Product update

Emulation Technology's new Ball Grid Array (BGA) Socket and Probing System ensures complete signal access between the target printed circuit board and the IC package during in-circuit test and debug. Design and test engineers can use the new system when developing, debugging, programming, qualifying, or testing BGA devices. The system is built on its vendor's BPE (Base Package Emulator Adapter System), which accommodates through-hole accessories via its top while the bottom is soldered to a PCB's BGA footprint, taking the place of the chip. The BGA Socket and Probing System eliminates the need to design-in additional signal access points and can minimize time-consuming board revisions. It's available in 0.80-mm, 1.00-mm, and 1.27-mm lead pitches.

Price: from $900. Emulation Technology, Santa Clara, CA. 408-982-0660; www.1800adapter.com .

Extech's Model 470 true-rms DMM was not released in time for our hands-on-DMM article, "Get your hands around a DMM" (T&MW, February 2003, p. 10). Had it been, it would have scored well, because the meter gives you infrared noncontact temperature measurements for an attractive $129—a savings of more than $100 over the meter with noncontact temperature measurements that we tested. Besides including a noncontact thermometer, the 470 measures temperature with a type-K thermocouple.

The Model 470 covers all the measurements you expect for its price: voltage, current (AC and DC), resistance, capacitance, and frequency. You also get a "Relative" button that lets you null out a measurement, providing you with the difference between measurements. The meter's rugged probes and 600-V CAT-III safety rating make it a viable meter for high-voltage measurements. A 4000-count display gives you enough resolution for most measurement jobs, and the large, bright display is easy to read.

Price: $129. Extech Instruments, Waltham, MA. 781-890-7440; www.extech.com .

SONET rings in metropolitan networks not only carry digitized voice, they now carry data formatted with Ethernet frames and Internet Protocol (IP) packets. To deliver voice and data over IP, networks must provide a defined quality of service to the user. Manufacturers of SONET networking equipment must test their products at the transport layer with simulated traffic.

Agilent's OmniBER XM network simulator can simulate voice and data traffic on 7500 channels across several dozen ports, each at speeds up to 10 Gbits/s (OC-192 data rate). With network simulation, you can stress optical components such as optical transmitters and receivers, Ethernet-over-SONET chip sets, and subsystem interfaces such as SFI-4 and XAUI. You can also test subsystems such as add-drop multiplexers and entire networks to determine where they break under stress.

A single OmniBER chassis holds up to four simulator plug-in modules. Price: from $12,000 for OC-12 (622 Mbits/s) to $65,000 for OC-192 (10Gbits/s) data rates. Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA. 800-452-4844, ext. 7804; www.agilent.com.find/omniberxm .

Fluke's Industrial Scopemeter 124 combines a 40-MHz scope with a 5000-count DMM and a signal recorder. Combining three instruments into one lets you measure signals such as line voltages and look at wave shapes without carrying and connecting two instruments.

The Scopemeter 124 uses go beyond the traditional auto setup because it analyzes signals to find trigger points even when a signal changes its basic form. Rather than require the user to push the auto-setup button whenever a signal changes, the Scopemeter 124 uses signal processing to analyze the signal and find a trigger point. It accomplishes the task by adjusting its vertical and horizontal sensitivity as well as its trigger settings so that it can trigger on signals with frequencies as low as 1 Hz.

An optically isolated serial port, combined with FlukeView software, lets you download measurements into a PC. You can use the instrument for up to 7 hours with rechargeable batteries. Designed for safety, the Scopemeter 124 can measure signals up to 600 V from ground, and it complies with IEC 60601 and ANSI/ISA S82.01 standards and is listed under UL 3111-1.

Price: $1495. Fluke, Everett, WA. 888-492-7541; www.fluke.com/scopemeter .

The MegaPlus ES 1020 is a high-resolution compact digital camera that can capture megapixel images at 48 full frames/s. The ES 1020, the latest camera in Redlake's MegaPlus series, comes in a more compact frame (measuring less than 2.24x2.24x1.85 in.) than its predecessors and is available in both monochrome and Bayer color versions. The camera allows electronic shutter exposure times as short as 35 ms for fast-paced conditions. Armed with Kodak CCD technology, a user-friendly GUI, and a Camera Link interface, the ES 1020 serves vision applications including electronics inspection.

Price: from less than $4000. Redlake, San Diego, CA. 858-535-2908; www.redlake.com .

Version 2.0 of DOCTAR (Design Object Compare Tool and Reporter) software, which validates design changes throughout PCB design and manufacturing, provides a new test-point analysis function. The new feature monitors test points that have been moved, added, deleted, or reprogrammed (that is, used on a new net). It also locates nets with multiple test points or no test points, and it determines which probe locations require software changes because of net renames or merges.

DOCTAR serves in hardware design reviews, engineering-change-order documentation, and PCB cost estimation. It ensures compliance with design-for-manufacturing and design-for-test standards and accepts a variety of CAD data formats.

Base price: $2000. Cadalist-enterprises, Bedford, NH. 603-488-2233; www.cad-e.com .