Keysight Technologies, Inc. has entered the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) infrastructure ecosystem with the introduction of the Keysight AI Data Center Test Platform, designed to accelerate innovation in AI / ML network validation and optimization. The solution significantly improves the benchmarking of new AI infrastructures with unprecedented scale and efficiency. The deployment and […]
Automation
Free drivers connect Tektronix instruments to Python
Tektronix announced an open-source Python instrument driver package for the company’s test instruments. Available at no cost, the package provides you with a native Python user experience for instrument automation. With integration into daily workflows and utilizing it with a preferred Integrated Development Environment (IDE), engineers use features such as auto-complete, precise type hinting, comprehensive […]
What is GPIB and is it obsolete?
The bus, codified as the IEEE 488 standard, continues to find use in legacy test-system upgrades and in calibration labs. The General-Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) began life as the Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus (HP-IB). Hewlett-Packard, whose electronic test-and-measurement business has evolved into today’s Keysight Technologies, created the interface in the 1960s to connect multiple instruments in […]
How modularity benefits test systems
By understanding the key issues at every phase of the product lifecycle, engineers can make decisions that result in flexible, reliable, and scalable test systems. Taking a modular approach to test system development can accelerate development and mitigate risk throughout the entire product lifecycle. When it comes to designing and building automated test systems, today’s […]
How test executives automate equipment and processes
Working through test-program sets and drivers, test executives let engineers organize tests into logical sequences. They provide user interfaces for test technicians and store test results for analysis. Manufacturers of electronic and electromechanical devices rely on test instruments to generate stimuli and measure responses. While manually performing tests on the engineering bench might work for […]
Functional tester covers bench, production, and service applications
The midUTS from Bloomy contains a multimeter, data-acquisition, switching, and power supplies for testing boards and systems. Automating tests — whether for bench testing new designs, in production, or for service — increases productivity but comes at a price. If you’re going to build an automated test system all yourself, expect to specify the instrumentation, […]
What is an instrument driver and why do I need one?
Instrument drivers take some of the sting out of controlling test instruments by adding an abstraction layer. Almost everyone who uses computers has had experiences with drivers, and probably not good ones. In the olden days, if you had wanted to hook an old printer up to a new computer, you would have searched through […]
I’ve got the measurement blues again
Back from a three-year hiatus, I’m covering test and measurement again. This time, it’s for EE World.
Software tests PCIe 6.0 on high-end oscilloscope
Teledyne LeCroy has released a beta version of software for automating serial-data analysis on PAM4 signals. Engineers can request a copy. By using PAM4 modulation, PCIe 6.0 doubles data rates to 64 GT/sec (256 Gb/sec when using an x16 configuration). The “secret sauce” in the doubling comes from PAM4, which puts four voltage levels in […]
Test gear facilitates fast, accurate interfaces for new USB 80 Gpbs equipment
A new set of USB 80Gbps solutions are said to maximize the performance of USB designs and ensure compliance with the specifications implemented by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) standard to deliver accuracy and high signal fidelity. A wide range of products, including smartphones, laptops, desktop computers, tablets, and digital cameras rely on next-generation high-speed […]