Paragon-neo: Software Releases

If you have a valid Calnex Support Service (CSS) contract, the latest Paragon-neo software can be downloaded from the Calnex Support Portal. Release notes are also available from the same location. If you do not yet have a login to the Calnex Support Portal, please contact support@calnexsol.com.

Information on how to install a new software release is available in this article.

80.11.00.32 (Release 11.00 Update 2) October-2024

This release includes CAT v31.2 and PFV v31.2

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-5371] – Added support for Innolight QSFP28 PAM4 100G transceivers made in Thailand

• [PN-5353] – Fixed Flexoptics P.13S1HG.xxx.CAL transceivers not recognised as qualified

• [PN-5280] – Fixed SFP56 Signal Conditioning Auto-Tune bug

• [PN-5284] – Fixed Paragon-neo does not transmit ESMC QL messages unless PTP option licences are installed

• [PN-4874] – Fixed occasional 24ns spikes during BC testing

Known Issue

• [PN-5368] – On-instrument impairment files missing after upgrade to Release 11 software (occurs occasionally).
  Fix by updating instrument software from 11.00.27 or 11.00.29 to 11.00.32.
  Contact Calnex support team for assistance if the impairment files are missing after updating to 11.00.32.

Release Notes

Detailed release notes are provided as part of the installation.

80.11.00.29 (Release 11.00 Update 1) February-2024

This release includes CAT v31.1 and PFV v31.1

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-5147] PAM4 200G interface link integrity fix

• [CAT-7807] CAT Noise Transfer test report generation fix

Release Notes

Detailed release notes are provided as part of the installation.

80.11.00.27 (Release 11.00) February-2024

Features

• O-RAN Merge Mode - Combine (merge) M, C and U plane data from a DU with S plane data from Paragon-neo

• Additional and updated O-RAN and ITU impairment patterns

• Updates to all Test Guides, Application Notes and Getting Started Guide

• Support for SFP-DD PAM4 100G

• eSyncE Short Term Transient Test

• Additional O-RAN and SMPTE licensable options

• Additional Wander Tolerance Stimulus (Table Sines) - G.8262 Option 2 and G.8262.1 Level 1

• Uses timeTransmitter/timeReceiver nomenclature - In accordance with IEEE/ITU updates

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-2423] Removal and re-connection of 1PPS / TOD measurement cable will result in TOD offset

• [PN-3376] Database failure in PgConformanceTest.SetConformanceTest

• [PN-4082] Add "polarity inversion" settings in the UI for PAM4 50G

• [PN-4193] Add Support for Port Property TLV's (IEEE 1588-2019 16.9.2)

• [PN-4203] Restructuring of help screen documentation view

• [PN-4261] G.8273.2 Conformance App: Add Noise Tolerance for Class C (Clause 7.2.2)

• [PN-4277] Support PORT_COMMUNICATION_AVAILABILITY & PROTOCOL_ADDRESS TLVs

• [PN-4279] G.8273.2 Conformance App: Add Noise Tolerance for Class C (Clause 7.2.2)

• [PN-4280] Add Wander Tolerance Table Sine options/standards

• [PN-4338] Replace NO-EXT-SMB licence with GUI config option

• [PN-4364] Master Selection does not work correctly for Del_Req (T4) - L3 Multicast

• [PN-4392] Reboot when selected RJ1G no PTP transactions set up

• [PN-4396] Notify user when external 10MHz reference disappears

• [PN-4398] Incorrect SMPTE UDP checksum on management messages when IPv6 is used

• [PN-4422] G8273.2 Conformance Preset unresponsive after selecting S-Clock Test Mode

• [PN-4468] "Event" ESMC Message logged when there is none on the wire

• [PN-4471] Allow 1pps reference from BNC while ToD reference is from RJ48

• [PN-4613] Accept different multicast MAC addresses

• [PN-4660] Add "Debug Packet Capture" App to "O-RAN Conformance" Preset

• [PN-4701] 200G PAM4 SR4 Optic shows 2 x Optical Power - there should be 4

• [PN-4725] SMPTE 2015 transmits incorrect targetPortIdentity in Management message TLV in Unicast mode

Release Notes

Detailed release notes are provided as part of the installation.

