News Briefs
-- Test & Measurement World, 11/1/2009 1:00:00 AM
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Seated: Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Standing (l to r): Jack Wilson, president of the University of Massachusetts; Paul Reville, Massachusetts Secretary of Education; Jack Little, president and CEO of The MathWorks; State Senator Karen Spilka; Lieutenant GovernorTimothy P. Murray; and State Representative David Linsky. |
The MathWorks hosts announcement of STEM initiative
On October 14, The MathWorks headquarters in Natick, MA, served as the venue for the Massachusetts Governor to announce a new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) educational initiative. Governor Deval Patrick (seated in photo) signed an executive order establishing the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, which will bring together public and private-sector stakeholders involved with STEM planning and programming, with the goal of increasing student interest in STEM careers.
Jack Little (standing, third from left), The MathWorks president and founder, said that The MathWorks was honored to host the ceremony. Little explained that his company has supported STEM initiatives over the years and that it benefits from having a work force educated in STEM disciplines.
Governor Patrick said that despite the strong performance of Massachusetts students, the state cannot rest on its laurels. Each success, he said, should be a platform for the next success. He added that all of us, not just those in government or industry, must see that we have a stake in STEM education as we address the challenges of bioengineering and green technology and other key areas.
The STEM Advisory Council, which will be chaired by Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray (standing, far right), will assess how to best increase the number of STEM programs in schools, and it will advise on the creation of a statewide STEM plan with goals to be reached over the next five years. The council will work with families, educators, and community leaders to promote an understanding of STEM disciplines and their importance to students’ success.
Teradyne partners with Teseda on scan diagnosis
Teradyne reports it has signed an exclusive agreement with Teseda to produce Scan Workbench, a portable scan debug and yield-enhancement tool. Based on industry-standard data protocols and the existing Teseda Workbench and Diagnostic Manager products, the Scan Workbench software will allow test engineers to perform rapid silicon debug, design validation, failure analysis, and yield monitoring.
Scan Workbench will provide a consistent debug and optimization environment based on the IEEE 1450.0-1999 Standard Test Interface Language and the new Standard Test Data Format AV4-2007 datalog standards. The software will initially be deployed on the Teradyne FLEX and J750 platforms, which will provide Scan Workbench with access to an installed base of more than 5000 testers. The new toolset will be shipping in the second half of 2010.
“This expanded collaboration with Teseda provides capability that will allow Teradyne customers to improve time-to-market and device yields for devices that use increasingly smaller silicon geometries,” noted Rod Stewart, GM of Teradyne’s SOC business unit.
Armagan Akar, Teseda president and CEO, commented, “In this ultra-competitive market, we concur with Teradyne’s unique approach to support EDA- and ATE-agnostic tools in the marketplace.” www.teradyne.com; www.teseda.com.
SAE standard enables Ethernet for critical embedded systems
SAE International has announced that its AS-2 Embedded Computing Systems Committee is developing a standard to establish Ethernet as a high-bandwidth network protocol for time-, mission-, and safety-critical systems. The organization expects the broader use of Ethernet to reduce costs while enhancing the design of open and scalable electronics architectures for space, aerospace, defense, and ground vehicles.
SAE AS6802, “Time-Triggered Ethernet,” describes a set of services to meet the requirements of real-time data delivery in advanced integrated systems. The standard will permit critical control systems and audio/video and LAN applications to safely coexist in one Ethernet network.
SAE International says that initial supporters of the SAE AS6802 project include Lockheed Martin, Bombardier, General Dynamics, Honeywell, BAE Systems, and GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms. The first production program that is scheduled to use commercial-off-the-shelf components that comply with SAE AS6802 is NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle, which is being designed to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. www.sae.org.
RF instrument offers high throughput, low phase noise
Keithley Instruments has upgraded its line of RF vector signal generators to reduce signal-generation times and enhance signal quality. In contrast with generators that force users to choose between signal quality and test throughput, the Model 2920A optimizes both within one instrument. The device is cost-effective for both production testing and design verification.
The instrument provides signal-generation-bandwidth options to 80 MHz and offers frequency ranges from 10 MHz to either 4 or 6 GHz. It builds on the manufacturer’s Series 2900 line of signal generators and expands the line’s applications for testing wireless devices to more than 14 wide-bandwidth wireless-telecom standards that use complex modulation to achieve high throughput. The Model 2920A calibrates and tests components, such as amplifiers, filters, and wireless receivers, over their full performance range.
Base prices: 4-GHz models—$17,850; 6-GHz models—$23,460. Keithley Instruments, www.keithley.com.
MSO goes high end
With the MSO70000 series of mixed-signal oscilloscopes and two optional logic probes, Tektronix has introduced its latest entry in the high-end oscilloscope market. The six models in the MSO70000 series have analog bandwidths ranging from 4 GHz to 20 GHz at up to 50 Gsamples/s on all four channels. Each model also has 16 logic channels. You can time-synchronize logic and analog measurements for use in debugging ASICs, FPGAs, DDR memory devices, and digital RF devices.
The MSO70000 instruments come with either 10 or 20 Msamples of analog memory. Timing resolution for the logic channels is 80 ps with a maximum record length of 250 Msamples.
Tektronix offers two options for logic probes. The P6717 has a 350-MHz bandwidth with single-ended channels, while the P6780 is a differential probe with 2.5-GHz bandwidth. That’s fast enough for buses such as PCI Express.
You can trigger the oscilloscopes on logic patterns and analog characteristics or a combination of both. You can then use software options to trigger the instrument and mark an area of interest for finding signals within long record lengths. Other software options include jitter analysis, power analysis, communications tests, and serial data debug.
Base prices: 4-GHz model—$67,400; 20-GHz model—$174,000. Probes and software are optional. Tektronix, www.tektronix.com.
Calendar
OFCNFOEC, March 21–25, San Diego, CA. Optical Society of America. www.ofcnfoec.org.
Measurement Science Conference, March 22–26, Pasadena, CA. Measurement Science Conference. www.msc-conf.com.
APEX, April 6–9, Las Vegas, NV. IPC. www.goipcshows.org.
To learn about other conferences, courses, and calls for papers, visit www.tmworld.com/events.
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