Taking the Measure
Patrick Mannion, editor in chief of Test & Measurement World and EDN, comments on test, globalization, measurement, machine vision, economics, nanotechnology, the engineering profession, and topics of general interest.
Leave the driving to your car?
Will self-driving vehicles become practical? Autonomous automobiles—and even motorcycles—have successfully operated, although under controlled conditions: either in a closed environment with autonomous cars operating along with other vehicles driven by stunt drivers or with human copilots able to disengage the autonomous functionality and take over in an emergency. But could such veh ...... Read More
Comments (16)Small iron seeks respect at Semicon West
San Francisco, CA. Makers of traditional big-iron ATE systems got a lot of attention at Semicon West: Advantest touted its purchase of Verigy, and the combined organizations announced a slew of new instruments for their T2000 and V93000 platforms. In addition, Teradyne introduced four new instruments for its UltraFLEX platform and highlighted a global services initiative with Evans Analytical Grou ...... Read More
Comments (2)Advantest, Verigy pursue SoC test dominance
San Francisco, CA. Advantest and Verigy presented a united front at Semicon West today, following the July 4 formal completion of Advantest’s purchase of Verigy for $1.1 billion. Speaking at a press conference, Haruo Matsuno, Advantest president and CEO, said he was pleased to announce that Verigy is now part of the Advantest group. Speaking in Japanese, Matsuno stated, “Both compani ...... Read More
Comments (0)Incremental growth for Semicon West
The favorable industry figures I reported on yesterday are having a salutary effect on Semicon West, according to Karen Savala, president, SEMI Americas, speaking at yesterday’s press conference. This year, 711 exhibitors are occupying 1256 booths, she said, representing 9.5% growth from 2010. And for the co-located Inter Solar North America, booth growth is 18% from 2010. Exhibitors this y ...... Read More
Comments (1)SEMI sounds upbeat note for Semicon West
San Francisco, CA. SEMI previewed its Semicon West conference this week with a Monday press conference that highlighted several upbeat notes. Doug Neugold, chairman, CEO, and president of ATMI and incoming chairman of SEMI, described an expanding electronic ecosystem, with electronic end equipment sales forecast to reach $1,350 billion in 2011, up from an estimated $1,237 billion in 2010. Over the ...... Read More
Comments (5)June 2011 in test and measurement
Microwaves and RF instrumentation dominated test and measurement news last month, driven by the MTT-S International Microwave Symposium. The event drew more than 4400 registered attendees, who saw instruments and software solutions aimed at supporting everything from LTE rollout to near-terahertz measurements. You’ll find a complete summary of the show here. One key topic at IMS was RF MEMS ...... Read More
Comments (0)MEMS highlighted at TechConnect World session
MEMS devices are becoming key components in the process of smart system integration. That’s the conclusion I drew from a full-day session titled “MEMS-based Systems Solutions and Integration Issues” held June 16 at TechConnect World 2011. The session, organized by Roger Grace, president of Roger Grace Associates, included 16 presentations addressing topics from packaging to te ...... Read More
Comments (2)IMS2011 roundup: Instruments and software address RF design and test
The IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society reports that last week’s International Microwave Symposium drew 4453 registered attendees, including 2571 who registered for the technical program plus 1882 who registered for exhibits-only. Preliminary figures released yesterday put total attendance, including representatives of more than 600 exhibiting organizations, at 8770. In keeping wit ...... Read More
Comments (2)Prospects for RF MEMS
Are RF MEMS devices commercially viable, or will they become so soon? That question was addressed at a Wednesday June 8 IMS2011 panel discussion titled “Commercial viability of RF MEMS—a reality or a dream?” The short answer is yes, RF MEMS devices are commercially viable—they constitute a reality, not a dream. I addressed the question back in 2009, and already at that ...... Read More
Comments (1)Analog guru Jim Williams dies
Sad news—Jim Williams, the analog guru who helped found and expand Linear Technology, died last evening. Jim, a consulting editor to sibling publication EDN, was a prolific contributor to that magazine, and his articles frequently had a test-and-measurement slant—see, for example, “Measure DAC settling time to 1 ppm” and “Characterizing noise in voltage-reference ...... Read More
Comments (1)IMS2011: Test can address engineers' nightmare
BALTIMORE, MD. Cellular communications in general and LTE in particular are shaping up to be key topics at the International Microwave Symposium held here this week. Professor J. David Rhodes, an entrepreneur as well as emeritus professor at Leeds University, delivered a keynote last evening addressing the migration of WCDMA and 4G LTE into existing cellular bands. At a press conference this morni ...... Read More
Comments (0)Welcome to the UNH-IOL guest bloggers
At Test & Measurement World we are happy to welcome the guest bloggers from the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). As their initial post states, UNH-IOL , which focuses testing services for data, telecom, and storage networking technologies, achieves two goals: “to provide a neutral environment to foster multi-vendor interoperability and conformance to da ...... Read More
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