80.10.00.25 (Release 10.00 Update 2) August-2023

This release includes CAT v30.1 and PFV v30.1

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-4394] Reboot required after saving multiple CAT PDF reports or images.

Release Notes

Detailed release notes are provided as part of the installation.

80.10.00.21 (Release 10.00 Update 1) July-2023

This release includes CAT v30.1 and PFV v30.1

Features

• Updated ORAN test guides

• Add 'device settling time' for O-RAN Conformance App after stimulus is started.

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-4124] Improved 1-Step Peer-to-Peer Clocking.

• [PN-4275] Improved capture file header integrity.

• [PN-4301] SFP+ module in Port 2 causes no modules to be detected.

Release Notes

Detailed release notes are provided as part of the installation.

80.10.00.14 (Release 10.00)

This release includes CAT v30.0 and PFV v30.0

Features

• O-RAN Conformance Test - Simplifies the process of O-RAN O-DU and O-RU synchronization conformance testing as per O-RAN.WG4.CONF.

• Custom optical module settings - Provides the ability to apply custom compensations for transceiver transmit and receive path delays, and to modify electrical interface settings to enable the use of any transceiver.

• IEEE 1588-2019 - Updated to support testing of devices compliant with IEEE 1588-2019 (PTP v2.1).

• HTTPS/SSL support - Support for HTTPS/SSL protocol.

Release Notes

Detailed release notes are provided as part of the installation.

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-2036]  At all rates, allow port 1 link to be dropped whilst still measuring Time Error on port 2

• [PN-2221] Cannot Create Zip file of Logs Directory

• [PN-3883] FEC for 100G Defaults to Disabled Upon Reboot

• [PN-4019] QSFP28 PAM4/NRZ conversion modules failing peer delay tests

• [PN-4043] SFP28/+ interface Port 1 receiving bad packets with no generation enabled

• [PN-4067] P2P Test Mode Config - Quick Help Update

• [PN-4071] "1588-2019" specific profile

• [PN-4085] Timed SyncE option expired - can not use conformance app until unit rebooted

• [PN-4094] Background Traffic - Option is fitted but app is unavailable

• [PN-4109] Neo Background Traffic Packet distribution issues

80.09.00.xx (Release 09.00) December-2022

This release includes CAT v29.0 and PFV v29.0

Features

• Background Traffic (NRZ ports): Generation of background traffic on M-Clock and S-Clock ports at up to 80% of line rate. Selectable predefined traffic patterns. Supports all NRZ data rates.

• Relative Time Error / 2x Time Error Measurements: The option now allows a third port (1Gb only) to provide a PTP M-Clock to the DUT as well as the two S-Clocks used for relative measurements.

• SMPTE ST 2059-2 PTP profile: Allows SMPTE ST 2059-2 PTP profile to be generated, in combination with the functionality of any installed PTP M-Clock/S-Clock emulation option.

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-1491] SMPTE ST-2059-2, AES67 and AES67+SMPTE profiles

• [PN-1830] Hide hidden files in File Management interface

• [PN-2272] Added G.8262.1 Wander tolerance level 1 Noise pattern

• [PN-2315] Support for 802.3cx timestamping

• [PN-2469] Upgrade fail message due to no CSS is only displayed for a short time

• [PN-2645] Added separate start/stop buttons for PTP M-Clock and S-Clock emulations

• [PN-2676] Additional header field configuration for extended ESMC TLVs

• [PN-2951] QSFP28-PAM4 modules occasionally report incorrect characters on part number/serial no.

• [PN-3056] Automatically load appropriate rules file based on profile of PTP capture

• [PN-3061] Updated G.8273.4 Impairments to align with current ITU Standard

• [PN-3243] 1PPS Reference Calibration value is settable when using internal 1PPS reference

• [PN-3285] & [PN-3286] IPv4/IPv6 Unicast Ping / ND Address not correctly configuring

• [PN-3313] G.8273.2 Noise Transfer Test does not stop correctly

• [PN-3434] CAT starvation mode after less than 1 hour

• [PN-3528] Paragon-Neo – Impairments status graph does not repeat

80.08.01.xx (Release 08.1) April-2022

This release includes CAT v28.10 and PFV v28.10.

