Patent ID: 8280668

Claim:
A system for calibrating a high speed cable carrying a plurality of high speed channels, the cable having a low speed control bus, an input connector, an output connector, and an embedded boost device having programmable parameters for boosting the high speed channels, the system comprising: a calibration fixture propagating the high speed channels therethrough, which have been looped from the output connector to the input connector outside of the cable, the calibration fixture including: (a) a plurality of programmable boost circuits coupled to the output connector for receiving boosted high speed channels from the cable; (b) a corresponding plurality of transmit circuits for transmitting a test signal to the high speed channels at the input connector for propagating through the cable to the output connector; and (c) a calibration control device, operably connected to the low speed control bus, for calibrating the cable by controlling the transmit circuits, monitoring the programmable boost circuits, and setting the programmable parameters of the embedded boost device.