Autotestcon: Keithley debuts system switch multimeter
-- Test & Measurement World, 9/19/2007 6:50:00 AM
Keithley Instruments at Autotestcon highlighted its new Series 3700 system-switch/multimeter and plug-in card family, which it describes as its next-generation platform of switching and integrated digital multimeter (DMM) test solutions.
The Series 3700 offers instrument-grade switching for a variety high-channel-count applications. It can control up to 576 multiplexer channels in a 6-slot, 2U form factor. An integrated DMM option provides fast, low-noise measurements with resolutions up to seven and a half digits. Together with a growing family of plug-in switch and control cards, the Series 3700 can serve in a functional test system or in stand-alone data-acquisition and measurement applications for production and functional testing of electronic products and devices. It can perform multichannel I-V testing and accelerated stress tests.
The Series 3700 is available with four different mainframe options: with or without integrated DMM and with or without a front-panel display and keypad. The optional integrated DMM eliminates the need to manually coordinate an external DMM with a switch topology, freeing up development time. A USB 2.0 port on the front panel allows users to save measurements to nonvolatile memory.
The base Model 3706 features an integrated 7½-digit, high-performance DMM. In addition to supporting 13 built-in measurement functions, measurement ranges are expanded to include a 1-ohm low-resistance range and a 10-microamp low-current range. The Model 3706 mainframe contains a multiprocessor architecture to maximize measurement speed and system throughput. It features a single-channel reading rate that ranges from greater than 10,000 DCV/two-wire ohms readings per second at 3.5-digit resolution to 60 readings per second at 7.5-digit, 26-bit resolution.
The Series 3700 also incorporates Keithley’s Test Script Processor (TSP) technology, which brings PC-like functionality into the instrument. For example, users can create test scripts that are embedded in and executed within the instrument. These test scripts can contain complete test routines, including complex decision making and instrument control, enabling the instrument to perform autonomously. In addition, Keithley provides a free software tool, Test Script Builder, for writing, managing, and debugging test scripts. This distributed processing technology reduces PC intervention, eliminating bus latency issues and improving test throughput and flexibility. For applications where throughput and timing synchronization is not required, TSP also gives users added flexibility by executing single-line commands just like traditional instruments.
One supporting technology for TSP is TSP-Link, a communication bus that allows multiple TSP instruments to be configured in a master/slave network. TSP-Link offers the capability to expand a test system, allowing TSP-enabled instruments such as the Series 3700 and Series 2600 SourceMeter instruments to be scaled according to present or future testing needs. Such TSP-enabled instruments give test engineers the fundamental building blocks for designing tightly integrated, high throughput ATE systems.
The Series 3700 System Switch/Multimeter is the first LXI Class B compliant system switch on the market, Keithley reports. It includes a 10/100M Base-T Ethernet connection, LAN–based instrument triggering, and precision time protocol (PTP) synchronization. PTP synchronization, a feature not available on LXI Class C compliant instruments, allows multiple Class B-enabled instruments to be time synchronized for consistent time stamping and event coordination. An interactive graphical Web server gives users a method to operate, troubleshoot, and learn how to use the instrument. The Series 3700 also offers additional programming interfaces, including USB and GPIB interfaces.
The Series 3700 also includes six new optional high-density and general-purpose plug-in cards that accommodate a broad range of signals and topologies including multiplexer, matrix, and isolated switch functions. The Model 3720 and Model 3721 are dual 1x30 and dual 1x20 multiplexer cards, respectively, for general-purpose switching. The Model 3722 is a dual 1x48 high-density multiplexer card for general-purpose switching applications that require a high channel count. The Model 3723 is a dual 1x30 multiplexer card using high-speed, long-life reed relays with actuation times of less than 0.5 ms. Keithley’s Model 3730 6x16 high-density matrix card provides 96 two-pole cross points. Last, the Model 3740 is a 32-channel isolated switch card for routing power signals or other high current signals. When fully loaded, the Series 3700 mainframe supports up to 576 2-wire multiplexer channels. Keithley will be adding more plug-in cards to the Series 3700 Family in 2008.
Keithley’s Series 3700 system switch mainframe starts at $1790. Plug-in cards start at $925.
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