly)

Register: https://app.webinar.net/r/boeY9Rz9gjX

04/20/2026

Output impedance and poor stability.
A quick example of how output impedance can reveal a control loop mismatch and poor stability in a power rail.
Using the Picotest P2102A 2-Port Probe, this setup shows how engineers can evaluate PDN impedance, identify spikes that point to instability, and inspect the effect of decoupling on the rail.