Features

• NRZ Optical (for PAM4 capable systems): Perform testing to standards in real-world scenarios with mixed input and output rates from DUT, including NRZ and PAM4 interfaces (options required for desired interfaces)

• Relative Time Error / 2x Time Error Measurements: Validate Relative Time Error performance for standards conformance to ITU-T G.8273.2 and applications such as O-RAN. Additionally, run 2x simultaneous absolute Time Error measurements to greatly reduce test time.

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-2781] Support for IPv6 Unicast Neighbour Discovery

• [PN-2458] Impairment files accessible by users

• [PN-2730, PN-2112] PTP Impairment pattern repeats are non-contiguous

• [PN-2451] Time Source is unselected after resetting to defaults

• [PN-2610] Clearing user defined impairment file on master causes exception

• [PN-2868] Indicate in GUI that PTP impairments apply only on Port 1

80.07.00.xx (Release 07.00)

This release includes CAT v27.10 and PFV v27.10.

Features

• 400G PAM4 Optical: Enables easy validation of PTP and/or SyncE capabilities over 400G PAM4, including ITU-T G.8273.2 conformance testing of devices up to Class C, using the QSFP28-DD interface.

• 50G PAM4 Optical:  Quick and easy validation of PTP and/or SyncE capabilities over 50G PAM4, including ITU-T G.8273.2 conformance testing of devices up to Class C, using the SFP56 interface. Also supports FlexE Overhead Sync Test, enabling 50GbE FlexE interface for testing synchronization as per ITU-T G.8312.

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-2611] Impairments preview of file does not display correctly

• [PN-2647] Recall of settings can cause PTP emulation app to be inaccessible

• [PN-2768] User Defined Impairment file not clearing

• Various improvements to the on-instrument Python wrapper. Full details in CalnexRest.py v2.1.

80.06.00.22 (Release 06.00)

This release includes CAT v27.00 and PFV v27.00.

Features

• 50G NRZ Optical: Quick and easy validation of PTP and/or SyncE capabilities over 50G NRZ in addition to 100G NRZ over 2 x 25G lanes using the QSFP28 interface.

• PTP P2P (Peer to Peer profiles):  Enables easy validation of Peer to Peer profiles such as IEEE 802.1AS(gPTP), C37.238 Power Profile and 61850-9-3 Utility Profile to higher accuracy and at higher line-rates.

• 1G/100M Electrical: Enhanced coverage for easy validation of PTP and/or SyncE capabilities of DUT over widely used systems that implement 1G/100M Electrical interfaces.

• 25MHz Wander Measurement: Allows high accuracy frequency measurement to satisfy test needs for 25MHz system clocks, including scenarios for clock recovery with impaired PTP and SyncE test inputs.

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-1819] ESMC rate incorrect when switching from 1Gb to 10Gb

• [PN-1854] Support for IPv6 with G.8275.2 profile

• [PN-1906] Support for non-identical VLAN settings on Port 1 and Port 2

• [PN-2126] Remove 'normal stability' G.8273.4 impairment patterns

• [PN-2143] SyncE Transient in Conformance test always sends EEC1 (i.e. doesn't support Option 2/EEC2)

• [PN-2175] & [PN-2179] Indication of loss of frequency signals in GUI LED and CAT

• [PN-2305] Grey out UTC offset field on Time Source page if the TOD reference input provides the offset

• [PN-2346] Corrected handling of IPv6 address bytes 4 & 5

• [PN-2372] G8265.1 Priority 1 and 2 default values Incorrect

• [PN-2420] 61850-9-3 Utility Profile Priority Values incorrect

• [PN-2433] Loading large noise patterns causes 'out of memory' errors and false 'POST' fail

• [PN-2447] System failures on high memory usage

80.05.00.33 (Release 05.00 Update 2)

This release contains improvements to the operation of the instrument when running CTS. PCAP capture files are now fully populated and the PFV will no longer report “No PTP File Loaded"

The following issues have been addressed:

