EE-Evaluation Engineering articles from December 2008

EE-Evaluation Engineering archives from December 2008

It's the economy.(International Test Conference)(Editorial)
December 1, 2008... The International Test Conference (ITC) was held at the Santa Clara Convention Center last week with the usual slate of activities typical of many trade shows. New at ITC this year was the Poster Session held on Wednesday evening. Almost 30...

Test solution spans Digital and RF domains.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(Agilent Technologies Inc.)(radio frequency)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The Digital Radio Frequency (DigRF) V4 digital serial bus between mobile baseband and RF chips is promoted by the Mobile Industry processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance. Agilent's test solution integrates DigRF V4 stimulus and protocol analysis...

Remote controller applies JTAG/Boundary scan tests.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(InterTech)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The RIC-1000 is the first development in the company's Remote instrumentation Controller family that applies JTAG/boundary scan tests directly over the internet. It connects locally to a circuit board or other UUT and remotely over Ethernet to...

Power Source displays four readings simultaneously.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(Associated Power Technologies)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The 4-KVA 5040 AC Power Source provides a variable output voltage from 0 to 300 V and output frequencies from 40 to 450 Hz. The input voltage is 208 with an input frequency from 47 to 500 Hz. Four digital meters monitor voltage, current,...

Tool Suite features JTAG functional emulation test.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(Corelis Inc.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Version 6.6 of the ScanExpress Boundary Scan Tool Suite combines ScanExpress JTAG Emulation Test (JET) with the capabilities of Scan Express TPG Test Development and Scan Express Runner Test Execution Software. The JET method extends coverage...

Enhanced test development software creates libraries.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(ATEasy 7.0)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... ATEasy 7.0, the latest version of the test development software and test executive environment features a Library Wizard that creates a Library DLL project. Export commands permit generating. vb/.h header files with prototypes of the functions...

Dual-channel supply developed for battery-powered devices.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(Keithley Instruments Inc.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The Model 2308 is a dual-channel battery-and charger-simulating power supply for high-speed testing of battery-power devices. It maintains a stable output voltage in response to pulse loads with a transient voltage drop of The portable...

Scope analysis tool extracts eye diagram data.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(LeCroy)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The SDA 7 Zi Oscilloscope with SDA II includes Iso BER [TM], an analysis tool that extrapolates the eye diagram data and displays the lines of bit error rate directly on the eye. This helps to determine the minimum eye opening and is...

Unit combines DSO and DMM capabilities.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(Protek Test and Measurement)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The Model S2505 integrates a battery-operated, dual-channel, 5-MHz bandwidth DSO with a 50-MS/s sampling rate and a 10,000-count true rms DMM with datalogging memory to 17,000 points. The DSO also provides [+ or -]3% vertical accuracy, 512-B...

Switching Module designed for USB format.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(Signametrics)(universal serial bus)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The SMU4032 Switching Module is a compact, true instrumentation mulltiplexer powered by USB. It provides 35 differential inputs that can be cinfigured on the fly into a single 35:1 differential multiplexer, a 16:4-wire multiplexer, four...

Modules and chassis offer fast wireless measurements.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(National Instruments Corp.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... New to the RF test arena are the PXle-5663 Vector Signal Analyzer and the PXle-5673 Vector Signal Generator complemented by the PXle-1075 Chassis. The PXle-5663 performs signal analysis from 10 MHz to 6.6 GHz with up to 50MHz of instantaneous...

USB 3.0 test tools verify silicon compliance.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(Tektronix Inc.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A comprehensive test for the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 specification has been developed to ensure interface IC and consumer product compliance. SuperSpeed USB, which operates at 5 Gb/s, will adopt a new physical layer using two channels to...

Compact DSOs support 20,000 history memories.(PRODUCT BRIEFING)(Yokogawa North America)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The DLM2000 Series of compact mixed-signal oscilloscopes (MSOs) provides up to 500 MHz bandwidh, 2-GS/s sampling speed, and a memory up to 125 Mpoints. Six models make up the series: three with two channels and three with four, each group with...

Emerging Synthetic Instruments and IVI driver solutions.(TEST SOFTWARE)(Synthetic Instrument Working Group)
December 1, 2008... The U.S. Department of Defense's Synthetic Instrument Working Group (SIWG) originally defined synthetic instruments (SIs) in 2004 as elemental hardware and software components with standardized interfaces and measurement software, which yield a...

Fundamentals of semiconductor C-V measurements.(capacitance-voltage)
December 1, 2008... Capacitance-Voltage (C-V) testing is widely used to determine semicondutor parameters, particularly in MOSCAP and MOSFET structures. However, other types of semiconductor devices and technologies also can be characterized with C-V measurements,...

Nano-measurements need mega-care.(NANOELECTRONICS TEST)
December 1, 2008... Nanoelectronics and nano-material research typically involves sourcing and measuring very small voltage and currents. In addition, it's common to require a means of holding and contacting the samples being examined. These capabilities are built...

Communications Test Buyers Guide.(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2008... EE's annual Communications Test Buyers Guide is a comprehensive, up-to date listing of the companies that specialize in communications test, including ATM; CDMA/TDMA; fiberoptics; ISDN; mobile radio; PCS and transmission testers; and power...

Vision system online help.(MACHINE VISION)
December 1, 2008... Machine vision applications involve widely varying degrees of difficulty. Some are straightforward and easily handled by one of the so-called smart cameras. Smart cameras have sufficient built-in processing capabilities to perform basic image...

The importance of antenna calibration.(EMC TEST)(American National Standards Institute)
December 1, 2008... In the United States and many parts of the world, antenas are calibrated per the American National Standards Institute C63.5: American National Standard for Electromagnetic Compatibility--Radiated Emission Measurements in Electromagnetic...