Rick Green 200

Optimize switching when building a test system

Aug. 28, 2017

If you are putting together a test system you’ll likely need some switching capability. In an upcoming webinar titled “Choosing the Right Platform for Switching: PXI, USB, or LXI,” Keith Moore, founder and CEO at Pickering Interfaces, and Bob Stasonis, sales and marketing director at the company, will help you develop a better understanding of the role of switching in test, and they will highlight the advantages of different switching platforms for different test applications.

Switching can serve a variety of applications—from portable ones to HALT/HASS and hardware-in-the-loop systems (HiLS). And if you think you don’t need switching, consider the issue of shared resources—a point they will elaborate on during the presentation.

Moore and Stasonis will describe the types of switching—from simple SPST switches to multiplexers that can connect one instrument to many test points. They will discuss relay types, including reed relays, electromechanical relays, and solid-state devices, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each.

They will focus extensively on PXI, LXI, and USB, highlighting issues such as the test-controller interface, voltage isolation, and remote operation. They will also present specific examples, including a video matrix test, a military software-defined radio, an RF amplifier final test, and Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) test.

“One standard does not fit all,” they will conclude, offering the advice you need to make the right choice for your test application.

The live one-hour presentation (including audience Q&A) takes place Wednesday August 30 at 1 p.m. EDT. If you miss the live event, you can view an archived version afterwards. To register, visit here.

About the Author

Rick Nelson | Contributing Editor

Rick is currently Contributing Technical Editor. He was Executive Editor for EE in 2011-2018. Previously he served on several publications, including EDN and Vision Systems Design, and has received awards for signed editorials from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. He began as a design engineer at General Electric and Litton Industries and earned a BSEE degree from Penn State.

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