Keithley takes on auto, aero challenges
Linda Rae, executive VP and COO at Keithley Instruments, discusses her company’s strategy.
Greg Reed, Contributing Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 1/14/2008 8:06:00 AM
Automotive, aerospace, and military applications always present special test challenges, primarily due to the need for systems to perform with absolute reliability while operating within harsh environmental conditions. Even though semiconductor test equipment suppliers understand, and deliver, the expected degree of surety for these applications, providing full test coverage at affordable cost involves complex decision making, especially for emerging market products.
Linda Rae, executive VP and COO at Keithley Instruments, discussed her company’s strategic solutions in an exclusive interview.
Q: What special challenges are associated with developing test equipment for automotive and aerospace applications?
A: To begin with, test engineers in the automotive and aerospace industries are dealing with the universal problems of reducing test times and the cost of test while at the same time improving reliability. Our approach to instrument design has always focused on helping customers meet these challenges through emphasis on speed and simplicity of our solutions.
The specific challenges for these operating environments include design for harsh environmental demands such as extended temperature ranges and higher vibration forces. At the same time, industry-specific safety requirements and certifications need to be met. Finally, there are unique features and functions needed for industry-specific testing applications.
Q: How do newer PCI, PXI and LXI test products integrate with older GPIB systems?
A: Legacy systems such as GPIB will continue to be used simply due to the performance benefits they offer. Increasingly, however, test systems are combining several different types of instrumentation buses and platforms into one system, referred to as “hybrid” test systems. Such systems require additional attention to interfacing hardware and software elements.
For example, drivers used for GPIB instruments may not be compatible with those drivers or application programs used for card-based systems such as PXI. But the user interface levels of most well-designed test programs usually insulate these differences, making it possible to use the optimal format for each different aspect of the application. In the case of very advanced high-frequency RF applications, the needed measurement functions may only be available in instrument formats due to issues of physical space and packing, whereas more basic functions in the system may be more cost effective in other formats.
Q: Today, we hear the phrase, “closing the loop between ATE and integrated diagnostics.” Can you elaborate on this?
A: Some might call this built-in-test or BIT. The idea is to include diagnostic capabilities within the designs of chips, modules, and end products so they can do more of the initial and ongoing self-testing without external equipment. In practice, eliminating all external testing has proven difficult due to redundancy requirements of certain standards such as ISO. Still, progress has been made in those products able to afford the additional material costs involved in adding BIT capabilities.
Q: Within semiconductor testing, what new considerations have emerged that address microelectronics, nanoelectronics, or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)?
A: From our perspective, these technologies mostly translate into requirements for reduced current and voltage sensitivities. Since we have always been a pioneer in low-level measurements, we continually work to push our measurement technologies to deliver lower levels of sensitivity in ways that also increase throughput and customer value so our solutions can be employed more cost effectively.
Q: How do test equipment manufacturers help users wrestle with cost of test vs. full fault test coverage?
A: There is always a tradeoff between the level of measurement confidence and the level of investment in testing. Over time, technology tends to ease this tradeoff by delivering more capability at a lower cost, which translates into lowering the cost per test channel as the cost of multichannel instruments drops.
The key is to clearly understand the critical testing needs, limits, and risks involved and to make good tradeoffs in the best interest of the customer. A proven approach to product design is to be very conservative on specifications. This gives customers the confidence to reduce uncertainties to fully acceptable levels.
Q: Both aerospace and automotive applications have demanded stronger and lighter materials. Has materials test equipment advanced to keep pace with the latest material sets?
A: Many advanced materials, including nanotechnology and semiconductor-based materials, require a wide range of electrical measurements such as ultra-low current or ultra-high resistance characterization. Test equipment manufacturers provide an assortment of instrumentation to meet these testing challenges.
Our company provides a number of products capable of helping scientists and engineers fully characterize the DC, AC, and RF properties of such materials with high levels of flexibility, accuracy, and sensitivity. Many of our mainstream products embody additional levels of these capabilities in order to further extend the measurements able to be made on such materials. One example is extended low current and resistance capabilities on the SourceMeter instruments and switch/DMM products often used in such applications.
Q: What test trends will likely impact automotive and aerospace applications?
A: We are very excited about rapidly emerging LXI-based instruments that combine the power of Ethernet with Web browser interfaces and other technologies such as our Test Script Processor (TSP). TSP brings PC-like functionality into instruments by allowing users to create test scripts containing test routines and complex decision-making and instrument-control functions that enable the instrument to execute autonomously.
These innovations dramatically reduce the cost of test while also increasing capabilities, ease of use, and in some cases eliminating the need for programming and large test programs. LXI-based instruments also provide global connectivity via the Internet using common and compatible Web-based protocols and networking and interfacing accessories, further adding significant system design versatility.
