The hub between stimulus and test
An exclusive interview with a technical leader
Larry Maloney, Contributing Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 5/1/2007 2:00:00 AM
Q: Where does your company fit in the test market?
A: Universal Switching focuses entirely on programmable switching products. We take the approach that it is better to provide innovative, best-in-class products in a single area of expertise than to offer a wide range of different technologies. Our product line includes DC to 40 GHz and everything in between, including AC/DC power switching, audio, and ATE instrumentation. We also support composite video, high-resolution RGB-HV video, high-speed ECL or LVDS digital data, microwave signals all the way to 40 GHz, and HF, RF, and IF signals.
Q: What are your dominant applications in test?
A: They range from development test, such as a survivability lab where products come under a battery of environmental tests, to automated test equipment (ATE) in production settings. Our products serve as the hub or glue that connects stimulus signals to various points on the device under test (DUT), while also connecting measuring equipment to test points on the DUT. We see a potentially vast market for switching systems in the expanding data-communications sector, as well as in ATE, cellular phones, and video imaging.
Q: How much of your overall business comes from the test field?
A: It now stands at about 30%, and it has been growing, primarily as a result of the increase in automated test solutions. Other key markets include broadcasting and communications. For example, we switch microwave signals in satellite communications centers. In defense, our switches are used in surveillance operations. Increasingly, our switches are used for routing high-speed digital data for the broadcasting industry.
Q: What kinds of features do engineers want to see in switches?
A: It’s a continuation of the trends we’ve been seeing for some time: more capacity, smaller footprint, higher performance, superior quality, and lower cost. In addition to the traditional serial and GPIB interfaces, we now see more requests for Ethernet. To control these interfaces, you don’t need to write software. We offer our own downloadable software, RouteWarePro. With this GUI, engineers can be up and running in just a few minutes with our systems.
Q: How has the Web changed the way you relate to your customers?
A: It’s just an incredible way to provide information to your end users. At first, some companies were reluctant to fully use it, out of concern that competitors would also learn more about them. But it is an overwhelming benefit to customers all over the world to have this product and application information available 24/7.
Q: What percentage of your business is in switches for VXI applications?
A: We still see some interest in the military market, and we introduced an 11-slot VXI mainframe product in 2006. But overall, there has been a decline in VXI products over the last five years. It is interesting that some manufacturers of VXI and PXI are moving back to rack-mounted solutions with LXI.
Q: Why did your company join the LXI Consortium?
A: LXI could be an important new standard, but we are taking a wait-and-see attitude. To some extent, the emergence of LXI is an attempt by dedicated VXI and PXI manufacturers to revitalize their product lines. But we like LXI from the standpoint that it uses Ethernet control and can be configured within a rack-mount package. So, I expect to see a fair amount of growth in LXI.
Norton Alderson offers additional comments on trends in switch products and new growth opportunities in the
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