When you’re done with a data storage drive, it’s nice to make sure that all of the data is scrubbed from it. A drive that’s returned, repurposed, or discarded can have personal or confidential data on it. Discarded drives have been found with everything from financial and medical data, email, and even pornography on them. […]
FAQ
Digital phosphor oscilloscopes, persistence, and eye patterns
The digital phosphor oscilloscope takes its name from the old analog phosphor scope, but the resemblance is superficial. It was difficult to see the trace on the CRT screen in an analog scope because the electron beam dissipated instantly. To solve this problem, early engineers came up with the idea of coating the inner surface […]
What types of connectors are used in industrial motion control systems?
Most cable assemblies used in motion control systems require some type of interconnect device to transmit the signals from the cable to the motor or drive. Commonly used connectors include M12 and M8 connectors, which are circular connectors with a 12- or 8-mm locking thread used for sensors, actuators, Fieldbus and industrial Ethernet, primarily in […]
The basics of simulating radar signals with AWGs
Radar is quite simple in concept, but it becomes highly complex in actual implementation. Many decades passed between the time it was first envisioned and when useful working models emerged, which happened just in time to save England from total defeat in the 1940s. When it comes to testing radar, the situation has become easier […]
Electrical noise, Part 2: Additional perspectives
In Part 1, we looked at some facets of noise: sources, external versus internal (intrinsic) noise, and equations. Part 2 goes further into noise specifics. Q: What are some of the types of noise? A: It’s a long list. The same noise may have different names depending on the perspective of the person describing it, […]
Optocouplers, Part 2: Parameters and applications
Part 1 of this FAQ explored the basics of the optocoupler. This part looks at key parameters and some application examples. Q: What are the primary factors used when assessing an optocoupler? A: While there are many important factors, there are several which are noteworthy: isolation, current-transfer ratio (CTR), linearity (for analog use), and speed. […]
So what’s all this compound semiconductor wafer stuff?
David Danzilio from Wind Semiconductor sat down with us to explain some of the basics behind fabricating wafers in the compound semiconductor area. Compound semiconductors have a lot of commercial applications in optoelectronics. Many have a direct bandgap that makes them efficient light emitters. (As a quick review, the band gap is called direct if […]
Electrical noise, Part 1: Introductory concepts
Electrical noise is a consideration that engineers think, talk, worry, sometimes obsess about, and deal with nearly all the time, with few exceptions. In many applications, it is the limiting factor on ultimate achievable system performance. If it were not for the existence of noise, many design situations would be far, far easier. Noise is […]
Test bed demo: Getting ready for emerging millimeter wave applications
We recently talked with Greg Jue from Keysight who took us through a demo of an R&D test bed for emerging millimeter wave applications. Specifically, as an application example, Jue set up an example 802.11ay system. The 802.11ay spec is designed as an improvement of the 802.11ad WLAN definition that will have a frequency of […]
Making noise figure measurements with handheld analyzers
We recently were able to get with Roland Zhang from Keysight who took us through a noise figure measurement system that really comes in handy if you’re doing 5G measurements in the field. Zhang explains that in the 5G arena there will be a lot of amplifiers or up and down converters to convert signals […]