Advanced technology now lets budget-priced instrumentation handle tasks once requiring specialized and pricey test gear. Trevor Smith | Pico Technology Test & Measurement With a significant segment of engineers and researchers working at home or away from their lab during the pandemic, there is a large incentive to troubleshoot designs and validate performance using systems […]
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Monitoring heart rate variability for better athletic ability
Sensors and sophisticated algorithms together deliver check heart-rate variability and other exercise metrics. Alisher Kholmatov, Recep Ozgun Micros, Security & Software Business Unit, Maxim Integrated From weekend warriors to professional athletes, most people who engage in regular sports activity take note of various factors that influence their performance. Some meticulously track certain metrics from game […]
Basics of monitoring vs. testing in current, voltage and power
Industrial measurements often must take place via specialized transducers sized specifically for the current and voltage swings involved. Will Delsman | NK Technologies Older ammeters worked great when the current flowed at a steady 50 or 60 Hz. Consider the antique GE model 8AK1A1AF. I have one that remains accurate after decades of use and […]
Capabilities of modern data recorders
Fast sampling rates and long recording times make data recorders useful for documenting signal qualities that ordinary test equipment can easily miss. Jamie Pederson | B&K Precision Corp. Data recording instruments have a long history that dates back to the 1800s when Charles Babbage incorporated an instrument into a rail car to record over a […]
FIPS 140-2 security testing for wireless medical devices
Design engineers should be aware of several testing issues surrounding encryption standards designed to protect data from bad actors. Jay White | Laird Connectivity The bad guys don’t care about your social security number and credit card numbers as much as you might think. Stolen security numbers are almost literally a dime a dozen on […]
Researchers get a charge out of measuring eels with battery powered oscilloscopes
Next time you find yourself swimming around with electric eels, try grabbing one and then put the leads of a battery powered oscilloscope on its head and tail. According to University of Central Florida zoology professor Will Crampton, you’ll probably measure a voltage in the 700-V range. Crampton and his associates went to the rivers […]
Testing regimes for the new frequencies and features of 5G
Measurements taking place in pre-commercial 5G network trials provide new insights and overcome uncertainties before the technology’s formal launch. By Rohde&Schwarz The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defined fifth-generation (5G) cellular technology in Release 15, which updated mission-critical (MC) communications and MC service functions, to meet the International Telecommunication Union’s IMT-2020 performance requirements. IMT-2020 laid […]
Verifying 5G with OTA testing
The 5G realm puts a new emphasis on making measurements without hardwired connections. Adnan Khan | Anritsu Co. 5G systems are being rolled out globally, bringing with them throughput speeds of up to 10 Gbps, higher frequencies that extend into the millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum, and devices operating in multiple radio access technologies (RATs). Engineers […]
Detecting counterfeit integrated circuits without a microscope
Curve-trace testing can reveal whether an incoming batch of ICs are bogus without resorting to destructive inspection measures. Alan Lowne | Saelig Making fake “lookalike” integrated circuits which resemble real ones takes minimal skill. It may simply require finding cheap parts in the same package and applying new markings. This problem has arisen due to […]
The complexity of wireless receiver testing
Eric Hsu | Keysight Technologies, Inc. The demand for wireless communications now challenges the physical limitations of today’s wireless communications systems. Interference can easily arise when systems operate in a crowded wireless environment using a shared spectrum. Signal congestion makes the process of designing, testing, and isolating system problems more complex. In the next few […]