2008 Best in Test Awards: Honorable Mentions
Our editors selected a variety of products to receive Honorable Mention honors as part of our 2008 awards.
Staff -- Test & Measurement World, 12/1/2007 2:00:00 AM
Each year, Test & Measurement World's editors present the Best in Test awards to products we think are particularly innovative or useful.
The following are the products we chose as 2008 Honorable Mentions. T&MW's editors narrowed this year's field from scores of deserving products, nominated by vendors, that were introduced between November 1, 2006, and October 31, 2007.
| ♦ Awards overview ♦ Online ballot ♦ 2008 Best in Test main page |
| Deadline for voting: February 15, 2008 |
2008 Best in Test Honorable Mentions
TestKompress Xpress ATPG tool with embedded compression
Mentor Graphics, www.mentor.com
Leveraging Mentor’s Xpress compactor methodology, the TestKompress automatic test-pattern generation (ATPG) tool provides compression exceeding 100X with no loss in test coverage for advanced process nodes at 65 nm and beyond. TestKompress Xpress achieves this level of compression by providing a more efficient way to handle so-called “X-states”—the unknown states that can arise during manufacturing test. X-states can result in a loss of test coverage if not handled properly and tend to increase the test-pattern size required to test a device thoroughly. TestKompress Xpress permits accurate failure diagnosis from compressed production test results and provides distributed, parallel processing, reducing the time required for pattern generation.
WaveExpert 100H sampling oscilloscope
LeCroy, www.lecroy.com
Serving as a complete signal-integrity workstation, the WaveExpert 100H sampling oscilloscope addresses the analysis and compliance requirements of the long serial data patterns required by standards such as second-generation PCI Express, SATA, XAUI, and 10-Gigabit Ethernet. The modular architecture of the WaveExpert 100H accommodates up to four optical or electrical channels with bandwidths of up to 100 GHz, as well as clock recovery and serial pattern generation at up to 13.5 Gbps. The scope also features Eye Doctor, an option that merges the signal and channel responses to accurately measure receiver tolerance and to further view equalized signals as they appear inside the receiver.
NI PXIe modular mixed-signal instrumentation suite
National Instruments, www.ni.com
Able to sustain high data-streaming rates, this suite of PXI Express modular instrumentation for mixed-signal test applications lets you record signals for analysis and archiving, as well as use both real-world recorded signals and simulated signals for playback. The PXIe portfolio includes the NI PXIe-5122, a 14-bit, 100-Msample/s digitizer; the NI PXIe-6536/7, two digital I/O instruments offering up to 50-MHz clock rates on 32 channels; the NI PXIe-5442, a 16-bit, 100-Msample/s arbitrary waveform generator serving as part of the NI PXIe-5672 RF vector signal generator; and the NI PXIe-5672, which delivers signal generation from 250 kHz to 2.7 GHz with 20 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth.
PT100 Pro concurrent JTAG test platform
Intellitech, www.intelllitech.com
Intended for testing printed-circuit boards (PCBs) with processors based on ARM architectures, the PT100 Pro combines mixed-signal test, concurrent IEEE 1149.1 (JTAG) test, and CPU emulation-based functional tests in a single platform that can test up to 32 PCBs at a time. What’s more, it comprises a PXI chassis with user-specified PXI instruments, power supplies, and relays, coupled with an open-source Tcl/TK scripting language and a generic fixture interface for compatibility with fixtures from any fixture vendor. The PT100 Pro provides up to 32 JTAG controller ports and up to 1870 analog/digital test pins.
DFT MAX test compression software
Synopsys, www.synopsys.com
The latest version of DFT MAX delivers push-button test-data compression of up to 100X using adaptive-scan technology to generate an efficient compression architecture that requires very little silicon area. DFT MAX V2007.03 sets up automatic pattern generation through creation of a STIL protocol file. For high defect coverage, DFT MAX allows at-speed testing, tolerating X-states without a loss of test program quality. It also provides design rule checking, including scan, boundary scan, test compression synthesis, integration, and verification capabilities. Flexible configuration of scan channel pairs allows the use of DFT MAX with all available testers.
Port Scale RF cards for SOC test platform
Verigy, www.verigy.com
Consisting of single-slot cards for the V93000 system-on-chip (SOC) test platform, Port Scale RF delivers the measurement capability required to test emerging 3G, 4G, and high-integration semiconductor devices containing multiple RF radios, mixed-signal circuitry, digital interfaces, power management, and embedded or stacked memory—all with one system. Port Scale RF offers up to eight parallel RF receivers, so four devices can be tested in parallel and two RF ports on each device can be tested concurrently, or up to eight devices can be tested in parallel to maximize throughput and multisite efficiency. Scalable from 12 to 48 RF ports, Port Scale RF comprises one or more RF source card(s), RF front-end card(s), multiband Audio-Video 8 card(s), one RF interface, and one 48-port RF calibration kit.
