The Best in Test
Test & Measurement World's technical editors have chosen the 2005 Best in Test award winners.
Staff -- Test & Measurement World, 12/1/2004 2:00:00 AM
Each year, Test & Measurement World's technical editors present the Best in Test awards to products we think are particularly innovative or useful. Here,we present this year's 12 Best in Test winners as well as a collection of products worthy of honorable mention. T&MW's editors narrowed this year's field from scores of deserving products. Nominations in T&MW's 2005 Best in Test competition came from both manufacturers and users of products that were introduced between November 1, 2003, and October 31, 2004.
From the 12 Best in Test winners, we invited our readers to cast a vote for the Test Product of the Year. We announced the winner during our awards ceremony, which was held in conjunction with the 2005 APEXshow.
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Also see: 2005Test Product of the Year; HonorableMentions; Best in Test Awards Overview; Dec.2004/Jan. 2005 Features |
PARAMETRIC TEST
Low-Power Source and Measurement System
Keithley Instruments, www.keithley.com
Consistingof the Model 2182A nanovoltmeter and the Model 6220 or 6221 current source, the system lets you make parametric measurements on semiconductor devices. It can measure pulsed resistances and perform pulsed I-V measurements as short at 50 µs using AC current waveforms as low as 100 fA. Such short test times reduce the power delivered to a device and thus prevent device damage. In "delta mode," the system can reverse currents and thus cancel offset errors. The two instruments can operate as a single instrument controlled over Ethernet. Price: $6595 for both units.
TEST ACCESSORIES Phaseflex 110 GHz Test Assemblies
W.L. Gore &Associates, www.gore.com/electronics
Phaseflex110 GHz Test Assemblies can optimize the performance of a microwave test system while reducing cost of test and ownership. Offering low insertion loss—just 2.1 dB for a 16-cm assembly at 110 GHz—the assemblies employ internal ruggedization to make them crush-, torque-, and kink-resistant, and they maintain measurement accuracy despite being flexible and easy to work with. For example, bending a cablearound a 1-in.-radius mandrel results in only 0.05-dB, 4.3° deviations in measured magnitude and phase. Nominal outer diameters are only 0.165 in. Price: $225 to $2500.
RF TEST
W-Series Wireless LAN Test Platform
Azimuth Systems, www.azimuthsystems.com
TheAzimuth W-Series industry-standard test platform provides system-level testing of 802.11 wireless access points, clients, and other devices. Designed as an off-the-shelf, wireless LAN test platform, W-Series systems provide the ability to configure an entire WLAN network within a benchtop chassis that can provide RF isolation and control. Unlike traditional wireless testing methods that require empty office spaces or long hallways to simulate real-world conditions, the W-Series platform enables validation of real-world performance in a laboratory. Price: $28,600 to $120,000.
WaveSurfer Oscilloscope
LeCroy, www.lecroy.com
Instead of low and long, the WaveSurfer goes tall and thin—so tall that its 10.4-in.display fits into a box that is only 6-in.deep. Designed for engineers who want a clear view of a signal, the WaveSurfer leaves enough bench space for your circuit under test. Other conveniences include a touch-screen display and a front-panel USB 2.0 port (and two side-mounted ports) that can connect to storage devices such as a flash drive or a CD burner for data storage. Two- and four-channel models are available with a 200-MHz, 350-MHz, or 500-MHz bandwidth.Price: $4190 to $8490.
POWER SUPPLY
N6700 Modular System Power Supply
Agilent Technologies, www.agilent.com
Agilent's N6700 power supply packs up to 400W of programmable power into just 1U of rack space. 
Consisting of a mainframe and up to four power modules, the supply can produce 50 W or 100 W from each module. The modules come in three grades: basic power, high performance, and high precision. All modules feature an embedded digital multimeter for monitoring the voltage and current of the device under test. An optional digitizer measures dynamic changes in power consumption. LAN and IEEE 488 ports provide for automated operation. Prices: mainframe—$2200; power-supply modules—$450 to$2480.