• [PN-2146] Packet corruption seen on debug Pkt capture on Port 1 of P-Neo when running CTS

• [CTS-148] CTS testing reports an Error for “No PTP files loaded”

80.05.00.32 (Release 05.00 Update)

This release addresses the following issues:

• [PN-2167] 10G->100G exhibits clocking issues, with internal bus failures and no packets

• [PN-2145] Instrument Mode / Time Source: UTC label on "Current Time" is mis-leading

• [PN-2141] FlexE Dropping PTP Packets with IPG less than 56B

• [PN-2156] Conformance test, SyncE-xxx, wander transfer table oddity; PTP generation stops unexpectedly

80.05.00.xx (Release 05.00)

This release includes CAT v26.00 and PFV v26.00.

Features

• FlexE 100G: Allows a FlexE Overhead Sync Test, enabling 100GbE (4x25G) FlexE interface for testing synchronization as per ITU-T G.8312. PTP and/or SyncE testing capabilities of Paragon-neo can be extended with the same sub-ns precision to the testing of synchronization within the control overhead.

• E1 / T1 Wander Measurement: High Accuracy frequency measurement of E1 and T1 clock signals

• Samba access to the internal hard drive is now password protected: See this article for details.

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-976] - Exception trying to update fitted transcievers (UTF-8 and database issue)

• [PN-1025] - Exception trying to update fitted transceivers: System.IO.IOException: Unable to read data from the transport connection: Operation on non-blocking socket would block

• [PN-1740] - 1 in 30 POST fails due to 10MHz mmcm unlocked

• [PN-1831] - Jitter limit services for SFP28 interface depend on wrong feature

• [PN-1856] - IPv6 Neighbour Discovery multicast link layer address is incorrect

• [PN-1857] - IPv6 Neighbour Discovery request handler incorrectly checks Dest MAC address

• [PN-1890] - Removing optic stops ESMC generation on the other port

• [PN-1897] - Add a warning / updated the quick help to explain the use of Slave multicast MAC address

• [PN-1941] - Neo commanded restart causes exception/error

80.04.00.xx (Release 04.00)

This release includes CAT v25.00 and PFV v25.00.

Features

• ESMC measurement in Jitter tolerance: Measure ESMC status changes from DUT during Jitter tolerance test

• Two PTP Masters: Enables testing of T-TSC performance in, for example, switchover conditions.

• IPv6 encapsulation for PTP: IPv6 encapsulation for generated and captured PTP packets

• PTP Time Error impairments: Test device conformance to a wide range of standards-based and user-defined impairment scenarios, including ‘replay’ of real-world time-error conditions

• HTTP File Management: enables upload/download of session files, log etc. without requiring Samba/SMB support on the network

• “Current User” indication: User can display a short text message in the UI to indicate that they are using the instrument, providing information to other users that may try to connect to that instrument.

• CAT: Cascaded Media Converter Masks: Specific testing to ITU-T G.8273.2 and G.8262.1/G.8262 with two devices acting as back-to-back media converters.

Fixes and Improvements

• [PN-30] - IEEE 802.3 Multi-lane timestamping

• [PN-704] - Allow cable compensation values up to 3000ns

• [PN-745] - Manual config of IP address interrupted by DHCP

• [PN-779] - Need to warn users that instrument will reboot when loading licence files

• [PN-849, 1356] - Match CDR settings to relevant test modes

• [PN-860] - Custom PFV rules file does not appear in Ruleset File drop down list

• [PN-864] - Using incorrect tar file resulted in a hard shutdown before connection to instrument restored.

