EE-Evaluation Engineering articles from November 2005

EE-Evaluation Engineering archives from November 2005

Back to school, really.(EDITORIAL)
November 1, 2005... From time to time, I have written in this column how important it is for our readers, you engineers and engineering managers, to pay back to the community some of the knowledge and experience you seasoned veterans have acquired and gained over...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... From time to time, we receive letters from our readers commenting on articles published in EE. Their comments usually concern one or two statements made in the article they felt were incorrect or ambiguous. To my knowledge, we never have...

Corrigendum.(Correction Notice)
November 1, 2005... EMC Antenna Test In the article "EMC Antenna Test: The World of the Near Field" in the October issue of EE, a company was identified incorrectly. In both the text and the company listing on page 54, the company referred to as Amplifier...

Serial BERT performs jitter-tolerance test.(Product Briefing)
November 1, 2005... The N4903A Serial Bit Error Ratio Tester provides jitter-tolerance test (J-BERT) of serial gigabit devices up to 12.5 Gb/s. It characterizes a receiver's jitter tolerance and complies with standards such as PCI Express, SATA, Fibre Channel,...

PXI chassis features forced-air cooling.(Product Briefing)
November 1, 2005... The GX7300 Series Mainframes are 20-slot PXI chassis that accommodate up to 19 instruments and a PXI controller in slot 1. Slot 2 houses a PXI Star Trigger Controller or any PXI or cPCI instrument, slots 3 to 15 any PXI or cPCI instrument with...

VXI instruments test differential logic.(Product Briefing)
November 1, 2005... The Di-Series modules are C-size VXI-based digital test instruments for military and aerospace applications with 64 (single-ended) or 32 (differential-pair) programmable channels per card and data rates up to 50 MHz. The units feature the key...

Graphical program delivers distributed intelligence.(Product Briefing)
November 1, 2005... LabVIEW 8 introduces distributed intelligence with a simplified, scalable interface for communicating with and synchronizing between remote intelligent devices and systems. It also includes updates to the LabVIEW Real-Time Module, the LabVIEW...

Platform offers triple-play services.(Product Briefing)
November 1, 2005... The PC-based NSA 18 UMTS UTRAN Protocol Analysis Platform consists of portable network probes and leverages the Network and Service Analyzer (NSA) for UTRAN software that also runs the company's K15 Protocol Test and Monitoring Platform. The...

A three-pronged philosophy key to success: a successful entrepreneur explains his startup philosophy.(MANAGER'S FORUM)
November 1, 2005... Since Magma Design Automation was founded in 1997, we've made some significant achievements. For example, we had one of the most successful IPOs of 2001, and we're recognized as a top electronic design automation provider. Looking back,...

Flavored DACs for every application: the digital image is identical to a real photograph. Well, try standing back a bit.(SIGNAL SOURCES)
November 1, 2005... Traditional analog man-machine interfaces disappeared years ago. First, knobs were replaced by push buttons. Then came the hand-held controller, now ubiquitous and driving everything from air conditioners and microwave ovens to music centers...

Control of high-speed interpolating DACs.(SIGNAL SOURCES)
November 1, 2005... Software-defined radio (SDR) transmission techniques typically involve synthesis of signals at IF or even RF frequencies. To alleviate the problems associated with streaming data at gigahertz rates and further integrate SDR systems, DAC...

Ensuring performance of 10GbE networks: learn about some innovative techniques for troubleshooting hard-to-find problems and validating the reliability of 10GbE-enabled networks.(COMMUNICATIONS TEST)
November 1, 2005... The development of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) opens the door for unprecedented capacity, speed, and distance for Ethernet-based networks. A Dell'Oro study shows that spending on 10GbE will grow more than five times from 2004 levels, exceeding...

Save money by buying more equipment: learn how to avoid the pitfalls that can ruin all of the benefits an automated switch can provide.(SWITCHING SYSTEMS)
November 1, 2005... Budget constraints, personnel cutbacks, and shorter product marketing windows are the signs of the times. This type of working environment demands your operation be lean, mean, and just plain smart with its existing resources. So, how can you...

RF power amplifier testing: a tough challenge for test engineers is explored in terms of test methods, pitfalls, and measurement errors.(RF TEST)
November 1, 2005... For the test engineer, RF and microwave power amplifier testing imposes unique challenges. Although there are many tests that must be performed to verify compliance to required specifications, two common tests deserve special attention:...

Accreditation eases access to world markets: choosing the right lab addresses foreign EMC test requirements close to home.(EMC TEST LABS)
November 1, 2005... Developing complex electronic equipment that can meet today's electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements remains a difficult engineering challenge. But, identifying a lab competent to perform the necessary compliance testing has become...

ESD Buyers Guide.(A-W)(Buyers Guide)
November 1, 2005... EE's 26th annual ESD Buyers Guide is a comprehensive, up-to-date listing of the companies that offer products or services to control or measure electrostatic discharges in the work environment. The guide is arranged in two sections. First is a...

