News Briefs

For the second time this year, National Instruments has acquired one of its competitors in the data-acquisition business. In May, NI reported that it had purchased Measurement Computing Corp., and in mid-October, the company announced its acquisition of IOtech. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

IOtech, a long-time provider of PC-based data-acquisition and instrumentation products, will operate as an NI subsidiary out of its Cleveland, OH, offices and will continue to sell and support its products through its existing sales network.

Dr. James Truchard, NI president, CEO, and cofounder (pictured), released this statement about the transaction: "The acquisition of IOtech further strengthens our offering and reach of providing PC-based measurement solutions to engineers and scientists. By combining IOtech's strengths in key areas, including portable, vibration measurement, and OEM products, with NI's software and worldwide data-acquisition leadership, we can further our acceptance of virtual instrumentation in applications for in-vehicle test, vibration measurement, and machine monitoring."

"For years we have had a prosperous relationship reselling NI DASYLab software, which was an important factor in the decision to join NI," said Tom DeSantis, IOtech president and founder. "IOtech's 20 years of experience, complementary product portfolio, and differentiated sales channel combined with NI's strong global presence and industry-leading NI LabView software will let us serve a broader set of measurement applications worldwide." www.ni.com.

SynTest Technologies has announced that it was granted 33 claims on October 11 under US Patent #6,954,887 for a method of true at-speed testing of asynchronous multiclock, multifrequency designs using ATPG or logic BIST design-for-test (DFT) schemes. The company refers to its patented invention as "staggered skewed-load" or "staggered launch-on-shift."

The method provides ordered capture clocks to detect or locate faults within multiple clock domains and faults crossing clock domains in an integrated circuit during at-speed BIST or at-speed scan-testing. SynTest reports that the major benefit of this patented DFT scheme is the reduction in the number of ATPG patterns compared to the traditional one-shot DFT scheme for multiclock, multifrequency designs, resulting in test-vector compression of 3X to 10X. www.syntest.com.

Teradyne recently reported that it has agreed to sell its Connection Systems division to Amphenol for $390 million in cash (subject to a post-closing net asset value adjustment). Connection Systems, based in Nashua, NH, is a supplier of high-speed, high-density connectors as well as high-performance printed-circuit boards and backplane interconnect systems. In 2004, the division accounted for 23% of Teradyne's revenue.

"The sale of Connection Systems will sharpen our focus on our core test businesses," said Michael Bradley, Teradyne president and CEO, in a statement released to the press. "That concentration will strengthen our ability to do what we do best—provide our test customers with better products and services that meet their evolving needs. This strategic move also increases our financial flexibility to support our growth plans in our core test businesses." www.teradyne.com.

FormFactor has announced that Tera Probe has chosen FormFactor as its strategic partner for wafer probe-card technology. Tera Probe, a testing-service venture formed by Advantest, Kingston Technology, Powertech, and Elpida Memory, combines its founders' respective test equipment, assembly and testing services, memory products, and wafer technology to serve Elpida and other semiconductor manufacturers.

FormFactor reports that a major cost factor in system packages is the time and costs to package and test die that are ultimately identified as "bad," and adds that wafer-level final test prior to packaging to verify known good die (KGD) can help control costs. "Not only does FormFactor share our vision for KGD, its proven products and its commitment to further enhancements of KGD-yielding technology promise the lowest risk for us as we put our strategy into action," said Masahide Ozawa, president of Tera Probe. www.formfactor.com.

The Agilent Technologies CSA N1996A portable spectrum analyzers deliver 100-kHz to 3- or 6-GHz performance. The instruments each incorporate an internal VSWR bridge and tracking generator to allow you to characterize single- or dual-port devices such as filters, cables, and amplifiers. A card-slot architecture supports future performance and capability enhancements. Built-in measurement help, together with auto-tune, auto-scale, and auto-couple functions, leads you through each measurement task step by step. Key specifications include displayed average noise level of –146 dBm in a 10-Hz bandwidth, 96-dBc dynamic range, and a +18-dBm third-order intercept point. Connectivity features provide support for functions such as remote control and firmware upgrades; the latter can be accomplished by transferring files from a USB memory stick. The instruments are compatible with the Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI) syntax to support integration into existing test systems; LAN connectivity facilitates measurement automation over Ethernet.

Base prices: 3-GHz spectrum analyzer—$8950; 6-GHz spectrum analyzer—$12,250; 3-GHz tracking generator—$3000; 6-GHz tracking generator—$4000; 3-GHz preamplifier—$1500; 6-GHz preamplifier—$2,000. Agilent Technologies, www.agilent.com.

National Instruments' venerable LabView application development software is now at version 8. As with previous LabView releases, National Instruments has addressed the needs of both the novice and expert LabView programmer.

The most significant new feature in LabView 8 is its ability to perform "distributed intelligence." This feature lets you develop programs that run on numerous microprocessors, FPGAs, and DSPs. You can develop code on a PC, then compile and download your code. The shared-variable feature lets distributed processors share data in real time over a network. Deterministic Ethernet minimizes latency. LabView 8 also supports Bluetooth, so you can develop applications that run on PDAs.

The project feature helps you manage large development projects. It lets you navigate and organize an entire system—LabView code, external code modules, drivers, documentation, and hardware. It also gives you a system view of an application.

LabView 8 features an instrument-driver finder that lets you find a driver on your system or from the National Instruments Web site. When you locate a driver, you can right-click on it to install it into your programming palette. If you can't find a driver, you can use LabView 8's driver-development wizard.

Base price: $995. National Instruments, www.ni.com/labview.

APEX, February 5–10, Anaheim, CA. APEX focuses on electronics assembly processes and equipment. Sponsored by IPC. www.goapex.org.

Measurement Science Conference, February 27–March 3, Anaheim, CA. Designed to promote measurement science and related disciplines. Sponsored by The Measurement Science Conference. www.msc-conf.com.

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