MACHINE VISION X64-AN Quad Image-Acquisition Board
Coreco Imaging, www.imaging.com
Able to interface with up to four independent standard or progressive-scan analog cameras, the X64-AN Quad serves high-speed multiple-view machine-vision applications. It accommodates multiple frame rates and camera resolutions, provides dedicated onboard frame-buffer memory, and incorporates a fault-tolerant image-acquisition design, enabling it to detect, report, and recover from a lost camera signal.Compatible with Coreco's Windows-based Sapera software for image acquisition, control, processing, and analysis, the board also supports the vendor's "Trigger-to-Image Reliability" framework. Base price: $1500 in OEM quantities.
SOFTWARE
SignalExpress Acquisition and Analysis Software
National Instruments,www.ni.com
SignalExpress lets you quickly acquire and analyze signals without programming. For design engineers, SignalExpress makes quick measurements on prototype circuits to verify designs. Test-system integrators can use it to verify connections between a unit under test and an instrument. It works with any National Instruments data-acquisition product, letting you acquire data, store your measurements, and compare your results to previous measurements by dragging one waveform over another. You can even drag and drop waveform data into Excel. SignalExpress lets you perform both time-domain and frequency-domain measurements with filters and averaging. Price: $995.
AUTOMOTIVE/MEMS TEST
MEMS Test Solution
Multitest, www.multitest.com
As the use of microelectromechanical systems burgeons in automotive and other applications, the Multitest MEMS Test Solution takes aim at controlling the cost of testing MEMS devices. The independent unit, when integrated with already installed IC handlers, such as the vendor's MT9320 handler, can move, shake, or pressurize four devices at a time while they are tested in a temperature-conditioned environment. Acceleration is adjustable in x, y, and z axes; pressure and tilting options are also available. An optional 2-D matrix code reader can read serial numbers on devices under test. Base price: $183,000, excluding handler.
DIGITAL VIDEO TEST
SFU Broadcast Test System
Rohde & Schwarz, www.rohde-schwarz.com
Designers and makers of digital TV equipment need to simulate modulated RF signals that carry DTV broadcast streams. The R&S SFU does just that because it combines a test transmitter, a signal generator for MPEG-2 transport streams, a channel simulator, a digital noise source, an arbitrary waveform generator, and an RF modulator. The SFU can broadcast DTV signals using the latest DVB-C and DVB-S modulations for Europe, DMB-T for China, and ATSC/8VSB modulation for the US. The instrument is upgradeable to comply with future DTV modulation standards. Price: 45,000 Euros.
SEMICONDUCTOR TEST
Fusion DX System-on-Chip Tester
LTX, www.ltx.com
LTX is tackling the cost of test with its Fusion DX, a desktop mixed-signal SOC tester built on the company's scalable single-platform Fusion architecture. Fusion DX features digital test capability and accommodates an array of DSP as well as voltage and current source-measurement instruments compatible with its Fusion CX sibling. Suitable for deployment in engineering labs for design verification, Fusion DX can also serve in zero-footprint production-test applications when mated with appropriate probers or handlers. Price: from about $75,000.
PCB AND SYSTEM TEST ScanWorks for High-Speed Buses Boundary-Scan Software
Asset Intertech, www.asset-intertech.com
ScanWorks for High-Speed Buses is a boundary-scan test platform capable of performing design validation and at-speed tests (in addition to traditional static JTAG tests) on 1- to 10-Gbps printed-circuit-board buses. For PCBs having IEEE 1149.6-compliant devices, ScanWorks can quickly and automatically generate IEEE 1149.6 tests for AC-coupled interconnects and differential signaling channels, and it includes the1149.6 tests in the same test suite with traditional static 1149.1 tests for DC-coupled interconnects. Also available with ScanWorks for High-Speed Buses are tools supporting Intel's IBIST (interconnect built-in self-test) next-generation embedded test technology. Price: limited-term licensing from $11,200.
DATACOM TEST TeraRouting Tester Interactive System
Spirent Communications, www.spirentcom.com
Spirent's TeraRouting Tester (TRT) software enhances the company's SmartBits data generator and analyzer to let the instrument simulate entire networks. Running TRT, SmartBits can test terabit routers that run IPv4 and IPv6 (and many other layer-2 and layer-3 protocols) under simulated real-world and worst-case traffic conditions. It also tests network elements that use multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) by simulating thousands of incoming and outgoing connections. The TRT software performs continuous, time burst, and frame-burst tests, and it works with SmartBits physical-layer modules that support ATM with optical interfaces up to OC-192 speeds, plus 10/100/1000-Mbps and 10G Ethernet. Price: $24,000.
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