The new R&S QAR50 from Rohde & Schwarz is a candidate for measuring radomes and bumpers in production. The tester’s innovative design ensures short measurement times and accurate, reproducible results with a very attractive price/performance ratio. A highly modular software concept allows the R&S QAR50 to be adapted to individual requirements. Advanced driver assistance functions […]
Test and Measurement Tips
PC-based scopes decode I3C waveforms
MIPI I3C Basic specification waveforms can now be decoded, displayed and analyzed on any PicoScope with sufficient bandwidth and memory depth. I3C is a medium-speed control and data bus interface for connecting peripherals to an application processor in embedded systems and a range of mobile, Internet of Things (IoT) and automotive applications. Implemented as a […]
The difference between Moore’s law and Edholm’s law
Most engineers are familiar with the observation named after Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, who in 1965 posited that the number of components on integrated circuits had doubled annually and projected this rate of growth would continue for at least another decade. In 1975, looking forward to the next decade, he […]
DIO card completes PCIe instrument family
Spectrum instrumentation’s family of PCIe instrument cards also includes digitizers and waveform generators. Automated test systems often need to generate and measure analog signals. They often need to provide digital I/O for status monitoring and control of test hardware or industrial process equipment. With the addition of the M2p.7515-x4 digital I/O card, Spectrum Instrumentation completes […]
Choosing the right amplifier
Amplifiers come in all shapes and sizes. The key characteristic of virtually every amplifier is its gain and fidelity of the output relative to the input. Gain, denoted by β (Greek letter beta), is the ratio of output voltage, current or power to input. An amplifier by definition has a power gain greater than one. […]
New protocol decoders for PC-based scopes
Four new protocol decoders/analyzers–MIL-STD-1553, CAN J1939, Quadrature encoded and Parallel bus decoders–are included with the latest PicoScope 6 software (6.14.54) for Windows, Linux and macOS operating systems. The same decoders have also been added to PicoScope 7, the next-generation PicoScope user interface. (PicoScope 7 Early Access program gives users access to the software during the […]
Economy VNAs feature units up to 20 GHz, independent CW sources for low-frequency models
Four new R&S ZNL and R&S ZNLE vector network analyzers can support up to 20 GHz of operation frequency. The economy VNAs now have the frequency range necessary to investigate even third harmonics for 5 GHz and 6 GHz band technologies, such as wireless LAN or mobile radio. The latest firmware release also includes a […]
Test applications handle automotive SerDes, MIPI A-PHY and ASA standards
New automotive serializer/deserializer (SerDes) transmit and channel test applications, as well as an automotive adapter portfolio to verify mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) A-PHY and Automotive SerDes Alliance (ASA) standards were developed by Keysight Technologies in collaboration with Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp. and Rosenberger. High-speed automotive SerDes interfaces enable transport data streams to make in-vehicle […]
Odd ball application department: Using a scope to display SEM images
The Applied Science YouTube channel run by Ben Krasnow (who in his day job is a hardware engineer at Verily, Google Life Sciences) focuses on interesting applications of science and technology. One video in particular caught our eye where Kranow uses an oscilloscope to help view digital images captured by a scanning electron microscope made […]
DC nanoammeter measures from 1 nA to 800 mA with 10-pA resolution
The NanoRanger NR-01 is an affordable, highly accurate 3.5-digit dc ammeter designed for accurately measuring low currents. With automatic dynamic ranging (9 ranges across 8.5 decades), NanoRanger measures currents from 1 nA up to 800 mA with a maximum resolution of 10 pA. Each instrument is supplied factory calibrated, eliminating the requirement for high-cost precision […]