EE-Evaluation Engineering articles from April 2002

EE-Evaluation Engineering archives from April 2002

Are we becoming too connected? (Editorial).
April 1, 2002... Although not yet approved by the FDA, a wearable monitoring system has the potential to revolutionize the way personal physiological data is collected and reported. It's lightweight, looks like a T-shirt, and can be worn anywhere--at home,...

Cards break 1-GHz bandwidth barrier. (Product Briefing).
April 1, 2002... The three models in the new V-Class DC Series Digitizer Cards offer 1- GHz analog bandwidth with a sampling rate up to 4 GS/s and memory length to 32 Mpoints. The DC2 11 is a single-channel unit, the DC241 a dual-channel, and the DC27l a...

I/O Card features 16 simultaneous channels. (Product Briefing).
April 1, 2002... The Toro Card has 16-b analog I/O and a 150-MHz, 32-b floating-point DSP that controls 16 simultaneous channels of independent A/D and D/A conversion. The 32-/64-b PCI bus handles up to 264-MB/s data bursts. The DSP serves as the data...

Portable System expands to 72 channels. (Product Briefing).
April 1, 2002... The WaveBook/512A[TM] Data Acquisition System uses a DSP-based A/D design to achieve up to a 1-MHz sample rate at 12-b resolution. Eight built-in channels can be expanded to 72 channels with a variety of programmable signal-conditioning...

NI delivers measurement tools for Visual Studio .NET. (In the News).
April 1, 2002... National Instruments has announced a free upgrade to Measurement Studio, a suite of development tools that compliments Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. With the new release, Measurement Studio integrates into Visual Studio .NET to help developers...

Lab opens 3-in-I certification service. (In the News).
April 1, 2002... TUV Product Services, a third-party testing laboratory, offers a 3-in-1 testing/certification service code-named CUE for Canada, the United States, and the European Union. The program can simultaneously determine compliance to CSA/SCC, UL/ANSI,...

CompactPCI cards offer fast sample rates. (Product Briefing).
April 1, 2002... A family of 6U waveform digitizer cards for the CompactPCI bus provides fast sample rates for 8-b, 14-b, and 16-b resolution. The CompuScope 8SGC features a 5-GS/s sampling rate and 500-MHz bandwidth on two simultaneous channels. The CompuScope...

Boundary scan tool generates test reports. (Product Briefing).
April 1, 2002... ScanPlusDFT [TM] Analyzer is a boundary-scan design-for-test tool that generates test coverage summary and detailed reports for all nets and pins on a board under test. The software analyzes boards and systems that include a mix of boundary...

Software suite integrated into Visual Studio.NET. (Product Briefing).
April 1, 2002... Test and Measurement (T&M) Programmers Toolkit extends Microsoft Visual Studio.NET to help simplify the process of creating, debugging, and running test and measurement equipment control software. Visual Studio.NET provides a common development...

ATE company forms Advisory Board. (In the News).
April 1, 2002... Advantest America has formed the Technology Advisory Board to consult with the company on trends of importance to future development and product plans. Inaugural members of the board, all professors of electrical and computer engineering with...

Power equipment company consolidates facilities. (In the News).
April 1, 2002... Elgar Electronics, a supplier of programmable power equipment, has consolidated its Power Ten operations from Los Gatos, CA, to Elgar's expanded main facilities in San Diego. Power Ten, a wholly owned subsidiary of Elgar acquired in 1998,...

You get more money if you wear cleats: Salaries and job security in the electronics industry leave a lot to be desired, but attitudes are upbeat. (Salary Survey).
April 1, 2002... Alex Rodriguez plays shortstop and hits the baseball for the Texas Rangers and has a 10-year contract worth $25,200,000 annually. Derek Jeter plays shortstop too, but the New York Yankees will pay him only $18,900,000 this year. Is Rodriguez...

Wound component test takes a new turn: Can your transformer tester meet today's high-frequency requirements? (Component Test).
April 1, 2002... In principle, inductors and transformers are simple, passive components. Just wind some wire on a suitable core. Of course, terminations, insulation, mechanical mountings, shields, encapsulation, stray capacitance, nonlinear transfer...

A look at onboard intelligence. (PC-Based Test).
April 1, 2002... If your PC software is resource-hungry, perhaps what this industry expert has to say about data acquisition boards with onboard intelligence can help you. Today's advanced data acquisition boards for the PC run multitasking, real-time...

Switching power supplies: Today's higher wattage power supplies use recuperation to sink energy back to the AC power lines. (Power Supplies/Sources).
April 1, 2002... Bipolar power supplies are specialized instruments that provide both positive and negative outputs. A unique feature of many bipolar power supplies is the capability to both source and sink power, that is, to operate in all four quadrants of an...

Testing on the EDGE Part II: There's no stopping progress. Be ready for the next generation of wireless technology by learning the basics of how to test GPRS and EDGE systems. (Wireless Test).
April 1, 2002... In Part I of "Testing on the EDGE" in the February issue of EE, we looked at some of the basics of GPRS and EDGE technologies. Part II focuses on what is needed to test a GPRS or EDGE mobile radio. Determining the parametrics, the RF...

Shock testing miniaturized products: Smaller product designs mandate changes in test systems and analysis methods. Don't be shocked by the changes. (Environmental Test Equipment).
April 1, 2002... The rapid evolution of technology has lead to miniaturization of products. These changes have dictated a shift in the design of shock machines used to test such products. The differences are reflected in new test specifications for a wide...

Chinks in the shield wall: Apertures in shielded enclosures are unavoidable, but RF leaks are not. The right gasket makes all the difference. (Dealing with EMC).
April 1, 2002... The Vikings mastered the use of shield walls. Overlapping shields made an impenetrable barrier that protected advancing warriors as they charged the opposition. Ideally, the enemy would neither breach nor out-flank the wall until the Vikings...

Soft wear to fight static: The uniform in the battle against static doesn't need to be olive drab. A choice of styles and colors can give you a classy look. (Coping with ESD).
April 1, 2002... Just like any other kind of war, people who fight the battle against static must wear uniforms. Fortunately, these garments come in a wide variety of styles, colors, and sizes. Maybe you wouldn't wear an ESD smock and antistatic shoes to a...

Flash programming system. (Instrumentation).
April 1, 2002... FlashPAK [TM] is a tabletop system with four sites for simultaneous programming of up to four flash memory devices. It is based on the architecture of the company's RoadRunner Programming System. The number of programming sites can be increased...

Solder-paste AOI System. (Inspection).
April 1, 2002... The in-line Agilent SP50 AOI System measures pad offset and skew, area, height, and volume of solder paste on PCBs. It also provides statistical process control output and identifies the location of paste defects such as insufficient area or...

Microfocus X-Ray system. (Inspection).
April 1, 2002... The pcba I sentry is an automated microfocus X-ray system for inspection and failure analysis of area array package assembly integrity. Image-analysis software determines BGA opens and wetting errors. The system handles boards up to 18" 16" and...