News
30-GHz signal analyzer offers 40-GHz bandwidth 11/27/2008
As part of a series of instrumentation announcements in both signal generation and analysis, Rohde & Schwarz has introduced the FSV midrange signal and spectrum analyzer. The device has an analysis bandwidth of 40 MHz, enabling it to cover wireless standards from 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) LTE (long-term evolution) to WLAN (wireless-local-area-network) 802.Two- and four-channel, 16-bit, 20M-sample/sec LXI digitizers offer floating inputs, 128M-sample/channel memory 11/25/2008
Agilent Technologies has introduced what it calls the first stand-alone high-resolution digitizers with LXI (local-area-network-extensions-for-instrumentation) connectivity.FPGA-based PXI modules improve test-system I/O performance 11/17/2008
NI (National Instruments) has introduced a new generation of open, FPGA (field-programmable-gate-array)-based PXI (peripheral-component-interconnect extensions for instrumentation) modules.DSO-based software analyzes 20-GHz-bandwidth RF signals 10/27/2008
Tektronix has announced SignalVu vector-signal-analysis software, which enables engineers to use the company’s DPO7000 and DPO/DSA70000 digital oscilloscopes to easily characterize and validate wideband and microwave spectral events.High-performance scopes enhance serial-data analysis 10/16/2008
LeCroy has introduced the SDA 7 Zi oscilloscopes with built-in SDA (serial-data-analysis) II serial-data-debugging software, which the manufacturer says redefines SDA in oscilloscopes.In-Depth
Repeat offender 10/16/2008
Tales From The Cube: A T1 multiplexer generates an unrecognizable waveform when driving a new repeater. The repeater vendor repeatedly swears nothing is wrong, and the boss is getting anxious.A streamlined method of PCI Express interconnect compliance testing 8/20/2008
Time-domain S-parameter measurements can dramatically simplify routine differential insertion-loss measurements. This technique leverages the nearly controlled impedance path in a TDR instrument to reduce the calibration overhead compared with a vector-network-analyzer approach.Selecting op amps for high-speed ATE digitizers 7/31/2008
Current-feedback amplifiers can provide constant analog bandwidth as they operate in the different gain configurations found in automated test equipment.Measurement-based simulation simplifies analysis of lossy backplanes and cables 7/10/2008
A systematic approach uses DSO-based TDR and TDT measurements to construct models whose simulated response displays an uncanny resemblance to the response of the real hardware.Theory of relativity visits “real-time” clock 6/26/2008
TALES FROM THE CUBE: What would make a logic analyzer's internal clock run faster than real time, but only while being set?Experts
The design-and-test merger 6/26/2008
An effective design-and-test strategy will require a holistic effort across the entire chip-design and -production ecosystem.Pointy tips: How to straighten bent oscilloscope probe tips 5/29/2008
My high-speed-oscilloscope probes were bent so badly that they looked like elf shoes. Here's how I fixed them.Scrape it: How to probe a microstrip trace with no accessible test points or vias 4/28/2008
The lowly scraper is the best tool for the job. Given the right curvature, you can scrape a path just wide enough to reveal a trace under test without exposing other nearby features.External instruments here to stay 3/20/2008
Whatever the interface standard, real external instruments and systems that gather test data and external software that performs yield-learning and other analysis tasks must supplant embedded instruments.Setting up your oscilloscope to measure jitter 10/3/2007
Because real-time oscilloscopes are workhorses in any laboratory, it’s important to know how to get the most out of them. Jitter measurements are particularly sensitive to their environment.DesignIdeas
