News Briefs
-- Test & Measurement World, 9/1/2008 2:00:00 AM
College teams begin green-vehicle competition
NATICK, MA—Teams of students representing 17 North American universities converged at the MathWorks August 13 for a week of training that kicks off a three-year competition to improve vehicle efficiency and reduce emissions. The competition—called EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge—builds on the Department of Energy's 20-year history of sponsoring advanced vehicle technology competitions, according to Connie Bezanson, lead engineer, program planning, at the DOE.
Paul Smith, director of North American consulting services at the MathWorks, said that during year 1, students will focus on model-based mechanical and electrical design of powertrain components and controllers, using tools such as his firm's Matlab and SimuLink as well as tools from other competition sponsors, including dSpace and National Instruments. In years 2 and 3, each team will integrate its design into a General Motors-provided Saturn Vue. The entire competition, said Cindy Svestka, executive technical assistant for powertrain/vehicle integration at GM, mimics GM's own global vehicle-development process.
The program offers many benefits. Smith said that students tend to stress software in ways that industrial users don't, providing valuable feedback. Bezanson said that engineers at Argonne National Laboratory, which manages the competition for the DOE, can learn from students as the students exercise the lab's Powertrain Systems Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) software. But Svestka said that from GM's perspective, the ultimate goal is to instill in the next generation of engineers knowledge of advanced vehicle technologies that employees in GM's core businesses might lack. “We have a great hybrid team,” she said, “but it will need twice the number of people within the next 10 years.” www.ecocarchallenge.org.
Accellera updates Verilog-AMS standard
Accellera, an organization that develops electronic design automation (EDA) standards, reports that its board of directors and technical committee members have approved Verilog-AMS 2.3, a new version of the Verilog-analog mixed-signal (AMS) standard covering design and simulation. Verilog-AMS 2.3 unifies the Verilog-AMS 2.2 specification with the IEEE 1364-2005 standard that defines the Verilog hardware-description language.
According to Accellera, Verilog-AMS 2.3 will enable users to develop tightly integrated Verilog-AMS modules and allow EDA software tool developers to implement EDA tools without ambiguities in the interpretation of the language. Verilog-AMS 2.3 also introduces new analog and mixed-signal features that support improved top-down AMS design and verification methodologies. These include enhancements to table_model, support for multiple analog blocks, and resolution of language conflicts with the SystemVerilog standard (IEEE P1800), such as changing the digital domain name to 'ddiscrete' from 'logic' (because 'logic' is a keyword in SystemVerilog), and making the use of array literals consistent. www.accellera.org.
Asset's ScanWorks supports Avago ASICs
Asset InterTech has announced that it has reached an agreement under which ScanWorks, the company's platform for open embedded instrumentation tools, will support Avago Technologies' embedded-instrumentation technology for selected ASICs that target high-performance server applications.
Initially, ScanWorks will support Avago ASICs featuring SerDes cores that are compatible with Intel's QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) and interconnect built-in self-test (IBIST) technologies. ScanWorks automates the analysis of data generated by the IBIST function, providing access to IBIST data from a QPI SerDes-equipped Avago ASIC and to IBIST data from an Intel chipset.
ScanWorks support for Avago ASICs that feature Intel QPI SerDes will be available as an add-on module to ScanWorks during Q4 of 2008 at a price of $8250. www.asset-intertech.com; www.avagotech.com
Seica and Corelis form partnership
Seica and Corelis have announced the formation of a partnership to deliver and support integrated systems based on flying probers from Seica and boundary-scan products from Corelis. The partnership's initial offering is Seica Pilot with integrated Corelis ScanExpress software. The integrated system has been deployed at a major defense electronics manufacturer, the companies report. www.seica.com; www.corelis.com.
Network analyzers get boost to 20 GHz
Agilent Technologies has added a 20-GHz option to its 8.5-GHz E5071C ENA network analyzers and has introduced a new E5092A configurable multiport test set. The ENA series offers a range of capabilities, from basic S-parameter measurements to advanced multiport and balanced measurements.
The new 20-GHz option supports measurement of the third harmonics of passive components in WLAN, WiMAX, UWB, 4G-cellular, or any technology that uses a carrier frequency up to 6 GHz. The option also supports both two-port and four-port configurations and is available as an upgrade to existing equipment.
The E5092A configurable multiport test set, which replaces the E5091A test set, works with ENA series network analyzers to provide up to 22-port measurements (or up to 10-port full-crossbar measurements). The E5092A can be used with the Measurement Wizard Assistant software to simplify complex system setups and increase measurement productivity.
Base prices: two-port, 300-kHz to 20-GHz option—$56,485; four-port, 300-kHz to 20-GHz option—$66,755; configurable multiport test set—$33,583. Agilent Technologies, www.agilent.com.
LabView adds wireless, enhances multicore and FPGA features
With the introduction of version 8.6, LabView now lets you make remote measurements using a WiFi connection to data-acquisition devices. In addition, you can connect to wireless devices through Bluetooth, GPRS, and GSM. Version 8.6 also enables you to download drivers for numerous proprietary wireless sensor networks. Using the LabView Wireless Toolkit, you can test wireless devices that use any of these technologies.
A new feature lets you bring in simulations of mechanical devices, then collect data on a real device and integrate the data into the model. You can see how a model reacts in response to design changes.
Version 8.6 also extends the software beyond its traditional test-and-measurement base. You can use new development and integration features to add functions to a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) without writing FPGA code. Predefined functions include fast Fourier transforms. You also get more than 1200 data-analysis functions optimized for multicore processors.
LabView 8.6 lets you convert applications into Web services that run on desktop or real-time processors that run HTML, Java, or Flash. Users can gain access to your applications through any Web-enabled device, including smart phones, PDAs, and PCs.
Base price: $1199. National Instruments, www.ni.com.
Calendar
International Test Conference, October 26–31, Santa Clara, CA. Sponsored by the IEEE. www.itctestweek.org.
Vision 2008, November 4–6, Stuttgart, Germany. Produced by Messe Stuttgart. www.messe-stuttgart.de.
Electronica, November 11–14, Munich, Germany. Produced by Messe München. www.electronica.de.
To learn about other conferences, courses, and calls for papers, visit www.tmworld.com/events.
No related content found.
- 0 rated items found.
Datasheets.com Electronic Parts & Inventory Search
185 million searchable parts
- Part Number
- Description
- Inventory
- Products
- Manufacturers
View All Webcasts
