News Briefs

VeriWave has introduced what it calls a "real-world Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) over WLAN test solution." The VeriWave VoIP over WLAN analysis test suite runs on the company's WaveTest traffic generator/performance analyzer to assess voice-quality metrics of real-world VoIP over WLANs. It analyzes traffic prioritization, evaluates the network behavior in the presence of non-voice traffic, and measures overall call quality when users roam between WLAN access points.

The VoIP over WLAN test suite provides for open-air testing of mixed voice/data networks. The test suite evaluates mixed-use networks by introducing data traffic to the networks, generated by the WaveTest analyzer. The WaveTest also captures all traffic on the WLAN and calculates a variety of performance metrics to characterize the network behavior.

One company that has employed the new test suite is Aruba Networks. "Voice is quickly becoming one of the driving applications for wireless within the enterprise," said Keerti Melkote, co-founder and VP of product management for Aruba Networks. "VeriWave's VoIP over WLAN test suite has proven to be the best-suited, most reliable, and precise test tool to qualify our offering in real-world conditions."

The VoIP over WLAN analysis test suite and the WaveTest traffic generator/performance analyzer are available now. WaveTest pricing starts at $28,995. www.veriwave.com.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has accepted Ethernet Powerlink (EPL) as a Publicly Available Specification (PAS), according to the Ethernet Powerlink Standardization Group (EPSG).

The Industrial Automation Open Network Association (IAONA) submitted the EPL spec to IEC SC65C as a real-time industrial Ethernet communication profile. EPSG reports that 96% of all IEC national committees voted in favor of EPL. At the same time, the SC65C subcommittee approved the spec as a new work item—a key step for Ethernet Powerlink in becoming part of the IEC Standard IEC 61784-2, "Digital data communications for measurement and control—Part 2: Additional profiles for ISO/IEC 8802-3 based communication networks in real-time applications," which is under development.

The EPSG says it and its strategic partners will also work on reformatting the EPL specification to be integrated into the next revision of the IEC-61158 Fieldbus standard. Among EPL's major advantages, EPSG reports, is the fact that the protocol can be implemented on any standard Ethernet hardware and chip without proprietary hardware components or ASICs.

EPSG claims more than 60,000 EPL-enabled devices are already in use and more than 300 industrial companies worldwide support EPL, with more than 30 companies offering EPL-enabled products or services. www.ethernet-powerlink.org.

Rohde & Schwarz (Munich, Germany) has bought out Hameg Instruments (Frankfurt, Germany), a 50-year-old company known mainly for its low-cost oscilloscopes. R&S has announced that the Hameg name will continue and jobs in development, production, and sales at Chemintz, Mainhausen, and Munchenbernsdorf will not change. Karl Hartmann, owner of Hameg, will step down due to his impending retirement. www.rohde-schwarz.com.

Teradyne released its Q1 results in mid-April, reporting that net orders had increased over the previous quarter while revenues and earnings had dropped. The company reported net orders of $340.7 million for the quarter—an increase of 14% over Q4 2004. Yet, its Q1 sales of $305.6 million represented a 19% decrease from Q4 2004. The company also reported a Q1 net loss of $52.6 million ($0.27 per share), compared to a net income of $3.3 million ($0.02 per share) in the last quarter of 2004.

Teradyne's numbers were also down compared to Q1 2004, when the company had net orders of $551.2 million, sales of $430.6 million, and a net income of $40.2 million ($0.20 per share). www.teradyne.com.

When your test application calls for high-speed digitizers, look to the CompactPCI/PXI DC2x2 series from Acqiris, which consists of three 10-bit models. The high-end DC282 is a four-channel unit that runs at 2 Gsamples/s on all four channels, interleaved to 4 Gsamples/s on two channels and 8 Gsamples/s on one channel. The DC252 is a dual-channel unit at 4 Gsamples/s and 8 Gsamples/s, while the DC222 is a single-channel, 8 Gsamples/s card. The cards bring 3 GHz of bandwidth to their analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and 2 GHz bandwidth with an attenuator. All cards are 6U size.

When running on fewer than all channels, the cards use "ping-pong" memory that alternates memory blocks with each sample. While one of the card's ADCs is digitizing, the previous samples move out of acquisition memory to the card's output. Two ASICs provide signal conditioning, amplification, and interleaving of the channels. Software support includes drivers for Windows, Phar Lap, VxWorks, Linux, LabWindows/CVI, LabView, and Matlab.

Base price: $21,980. Acqiris, www.acqiris.com.

Aeroflex has introduced a pair of communications service monitors for analog radio testing. Aimed at the Private Mobile Radio (PMR) sector, which is used by first responders in emergency situations, the lightweight units (which, like their predecessors, weigh less than 25 lbs) provide a full-span spectrum analyzer and a tracking generator with full offset tracking. They can measure power to 150 W and have a frequency range from 400 kHz to 1.05 GHz. The 2948B also offers a low-phase-noise signal generator.

The new instruments share their predecessors' testing capability for radio service and maintenance, base station service and maintenance, and manufacturing test. Equipped with flexible audio and demodulation filters and a sunlight-readable transflective color display, the two new units include greater tracking-generator isolation. An internal battery option for the Model 2945B allows up to 60 min of field use. The new options include support for PMR's Logic Trunked Radio (available in October) and Tone Remote functions.

Base price: $17,200. Aeroflex, www.aeroflex.com.

International Microwave Symposium, June 12–17, Long Beach, CA. Sponsored by IEEE. www.ims2005.org.

Design Automation Conference (DAC), June 13–17, Anaheim, CA. Sponsored by IEEE. www.dac.com.

Semicon West, July 11–15, San Francisco, CA. Sponsored by SEMI. www.semicon.org.

EMC Symposium, August 8–12, Chicago, IL. Sponsored by IEEE, EMC Society. www.emc2005.org.

To learn about other conferences, courses, and calls for papers, visit www.tmworld.com/events.