DL9000 series mixed-signal oscilloscopes
Yokogawa Electric, www.yokogawa.com
To address the increasing complexity of the embedded market, the DL9000 series of mixed-signal oscilloscopes can simultaneously monitor four analog channels and 32 logic inputs, as well as decode two independent serial-bus protocols. The four-model family offers analog frequency bandwidths of 500 MHz and 1 GHz, along with a sampling speed of up to 5 Gsamples/s. For troubleshooting anomalies, you can save captured signals to history memory, which lets you separate individual logic events out of a persisted display. The scopes match sample rate and memory depth between the analog and logic channels, ensuring that signals are correlated and waveform update rate is maintained.
TEMPpoint temperature-measurement instrument
Data Translation, www.datatranslation.com
Available with a USB or an LXI Ethernet port for connecting to a PC, the TEMP stand-alone temperature-measurement box accepts 48 separate thermocouple, voltage, or RTD inputs. Each channel has its own dedicated 24-bit analog-to-digital converter and dedicated cold-junction-compensation circuit to ensure measurement accuracy to within ±0.01%. TEMPpoint provides automatic linearization of B, E, J, K, N, R, S, and T standard thermocouples, while auto-calibration occurs on power-up or by command. To protect signal integrity in harsh environments, TEMPpoint provides 1000 V of channel-to-channel galvanic isolation.
4x4 MIMO RF test system
Keithley Instruments, www.keithley.com
This multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) RF test system offers precise and stable MIMO signal synchronization between any two channels with ±1-ns signal sampler synchronization, less then 1-ns peak-to-peak signal sampler jitter, and less than 1° peak-to-peak RF-carrier phase jitter for R&D and production testing of RF communications equipment and devices. The platform consists of the Model 2920 vector signal generator, Model 2820 vector signal analyzer, Model 2895 MIMO synchronization unit, and Model 280111 WLAN 802.11n MIMO signal-analysis software. You can configure the system into any NxM channel configuration up to 4x4, such as 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 3x4, and 4x4, or even reconfigure instruments as stand-alone single-input single-output (SISO) instruments.
Tesla power device characterization system
Cascade Microtech, www.cascademicrotech.com
The Tesla measurement system offers an on-wafer solution for over-temperature, low-contact-resistance measurements of power semiconductors up to 60 A and 3000 V over a temperature range of –55°C to +200°C. It also provides triaxial measurements up to 1100 V. Exclusive chuck technology provides handling for wafers as thin as 100 µm and enables on-wafer measurements for devices up to 75 W. Tesla’s high-current parametric probe minimizes thermal runaway at the probe-to-wafer contact, while handling up to 10 A of current in continuous mode and up to 60 A of current in pulsed mode. A high-voltage parametric probe enables breakdown voltage measurements as low as 1 pA at 3000 V.
Pulse Master pulse/pattern generators
Tabor Electronics, www.taborelec.com
Offering a choice of single-channel and dual-channel configurations, the Pulse Master series of pulse/pattern generators not only provides high-performance pulse-pattern features but also generates a complete array of standard, arbitrary, sequenced, and modulated waveforms. What’s more, it does so in a compact 2U half-rack-sized box. The single-channel PM8571 and dual-channel PM8572 also implement command emulators for both new and discontinued pulse and function generators, providing smooth drop-in replacement for slots vacated by out-of-order instruments from other manufacturers. The Pulse Master units provide 10-ps pulse resolution with 4-ns transition time (3 ns typical).
5000 series portable oscilloscopes
Agilent Technologies, www.agilent.com
Outfitted with two or four channels, oscilloscopes in the 5000 series combine 1 Mpoint of deep memory with high-resolution waveform acquisition and measurement in a compact, portable package. A fast update rate of up to 100,000 waveforms/s minimizes dead time between acquisitions and helps you find intermittent anomalies. In addition to the real-time update rate, the scopes’ MegaZoom III memory and display technology produces a high-definition display with 256 levels of intensity grading, a feature that highlights varying degrees of signal activity. The six-model series offers bandwidths of 100 MHz, 300 MHz, and 500 MHz, as well as USB, LAN, GPIB, and LXI connectivity.
J7000A series random jitter disturbance sources
NoiseCom, www.noisecom.com
The six models in the J7000A series of jitter test systems lets you add random jitter to serial data streams for testing jitter tolerance, clock recovery, and bit-error rate (BER). The instruments inject high-crest-factor Gaussian noise in a way that reflects real-world behavior and enhances digital signal receiver testing by adding precise amounts of white noise to the signal stream, allowing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) to change to reflect small changes in BER. Noise generators are available in several frequency bands, ranging from 1 MHz to 10 MHz up to 10 MHz to 5 GHz, for testing to such serial data specifications as PCI Express, SATA, and DOCSIS.
