News Briefs

Credence Systems recently expanded its Sapphire test family with the addition of the Sapphire D-40, a tester that combines analog, digital, mixed-signal, and RF test instrumentation and leverages technologies first introduced in the Sapphire D-10. The new system also accommodates the company's Modulated Vector Network Analysis (MVNA) RF-measurement option, which adds wireless test capabilities for mobile phone, WLAN, WiMax, and Zigbee devices.

With its enhanced data-management and parallel test capabilities, the D-40 delivers four times the test performance of the Sapphire D-10 with only a 25% increase in platform footprint. "What we've done with the Sapphire D-40 is create a highly scalable data infrastructure, similar to that used on the Internet," said Dave Ranhoff, president and CEO of Credence. "Every time you add another module or instrument to the system, you add more data bandwidth."

With more than 2048 200-Mbps digital pins and high-density, mixed-signal instruments, the D-40 also features dedicated analog instruments and up to 32 ports of MVNA-enabled RF capability. According to Ranhoff, "The Sapphire D-40 offers both 16 and 32 port RF options, allowing our customers to move beyond the traditional dual and quad site test configurations common in today's wireless device testing." www.credence.com.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently unveiled what it calls the first precision instrument for directly measuring AC voltages. NIST is testing the instrument for use in its low-voltage calibration service, where it could increase significantly the measurement precision of industrial voltmeters, spectrum analyzers, amplifiers, and filters.

The patented instrument is based on the Josephson junction technology used in NIST's DC voltage standards. When a fixed DC voltage is applied across a Josephson junction, the junction responds by generating an AC current that oscillates like a wave at a frequency exactly proportional to the applied voltage.

The new instrument uses arrays of junctions to generate AC pulses in precisely measured voltage units over a range of audio frequencies. Arbitrary waveforms can be generated at different voltage levels for different applications.

This calibration method would replace the current method, in which NIST performs AC voltage calibrations indirectly by measuring the heat delivered by an instrument to a resistor and then comparing that measurement to the heat delivered by a known DC voltage. At low voltages (such as 2 mV), the new AC Josephson junction voltage standard should improve measurement accuracy as much as one thousandfold.

Based on a concept that was co-developed by researchers at NIST and Northrop-Grumman in the mid-1990s, the AC instrument currently has a maximum output of 100 mV. NIST researchers hope eventually to increase that level to 1 V. www.nist.gov.

Pleora Technologies reports that its iPORT PT1000-CL Internet Protocol engine and a camera from Adimec helped NASA assess the structural integrity of the Discovery space shuttle during its recent mission. The flight crew used the equipment, which was mounted at the end of the shuttle's 50-ft robotic arm, to visually inspect heat tiles for signs of damage before returning to earth.

The iPORT engine grabbed tile images from the camera and streamed them to a laptop inside the shuttle over a standard Ethernet link. Crew members controlled the camera via the engine as they inspected the shuttle's thermal-protection system.

"The iPORT engine worked as expected during the mission. Even though the Ethernet connection experienced mismatched impedance, ghosting, and crosstalk, the engine was able to overcome these problems and our flight software worked flawlessly," said Joel Busa, software lead for the shuttle's Integrated Sensor Inspection System, in a prepared statement. www.pleora.com; www.adimec.com.

The 3280 series of 3-Hz to 3-GHz, 13.2-GHz, and 26.5-GHz spectrum analyzers achieve accuracies of ±0.15 dB up to 3 GHz. The instruments also provide better than –115-dBm/Hz local-oscillator (LO) phase noise at a 10-kHz offset from 1 GHz, and they offer +18-dBm third-order intermodulation performance. Digital IF resolution bandwidth ranges from 5 MHz to 1 Hz. Resolutions of 5 MHz to 300 Hz are available directly from the digital IF stage. Below 300 Hz, the instruments employ FFT calculations to generate filter bandwidths down to 1 Hz. The bandwidths are selectable in a 5-3-2-1 sequence

The 3280 series runs Windows XP and includes an internal hard drive and a built-in CD-ROM as well as a range of interfaces, including LAN, USB, RS-232, IEEE 488 (using the SCPI command set), VGA, and parallel printer ports. A 10.4-in. TFT LCD supports split-screen and multiple-windows-open modes. Three traces can be displayed per window, and as many as nine markers can be selected, with a marker table viewable in an alternate window.

Built-in functions include channel-power, adjacent-channel-power, occupied-bandwidth, spectrum-emission-mask, third-order-intercept, harmonic-distortion, X-dB-down, and phase-noise measurements. A tracking generator is optional.

Base price: $19,500. Aeroflex, www.aeroflex.com.

The AFQ100A I/Q modulation generator produces the complex digital modulation waveforms required to evaluate the performance of wireless broadband communication systems. It combines a memory-clock rate that is adjustable from 1 kHz to 300 MHz and a memory depth of up to 1 Gsample to produce I/Q signals with an RF bandwidth of up to 200 MHz.

The AFQ100A is available with an output memory of 256 Msamples or 1 Gsample. Its unbalanced analog output level can be set between 0 V and 1.5 V, and its balanced output can be varied from 0 V to 3 V. Bias voltage from –2.5 V to +2.5 V can be superimposed on the signal at the balanced output. The AFQ100A also can be equipped with digital outputs that provide 16-bit resolution and a maximum data rate of 300 MHz. The unit has a signal-to-noise ratio of 83 dBc and a frequency response within 0.05 dB across its bandwidth.

The generator features several trigger functions and an output signal that can be adjusted to compensate for signal impairments. An internal equalizer can change the output signal to compensate for the variable frequency response of I/Q modulators. When used as an independent baseband source, the AFQ100A provides I/Q signals directly to the device under test. When accompanied by a vector-signal generator, it can produce the RF signals as well. Signals can be generated on a PC using Matlab or the supplied R&S WinIQSIM2 software, which provides test routines for many communications standards.

Base price: $28,770. Rohde & Schwarz, www.rohde-schwarz.com.

EOS/ESD Symposium, September 10–15, Tucson, AZ. Sponsored by ESD Association. www.esda.org/symposia.html.

Autotestcon, September 18–21, Anaheim, CA. Sponsored by IEEE. www.autotestcon.com.

International Test Conference (ITC), October 24–26, Santa Clara, CA. Sponsored by IEEE. www.itctestweek.org.

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