ESD Buyers Guide.(A-Z)(Buyers Guide)
November 1, 2005... Company Guide Acheson Electronic Materials MI 800-255-1908 www.achesonindustries.com ACL/STATICIDE IL 800-782-8420 www.aclstaticide.com ADE, Inc. IL 800-222-0221 www.ade-usa.com Advanced Compliance...

PPMU Devices.(ATE)
November 1, 2005... The E4237, E4257, and E4287 PPMU Devices feature dual channels per chip for forcing or measuring voltage and current over a -3.25-V to +13-V range at currents up to 40 mA. The E4237 and the E4257 come in a 9-mm X 9-mm, 64-pad LPCC package, the...

Semiautomatic probe system.(ATE)
November 1, 2005... The BlueRay is a modular, high-throughput semiautomatic wafer probe system with a very high Z-axis resolution and a Linux controller. It handles eight dies per second, tests brittle substrates and wafers carefully, and is easily integrated with...

Three-piece probe.(ATE)
November 1, 2005... The three-piece Compliance Plus Probe features the company's new rounded board-side plunger tip. The probe barrel design has been lengthened past the conventional 10:1 drill aspect ratio to add 33% more board-side compression and 56% more in...

Digital Imaging System.(ATE)
November 1, 2005... The eVue Digital Imaging System features a multi-CCD microscope with high-definition digital video and wide-field/high-magnification capabilities. Three discrete optical paths, each with individual high-resolution CCD cameras, provide a...

Fiber-channel test tool.(COMMUNICATIONS TEST)
November 1, 2005... The FCAccess 4000 is a multifunction card that can be used as an FC analyzer, generator, error injector, or bit error rate tester. It supports 1.062-Gb/s, 2.125-Gb/s, or 4.25-Gb/s transmission speeds and all topologies or port types. Up to 4 GB...

Fiber-Optic Power Meters.(COMMUNICATIONS TEST)
November 1, 2005... The PM200, PM100-S, and PM100-G Fiber-Optic Power Meters are capable of single-mode and multimode operation, test and troubleshoot active fiber-optic devices, and measure direct optical power. The PM200 features a 65-dB dynamic range and a 1-mm...

Signal Analyzer.(COMMUNICATIONS TEST)
November 1, 2005... The MS2781A, version 2.0 of the Signature Signal Analyzer, has demodulation bandwidth of 50 MHz to capture, measure, and analyze wide modulation-bandwidth signals; amplitude accuracy of 0.65 dB; and digital modulation analysis from 100 Hz to 8...

Oscilloscope control.(SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... The MyScope[R] control windows feature has been extended to the company's entire portfolio of midrange and high-performance oscilloscopes. The intuitive capabilities of the MyScope control windows and right-clicks simplify design validation...

Frequency synthesizer.(PC TEST)
November 1, 2005... The Synth300-TRIG PCI dual-channel Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS) provides triggered sweep and modulation capabilities on one board. It incorporates two independent DDSs synchronized at 1 GHz, each separately programmable for frequencies...

PC oscilloscope.(PC TEST)
November 1, 2005... PicoScope 3424 is a four-channel oscilloscope with 12-b resolution, a 20-MS/s sampling rate, a 512k memory buffer, and a USB 2.0 interface that also powers the unit. The large memory buffer allows even long-duration signals to be captured at...

Boundary Scan Controller.(PC TEST)
November 1, 2005... The SFX/USL1149-(x) Boundary Scan Controller supports USB 2.0 and 10/100-Mb Ethernet interfaces and comes in A, B, and C performance classes. The models differ in the upper TCK frequency limit (maximum of 20, 50, or 80 MHz, respectively) and...

Synchro/Resolver Card.(PC TEST)
November 1, 2005... The 78CS1 Synchro/Resolver Measurement and Simulation cPCI 6U Card includes eight S/D and six D/S converter channels with 16-b resolution, digital velocity outputs, programmable single-speed and two-speed operating modes, transformer isolation,...

CompactPCI subsystem.(PC TEST)
November 1, 2005... The cPCIS-6418U is a CompactPCI platform with a 64-b, eight-slot 6U backplane in a 4U enclosure. The backplane dedicates one slot to the system CPU board and seven slots to peripheral boards. It supports a PICMG 2.5-compliant H.110 CT bus and...

Safety Analyzers.(INSTRUMENTATION)
November 1, 2005... The Guardian 6000 Plus and Guardian 6100 Plus Safety Analyzers feature Twin-Port[TM] technology for simultaneous hipot and ground bond testing. The 6000 Plus Series instruments perform AC hipot, DC hipot, insulation resistance, ground bond, and...

DC power supply.(INSTRUMENTATION)
November 1, 2005... The Model 1788 is a single-output, PC-compatible DC power supply that offers a programmable output of 0 to 32 V, 0 to 6 A. Features include a 10-mV/10-mA selectable display resolution, an RS-232 interface and software, 16 user-programmable...

Ground integrity meter.(INSTRUMENTATION)
November 1, 2005... The CTM051 Ground Pro[TM] is a hand-held ground integrity meter that measures ground impedance in compliance with ANSI 6.1 and ESDA S20.20 requirements. The three-in-one unit serves as an impedance, a high-frequency (EMI) signal, and an AC...