Show Highlights: Wescon 2004; Autotestcon 2004
Staff -- Test & Measurement World, 11/1/2004
Test track complements instrument exhibits
Wescon, September 21–23, Anaheim, CA, www.wescon.com.
At this year's Wescon, a technical program track dedicated to test and measurement topics included a panel discussion titled "Testing High-Speed Communications Signals." The panelists—John Calvin, vertical solutions engineering lead at Tektronix; Dr. Michael Lauterbach, director of product management at LeCroy; and Stephen Didde, senior applications engineer at Agilent Technologies—discussed instrumentation requirements for testing high-speed serial data streams. Rick Nelson, chief editor of Test & Measurement World, served as panel moderator.
Such data streams appear in Gigabit Ethernet, PCI Express, Infiniband, and other Serdes-based standards that are emerging and triggering what Tek's Calvin called the demise of parallel datacom techniques in favor of serial ones. The panelists primarily discussed the use of digital storage oscilloscopes in serial data tests. Such instruments, although general-purpose in nature, now offer features such as one that Didde of Agilent called "eye mask unfolding," which relates eye-diagram mask violations to specific bits—the first step in circuit debug.
While focusing on oscilloscopes, the panelists also commented on other instrument types. LeCroy's Lauterbach, for example, said bit-error-rate testers remain the final arbiters of serial data-link performance, though he warned that prospective buyers of BERTs face upwards of $1 million in instrument costs as well as many hours of testing to get meaningful results.
One audience member asked about the future of spectrum analyzers, given that fast Fourier transform software readily derives frequency-domain representations from a scope's time-domain data. All three panelists agreed that spectrum analyzers will remain the instruments of choice for engineers requiring much higher dynamic range than 8-bit digital scopes can offer.
From the exhibit
On the show floor, Anritsu (www.us.anritsu.com) demonstrated its vector network analyzers....Q-Tech (www.q-tech.com) showed its line of crystal oscillators....Astro-Med (www.astromed.com) showcased its 2- to 18-channel portable data recorders.
Electro Rent (www.electrorent.com) displayed test instruments from a variety of vendors....Tektronix (www.tektronix.com) demonstrated its new TPS2000, a portable scope....FLIR Systems (www.flirthermography.com) highlighted its infrared thermographic camera systems.... Ironwood Electronics (www.ironwoodelectronics.com) showcased its SMT adapters and sockets.
Russian firm Virtual Standards (www.virtualcalibration.com) introduced its al-gorithms for enhancing measurement accuracy to the US market....LeCroy (www.lecroy.com) exhibited its line of digital storage oscilloscopes.
MIL/Aerospace show highlights test systems and software
Autotestcon, September 20–23, San Antonio, TX, www.autotestcon.com.
Agilent Technologies (www.agilent.com) presented three technical sessions on future test system architectures, how to future-proof your ATE, and novel AWG designs. In addition, the company showcased its LXI microwave synthetic instruments. LXI is a new LAN-based modular-architecture standard for automated test systems.....Pickering Interfaces (www.pickeringtest.com) showcased its line of PXI switches and instruments, including a family of integrated cross-point matrices, a multi-function module, a high-voltage amplifier, programmable power-supply modules, and a PCI-to-PXI interface.
Seica (www.seica.com) demonstrated its S40 Valid test system for testing PCBs; the system is capable of performing analog, digital functional, and high-frequency digital functional tests. It can connect to a unit under test (UUT) via a bed-of-nails, via a connector-based interface, or via custom adapters. The interface is adapted into an ergonomic receiver for rapid fixture changes. The system can integrate PXI, VXI, and IEEE 488 external instruments.
Concurrent Computer (www.ccur.com) exhibited it's RT-LAB RLX, which allows design engineers to perform complex simulation, rapid prototyping, and hardware-in-the-loop testing; the company also highlighted its iHawk Linux-based real-time multiprocessing systems and presented a demo of National Instruments' (www.ni.com) LabView running on RedHawk Linux....Teradyne (www.teradyne.com) introduced and demonstrated the GDS-3100 portable maintenance test system, which delivers maintenance information and diagnostic routines directly into the hands of the maintainer.
