Test’s essential ingredient: flexibility (continued)
A continuation of our interview with William Burrows, Business Development Manager for Aeroflex, which appeared in the September 2009 Viewpoint column.
By Larry Maloney, Contributing Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 9/1/2009 2:00:00 AM
 WILLIAM BURROWS Business Development Manager Aeroflex Plainview, NY Bill Burrows began his test career 35 years ago as an RF engineer with Marconi Instruments in Britain and held technical, program, and market-management roles with that firm until its acquisition by IFR in 1998. He then spent eight years in the US in marketing and product management with a focus on public safety and land mobile products. IFR became part of Aeroflex in 2002, and in 2007 Burrows moved to the Stevenage, UK, operation of Aeroflex, where he is responsible for PXI, digital radio test, and general-purpose instruments. Contributing editor Larry Maloney interviewed Burrows by phone on the test challenges presented by wireless, broadband, and military applications. Read the first part of this interview. |
Q: Which technology do you see emerging as the dominant broadband standard?
A: We think it is LTE, as seen by the number of cellular operators worldwide that are committed to it. That includes companies like Verizon in Europe, Vodafone and Telefonica in Europe, and KDDI in Japan. At the current growth rate of data use, the cellular networks that we are familiar with today simply can’t cope with the demand. I believe we will see a move to a more distributed network using femto cells or even WLAN to provide high-data-rate services for the home and small businesses.
Q: What does the military look for in test sets for avionics?
A: There is a big push for more BIT (built-in test) and onboard diagnostics in avionics to reduce maintenance requirements. While we are working with manufacturers to support this concept, we’re still in a wait-and-see mode. BIT can present problems under certain situations, such as checking a fuel system during maintenance when the aircraft is without power, or when you need to troubleshoot problems that onboard diagnostics aren’t able to isolate. In such cases, you still must rely on external instrumentation.
In general, the military is migrating to a reduced footprint for test solutions, such as smaller, lighter, multifunctional test sets with longer battery life. Military personnel want to carry one instrument out on the ramp and test many systems. The Aeroflex 6015 test set is a prime example. Yet, you still have situations where military customers request a single instrument to test a single system, which shows just how difficult it can be to coordinate procurements for the military.
Q: What is the most significant new Aeroflex product for defense applications?
A: One Aeroflex technology that has had a major impact in military applications is the 3500 series of handheld radio test sets. They have tremendous communications test capabilities in a very portable and rugged package that is ideal for field use. Military users really like being able to test multiple RF subsystems on their vehicles quickly with one product. This test solution goes far beyond “can you hear me know?” functionality. You can make actual measurements on the RF subsystems before they’re deployed—or even make them when the vehicle is on the move.
Q: What are some of the most important test solutions that Aeroflex targets for digital mobile radio?
A: The Auto Test II option that is used with our 3920 digital radio test set is a significant breakthrough in digital testing, tailored to the more advanced specifications that digital mobile radios need to meet. Among its benefits, Auto Test II reduces warranty costs through reduced NFFs (no faults found) for the end user and the OEM. It can also help OEMs control end use testing and alignment of radio equipment, without having to rely on skilled technicians and a variety of test equipment. Just plug the radio into the 3920 and run the Auto Test II sequence, and you can test all the functionality.
Besides Auto Test, Aeroflex continues with ongoing development of test systems in the PMR/LMR area to support new digital data systems, such as TEDS (tetra enhanced data service) and SAM (scalable adaptive modulation), as well as the recent proliferation of narrowband technologies, including DPMR (digital private mobile radio), DMR (digital mobile radio) and NXDN, a narrowband radio protocol promoted by such equipment manufacturers as ICOM and Kenwood.
Q: How about emerging opportunities in communications test?
A: As analog television closes down, we’re looking forward to the broadband wireless technology for both public and private networks in the 700-MHz bands. That should contribute to growth in test applications for mobile vehicles in the public safety market. It will be interesting to see how the bands will be divided up and what test solutions will be needed. Even cellular technology, including LTE, becomes far more viable at lower frequencies because the cell sizes expand.
In general, as spectrum gets swallowed up in the multiplicity of wireless technologies, cellular operators, manufacturers, and test companies will be striving for more efficient use patterns. We’re also keeping a close eye on the emergence of cognitive radio technology, which automatically detects and exploits unused spectrum. On the environmental side, there could also be new communications test opportunities in utility smart grids, but we are waiting to see if those applications will depend on existing technologies or will spawn new standards.
Q: How important is software development to the success of your test products?
| Read past Viewpoint columns at www.tmworld.com/viewpoint. |
A: It’s essential. Some time ago, we decided to focus our hardware development on platforms that could be expanded by firmware and software, enabling a continued evolution of functionality throughout the product life cycle. By applying modular design philosophy to our software, we can use the same modules across multiple platforms. This reduces development costs and speeds the time to market of new features. There are many examples of this strategy. The measurement library that we use for the 7100 LTE radio test set features a common software module also used in a PXI platform for manufacturing test.
Q: To what extent does Aeroflex Test Solutions benefit from synergies with the microelectronics arm of your company?
A: Aeroflex takes advantage of all internal relationships that offer synergistic opportunities for success, growth, and greater efficiency. Aeroflex Test Solutions and Aeroflex Microelectronics Solutions (AMS) work together with respect to market positioning, customer support, sales channel initiatives, and product initiatives.
Another key benefit is that with AMS component technology, which includes ICs, electronic packaging, and RF devices, Aeroflex enters a customer’s development process at a much earlier stage. The value that customers get not only in sourcing key components to their design but also being able to perform advanced testing has enabled designers to shorten product-development times.
Q: How has the move from public to private ownership changed Aeroflex?
A: Taking Aeroflex private in the spring of 2007 was a strategic business decision that is expected to help accelerate our growth, both from a market and financial perspective. Our thoughts are to leverage the power of being a private company with respect to organic and inorganic growth. Our company financial growth strategy is to grow our top-line numbers at a higher rate than the market and to grow our bottom-line numbers at a rate faster than our top-line numbers. There is always the possibility to take the company public again, but for the short term, we will continue to concentrate on our well-defined market-execution strategy.
Read the first part of this interview.
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