XMV12X 10-Gigabit single-blade load module
Ixia, www.ixiacom.com
Running with IxLoad 3.30 converged triple-play test software, the XMV12X 10-Gigabit Ethernet Application & Streams Module is a single-blade load module that emulates line-rate, real-world (stateful) 1-GbE and 10-GbE traffic. Together, the module and software offer a highly scalable, integrated test system that measures the performance of next-generation triple-play networks and devices. You can generate real-world triple-play traffic that emulates IPTV and triple-play subscribers’ network behaviors and associated protocols to ensure subscriber quality of experience. The load module supplies 12 1-GbE ports that can be used individually or aggregated through a 10-GbE port.
PCIe Test Bench compliance tester
SyntheSys Research, www.bertscope.com
The PCIe Test Bench provides the equipment and accessories necessary for performing PCI Express transmitter and receiver physical-layer compliance testing at 2.5-Gtransfers/s and 5-Gtransfers/s rates. Test Bench includes a new model BERTScope signal-integrity analyzer and a BERTScope CRj clock recovery and jitter analyzer. In addition to being able to generate a 5-Gtransfers/s stressed-eye signal using built-in jitter sources, the tester enables the measurement of jitter spectrum to PCIe requirements and allows complete characterization of the 100-MHz clock signal. Test Bench is available with bit rate coverage of up to 7.5 Gbps or optionally 12.5 Gbps.
Halcon 8.0 machine-vision software
MVTec Software, www.mvtec.com
Release 8.0 of Halcon—a standard software library with an integrated development environment for machine-vision applications—provides more than 1300 operators for performing blob analysis, morphology, pattern matching, 1-D measuring, 3-D object recognition, and binocular stereo imaging. With Halcon’s 3-D object recognition, industrial robots need only one camera to pick and place. The speed of the library is enhanced by 25%; single operators by up to 500%. The software also features automatic parallelization with multicore processors. Halcon 8.0 works with a wide range of operating systems and provides interfaces for more than 50 frame grabbers and hundreds of industrial cameras, including those with Camera Link, USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, and GigE interfaces.
MSO4000 series mixed-signal oscilloscopes
Tektronix, www.tektronix.com
The MSO4000 family of mixed-signal oscilloscopes offers an all-in-one mixed-signal design validation and debug tool for designers of embedded systems. The series consists of four models with bandwidths of 350 MHz, 500 MHz, and 1 GHz; two or four analog channels; and 16 digital channels. All models have 10 Msamples of waveform memory on all analog and digital channels. The digital channels have a time resolution of 60.6 ps, which corresponds to 16.5 Gsamples/s. You can attain that resolution when you turn on the MagniVu high-resolution signal-acquisition technology, which acquires 10,000 samples centered on the trigger point. Otherwise, you get 500 Msamples/s across the entire 10-Msample memory. The MSO4000 scopes feature Tektronix’ Wave Inspector waveform search engine and provide comprehensive functions for monitoring, triggering, and decoding parallel and serial buses.
JT 2147 boundary-scan integration module
JTAG Technologies, www.jtag.com
Teamed with the Symphony 228xPLUS boundary-scan controller, the JT 2147 Custom Function Module (CFM) brings boundary-scan testing and in-system programming to Teradyne in-circuit testers. The JT 2147 CFM is specifically designed for use with Teradyne’s ICT Custom Function Board (CFB) and simply plugs into a socket on the CFB. The module provides a means of incorporating a boundary-scan Test Access Port (TAP) pod into the in-circuit test system. Two CFMs can be installed on the CFB, which provides ground isolation and also contains a switching matrix to route TAP signals to pins on the test fixture.
GX1034 3U PXI standards module
Geotest-Marvin Test Systems, www.geotestinc.com
The GX1034, a 3U PXI standards module, gives PXI system designers and developers an in-system accuracy verification strategy that can recertify a system’s source and measure baseband instrumentation without relying on external transfer standards. The GX1034 provides a DC voltage source reference, an AC voltage source reference, eight low-drift resistor references, and a precision 10-MHz frequency reference. An onboard EEPROM ensures standards traceability and accuracy. By incorporating this module as part of an overall system-certification strategy, you can improve logistics for recertifying test systems, enhance integration and make better use of existing test software infrastructure, and lower total costs associated with test system maintenance and support.
Medalist x6000 automated x-ray inspection system
Agilent Technologies, www.agilent.com
A 3-D inline automated x-ray inspection system, the Medalist x6000 more than doubles the throughput of other systems, while making use of full 3-D capability to find soldering defects common in printed-circuit-board assemblies (PCBAs). The Medalist x6000 not only reduces the number of systems required to meet manufacturing volumes by cutting in half the required capital expenditures, but it also enables complete 3-D inspection of the entire PCBA at inline speeds. In addition, the system uses a development environment that incorporates several automatic test-development features, helping new users create high-quality, high-coverage programs in less time than previously required.
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You guys missed one of the best test products this year. The Veriwave 802.11n traffic generator is the best tool we've seen yet for tripple-play testing, let alone the fact that it's a WiFi test product. We use it for Ethernet as well. These guys know what they're doing.
Tim McHenry - 2008-12-2 16:14:00 EST
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