Test and measurement equipment — like all electronic components and instruments — is getting more complex. Test equipment has to track a greater diversity of measurements as products themselves become more complex. "Say I'm testing the transmission in a car. The number of components has increased, so there are more to test," says Kaman Shah, group manager for LabVIEW at National Instruments Corp. "You will have to test more channels and you'll have to test more complex devices." Shah says hardware used to be the biggest component of test equipment. But with greater complexity and the growing diversity of measurements needed, software is becoming the biggest part. In addition to increased complexity and diversity, there is new emphasis on power and energy efficiency.
National Instruments Adds High-speed Streaming to Its PXI Chassis
National Instruments Corp. has developed an 18-slot PXI Express chassis with high-speed data-streaming capability. The instruments include National Instrument's NI PXle-5122 100MS/s, 100 MHz dual-channel digitizer and the NI PXle-6537, and the NI PXle-6536 50 MHz and 25 MHz 32-channel digital I/O modules. The PXle-1065 18-slot chassis offers up to 1 GB/s per slot dedicated bandwidth and a combination of both PXI and PXI Express slots. The new PXI Express products are designed for applications such as signal intelligence, spectral monitoring, semiconductor chip characterization and video test.
The new instruments offer the enhanced functionality of high-speed data recording and playback using industry-standard bus, PCI Express, which delivers up to 1 GB/s of bidirectional streaming throughput on an x4 PCI Express link. All of the new products integrate with a variety of software, including the NI LabVIEW graphical development environment, LabVIEW SignalExpress interactive measurement software and NI TestStandard test management software. "PXI Express builds on commercial PCI Express technology to expand the applications served by the multi-vendor PXI standard," says Eric Starkoff, director of text product marketing at National Instruments.
http://rbi.ims.ca/5406-569
DC Power Analyzer
Agilent Technologies Inc. has produced a dc power analyzer designed for productivity gains when sourcing and measuring dc voltage and current into a device under test (DUT). R&D engineers can use the tool to gain insights into the DUT's power consumption in minutes without writing any code. The Agilent N6705A Power Analyzer is an integrated instrument that combines up to four advanced dc power supplies, DMM, oscilloscope, arbitrary waveform generator and datalogger. It provides an interface with all sourcing and measuring functions available from the front panel.
The instrument is intended to eliminate the need for multiple pieces of equipment and complex test setups. Since it has built-in current measurements, it also eliminates the need for transducers, such as current probes and shunts when measuring current into the DUT. The connections and controls are color-coded to the display so the user can quickly set up and control the unit, knowing it is configured properly and working correctly. "R&D engineers are always under time pressure, so an instrument that makes powering up designs easier and collecting dc voltage and current measurements faster would be a welcome addition to the R&D toolset," says Galen Wampler, industry analyst at Prime Data.
http://rbi.ims.ca/5406-568
Tektronix Enhances Spectra2
Tektronix Inc. has added new features to its Spectra2 test solution. The Spectra2 5.2 now provides a diagnostic test for network operators and equipment manufacturers that develop platforms and service in the communications environment for VoIP, IP multimedia subsystems (IMS) and converged networks. Spectra2 now provides a comprehensive single box IMS test and generation solution and protocol depth for core IMS testing. Advances in SIP testing are included with the addition of an SIP dynamic parameter management feature.
The new version also has improved converged network testing capabilities, including the ability to monitor and generate ISDN and perform multi-protocol call tracing and failed call analysis. The 5.2 release also extends the Spectra2 voice testing features to video. "With the migration to next-generation IP networks, service quality and reliability is even more essential," says Richard Kendi, senior director, network diagnostics at Tektronix. "Tektronix enables network operators and equipment manufacturers to handle service and conformance challenges head-on by enhancing Spectra2 with important capabilities for comprehensive testing across complex, advanced networks.
http://rbi.ims.ca/5406-570
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