Testing the Limits
The technical staff of the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab (UNH-IOL) gives insight into interoperability & standards conformance for data communications, telecom, and storage technologies.
Ethernet Technology Summit
Next week, I will be in the sunny state of California for the Ethernet Technology Summit. I’ll be joining some other panelists for the session, “Continuing Role of Ethernet in Storage,” which is taking place Wednesday, February 22 from 9:50 to 10:50 a.m. in San Jose. My portion of the discussion will focus specifically on the topic of “Advantages and Testing ...... Read More
Comments (0)IOL Student Employees: Gaining Experience, Making Connections and Building a Future
It’s common for a college student to have some sort of job. But how many of them actually enjoy what they do? How many have positions that relate to what they want to do in the future? I am one of the lucky few that can say I look forward to coming to work each day, to a job that is preparing me for the future. The InterOperability Lab (IOL) is a place where students, like myself, can explo ...... Read More
Comments (0)High Performance Computing at the IOL
High Performance Computing (HPC) is no longer exclusively the realm of uber-expensive “Super-Computers” with proprietary transport technologies and software. High Performance, as implied, requires significant compute power and high speed memory, storage, and network interconnect. To achieve High Performance, each processor must communicate rapidly, and with little CPU/ker ...... Read More
Comments (0)Basics of DSL Bonded Physical Layer Testing
In the previous post, “DSL Physical Layer Testing,” we began to explore some of the background and requirements for DSL performance testing, including the simulation of the telephone network’s local loop and noise conditions. In this entry, we’ll explain the more detailed definitions of the simulated cross-talk noise and the implications for testing multi-pair sys ...... Read More
Comments (0)First BIF (Battery Interface) Interop Workshop
Next week several MIPI Alliance companies will gather for the first BIF (Battery Interface) Interop Workshop. BIF is designed to accommodate low cost and smart batteries. Smart batteries may have specific charge control requirements and BIF will enable communication with a smart battery back, allowing for more efficient charging. UNH-IOL is pleased to continue our work with MIPI Alliance. More inf ...... Read More
Comments (0)Putting the ‘e’ in 10Base-Te MAU
The UNH-IOL is currently developing a test suite and test system for 10Base-Te MAU conformance. Due to the similarities between 10Base-T and 10Base-Te, the lab decided to integrate both tests onto the same test board and use a very similar software package. This allows us to simplify testing, which saves time and also gives us reason to look over our existing 10Base-T test suite. Integrating the t ...... Read More
Comments (0)DSL Physical Layer Testing
Over the next few blog posts, we will cover some of the basic principles of testing the performance of the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) physical layer. Each set of DSL transceivers operates over a local loop of the telephone network. Essentially, this is a transmission line consisting of two copper conductors that are twisted together. The exact wire gauge, dielectric insulation between the ...... Read More
Comments (0)NVMe: The Fast Lane for SSDs?
Solid-state Disks (SSDs) have made a lot of news over the last few years with their high performance, and matching high prices. Simultaneously, several companies have released PCIe-based SSDs with very high performance. These PCIe-based SSDs require specific drivers unique to each SSD vendor, which has limited their adoption in comparison to SATA SSDs which can use a standard driver and can easily ...... Read More
Comments (0)(Mr) Rogers PCB
Our first PCB post discussed the issues of using FR4 material, concluding with the hopes of using Rogers material for its low loss properties. This week, we’ll take a look at our newest test jig that was fabricated using Rogers material. For 10GBASE-T physical layer testing (IEEE 802.3 Clause 55), we created a test jig that converts a CAT6A Ethernet jack to SMA connectors (named the OctoBoa ...... Read More
Comments (1)UNH-IOL Test Fixture Overview: Passive Line Tap
Earlier this week, we provided insight into the lab’s MIPI TLIS board. Today, we’ll discuss the Passive Line Tap. We created this fixture to observe and measure bi-directional traffic being sent over a differential pair for 1000BASE-T and 10GBASE-T environments with minimal interference to the signal. Since Ethernet signaling is differential, we use a balun to transform the dif ...... Read More
Comments (1)UNH-IOL Test Fixture Overview: MIPI TLIS Board
In our previous post, we talked about issues experienced when using FR4 material in PCB. This week, we’ll discuss some of our other test fixtures that are used to perform testing here at the lab. All of our test fixtures are designed and populated in-house, and we use Altium Designer, a powerful all-in-one program for schematic capture and PCB layout. Today, we’ll delve into the MIPI ...... Read More
Comments (0)Issues When Using FR4 as PCB Material
It might not be surprising that much of the testing at the UNH-IOL is performed using custom software written in various languages/programs by our employees. However, what many don’t know is that we also design and make custom test hardware. We design platforms that streamline testing or offer unique capabilities, and we also design test jigs to connect our test equipment with devices ...... Read More
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