Test-and-measurement challenges seem to
intensify every year—faster circuits, larger
ICs, new standards, increased complexity,
shorter time-to-market, and, perhaps most
importantly, shrinking margins. Never fear,
though, because the T&M industry continually rises to the occasion by delivering
advanced instrumentation that prunes away
at these potentially thorny issues.
The guys who design the latest test equipment hang out on the leading edge of engineering. But what do they use to test their own
extreme designs? It's still an analog world, yet T&M equipment
designers create the most far-out proprietary hardware while
steadily increasing the amount of software in their designs.
Design Drivers
The usual suspects still lead the way in
new T&M equipment development, and they will influence the
introduction of new products. These drivers include:
- High-speed serial buses: Gigabit-rate buses like PCI Express,
SATA, SAS, RapidIO, and HDMI, as well as old standbys like
10Gigabit Ethernet, SONET, and Fibre Channel, are rapidly
being adopted in most new designs.
- Wireless test: As wireless chips and products flood the market, there's an ever-increasing need to find new and better
ways to test microwave products, cell phones, and exotic technologies like multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) (see "10
Trends Keep Wireless T&M Vendors On Their Toes").
- New and updated standards: Almost everything follows a standard today, so testing is designed around meeting the standard and com- plying with certification requirements.
- IC advances: Adoption of new smaller
geometries is faster than ever. With
90 nm just coming into its own, work
already is under way to make 65- and
45-nm chips. That means higher
speeds, increased integration, a
greater number of pins, and more
complex packaging, creating a hellish test challenge.
- Increased pressure to test faster and cheaper: Production
testing is the focus, as improvements can lead to time savings and economic benefits.
- Open-architecture ATE systems: Designers need open-architecture automated test equipment (ATE) systems that can be
more quickly and easily reconfigured.
Trends In Progress
In its attempts to meet the test
needs of design engineers and manufacturing test engineers, the T&M industry does a good job of staying ahead of
the curve in identifying new test challenges and problems.
Several trends lie ahead.
First, expect greater flexibility by using more software
and programmability. Increased use of software is a
decades-old trend, and one that's not fading. Next, we'll
see more FPGAs in instruments.
Second, the use of design for test (DFT), built-in self-test
(BIST), and revised and updated JTAG boundary-scan standards (including compression techniques) will get more play.
All of these methods help test larger ICs and boards, including the more complex multiboard systems using them.
Third, synthetic instruments break the T&M process down
into fundamental building blocks, such as digitizers, up/down
converters, and ARB function generation, and assemble them
with control software to perform some testing function. The idea
is to create ATE or other test systems that can be reconfigured
quickly for different tasks.
Synthetic instrumentation is akin to virtual instrumentation,
but it isn't exactly the same. Major application areas include
aerospace and the military, and it's quickly finding its way into
ATE. The U.S. Department of Defense synthetic instrumentation
initiative is driving its development.
New Growth Areas
Three growth areas are percolating
within the T&M circle: modular instrumentation and the PXI movement, wireless test, and video and Internet Protocol TV (IPTV).
When it comes to modular instrumentation and PXI, GPIB
and VXI systems still rule the roost.
But watch PXI—it's seen 20% annual
growth. And LXI instruments are
receiving lots of attention, too (see
"PXI And LXI Set The Table For A Tasty
Test Buffet").
As for wireless test, new and everevolving standards, in addition to new
technologies like software-defined
radio (SDR), mesh networks, and
MIMO, require fresh test methods.
Additionally, don't forget about video and audio, both of
which are booming markets. HDTV is here and ascending
rapidly. IPTV and video in cell phones are on the way. Video
remains the most complex of all electronic systems; thus,
better test equipment and methods are critical to help
smooth the way.