• [PN-1017] - Debug Packet Capture Elapsed Time and Capture Stopping unclear for user

• [PN-1041] - Display optical power in dBm

• [PN-1044] - Enable Master and Slave tests when only one optic is fitted

• [PN-1050] - Bad packets can cause corruption of the capture

• [PN-1063] - Seed slave using ToD reference input in Master Test mode

• [PN-1106,1120] - Configurable log message interval for DEL-RESP messages

• [PN-1119] - Chrome webpage not updating latest selection on P-Neo GUI

• [PN-1177] - Modify capture filters to ignore transportSpecific field

• [PN-1490] - Add field to top of UI to allow a user to enter their name

• [PN-1498] - Add PTP Profile Drop Down selector for Default profile (1588-2008)

• [PN-1533] - SFP28 FEC Tx as per IEEE 802.3 2018 clause 90.7

• [PN-1700] - Quick Help for 1PPS and 1PPS Bal + ToD incorrectly states external references aren't supported

Known Issues

• [PN-1740] POST fails due to 10MHz MMCM unlocked
  This is an intermittent failure raised by power-on self-test on some instruments.
  The work-around is simply to ignore any “MMCM FPGA-X clocking stat fail” errors raised during POST.

80.02.01.xx (Release 02.01)

This release includes CAT and PFV v24.10.

Features

• CCSA PTP Profile: Allows generation of PTP messages compliant to the CCSA profile

• CMCC 5G PTP Profile: Allows generation of PTP messages compliant to the CMCC 5G profile, including the Ultra-Precision Announce TLV supporting device performance to 5G enhanced accuracy levels

• PFV CMCC 5G Rules: Verify captured PTP messages are compliant to CMCC 5G profile, including the Ultra-Precision Announce TLV

• Debug Capture Improvements: Allows debug packet capture to be made in a wider range of failing conditions for better analysis of non-performing test environments

• Improved support for high power class QSFP28 modules
  
  

Defect Fixes

• [PN-1139] Paragon-X automation compatibility: GPSEmulation ToDGeneration enabled by MasterSlave Master #0 Enabled after reset although ToD Generation was not enabled explicitly

• [PN-1134] In slave test, ARP packets are captured and identified by PFV as del_req

• [PN-1131] Paragon-X automation compatibility: UserDefined ToD Fields (CCSA PPS Status, CCSA/G827.1 Time Source Type and CCSA/G827.1 Time Source Status) cannot be set numerically

• [PN-1067] Paragon-X automation compatibility: No command to select the ToD Meas In port

• [PN-1016] Tar file upgrade: Failed to update software - out of memory

• [PN-994] Debug Packet Capture Options are unavailable after reset to defaults

• [PN-976] Exception trying to update fitted transceivers

• [PN-852] Long term capture of large dataset causes problems

• [PN-511] Wander Transfer and Tolerance allows invalid values to be set - an error is generated only when test is run

• [CAT-6109] CAT: No Help available for Metric Time Of Day

• [CAT-6096] CAT: Minor error in mask for "G.8262 standard 11.2.1 EEC-Option 1 holdover"

• [CAT-6063] CAT: Crash when (previous) session folder renamed

• [CAT-6056] CAT: Report Generation - missing images

• [CAT-6020] CAT: Exporting Port Events gives index out of bounds error

• [CAT-5998] CAT: Connection dropped to CAT while trying to navigate Open File screen - connection is then restored

• [CAT-5982] CAT: No Help available for G.8273.2 Noise Transfer (Clause 7.3) and Jitter Metrics

• [CAT-5972] CAT: DTE Pk-Pk metric on graph no longer turns white when pass

• [CAT-5950] CAT: Running noise transfer - clicking tab seemed to cause connection loss

• [CAT-5948] CAT: CAT slowdown when running Time of Day capture overnight

• [CAT-5772] CAT: Report Generation does not highlight PktoPk failures in Dynamic Time Errof HF metric

• [CAT-5704] CAT: Open File takes a while to show files and occasionally pops up with an Error connecting to socket

• [CAT-5404] CAT: Double-click .cdf should open stand-alone CAT and load file

• [PFV-533] Negative correctionField values handled incorrectly

• [PFV-532] PFV: Debug Packet Capture Unfiltered Rx capture not loading PTP Packets when background traffic present

• [PFV-525] PFV: Rules file for G.8265.1 fails for ethernet type when Vlans are being used

• [PFV-523] PFV: EtherType is incorrect with VLAN enabled

• [PFV-517] PFV: Not displaying PTP packets containing >1 VLANS

• [PFV-507] PFV: No error returned when trying to select a non-existent rules file

• [PFV-497] PFV: DSCP value '0' reports fail - it should not