Meeting the Embms Conformance Test

www.electronicspecifier.com volume 3, issue 1 Protocol observed Meeting the eMBMS conformance test

Signal integrity On with the show Nice touch Sounds good – Probing voltage – embedded world – Scope displays – Audio test software Power rails 2015 preview capacitive screen is enhanced Touch. Discover. Solve.

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Keysight_3000T_Comparative_PE_ELECSPEC.indd 1 08/01/2015 18:23 On the menu: Power analyser with Contents 28 added oscilloscope Keysight Technologies has combined the attributes of an Show Business: oscilloscope into its IntegraVision 06 Embedded World 2015 power analyser. It means R&D The cream of the test and measurement engineers designing and testing market will be heading electronic power conversion to Nuremberg later this systems can now use one instrument to access dynamic month for the embedded views of current, voltage and power. .Neither will they world exhibition and have to use a power analyser to make an accurate conference. New measurement and then turn to an oscilloscope to oscilloscopes including visualise repetitive and single-shot events such as turn-on some using capacitive touch screen technology look and occurrence of transients. certain to catch the eye of visitors Portable PC Scopes Feature 200MHz Probing Voltage Power Rails with 29 Bandwidth 10 Optimum Signal Integrity Deep memory on the benchtop or in the field. Just one Oscilloscopes continue to be a valuable tool for of the attractions of Pico Technology’s 3000D Series measuring power rail characteristics such as transient oscilloscopes. As is the modern way, the oscilloscopes response and periodic and random deviation. There are multi-functional and incorporate both a spectrum are various probing options available for making analyser and arbitrary waveform generator and advanced these measurements, from blocking capacitors to functions as standard including serial bus decoding and active probes, each with benefits and drawbacks. mask limit testing. Understanding the various probing tradeoffs is crucial in order to achieve the best signal integrity. Gentle Touch: DMM Displays 30 Capacitive Touch Screen Testing Devices’ eMBMS The iPhone generation don’t do knobs. So goes the 18 Performance: Why Conformance thinking behind the rash of capacitive touch screen Alone Is Not Enough introductions. Most of us, never mind the new kids The mobile phone industry is on the block, are comfortable with the intuitive embarking on its second attempt to approach the technology provides. Keithley implement broadcasting. This time Instruments Model DMM7510 digital multimeter around, the prospects of success look offers capacitive touch and a powerful 18-bit much brighter. With users expecting waveform digitiser. And there is a rotary control the service to work in widely varying knob for the more venerable engineer conditions, manufacturers and MNOs will need to devise and perform Test Solutions Accelerate USB 3.1 sophisticated test routines that will 35 Compliance uncover any vulnerabilities or faults in broadcasting Faster time to market and service when operating in difficult or changing conditions. reduced costs are cat nip to engineers and their Ease of Use Combined with bosses. A comprehensive 24 Powerful Analysis Tools set of USB 3.1 compliance Digital oscilloscopes can be used for a wide range test solutions that allows of applications from simple measurements such designers to quickly as frequency and rise and fall times to complex verify designs against the latest USB specifications has analyses such as determining the switching loss of a been launched by Tektronix. The new release expands switched-mode power supply. The most important Tektronix’ already extensive USB 3.1 and USB 2.0 test factor for users is that they can rely on the quality of capabilities to include a new USB 3.1 receiver test measurement results. solution supporting the 10 Gb/s data rate.

Editor: Ad sales: Head Office: Copyright 2013 Electronic Specifier. Contents of Electronic Specifier, its publication, websites and Mick Elliott Ben Price ElectronicSpecifier Ltd newsletters are the property of the publisher. The [email protected] [email protected] Comice Place, Woodfalls Farm publisher and the sponsors of this magazine are not responsible for the results of any actions or Gravelly Ways, Laddingford omissions taken on the basis of information inthis Designer: Publishing Director Kent. ME18 6DA publication. In particular, no liability can be accepted Stuart Pritchard Steve Regnier in result ofany claim based on or in relation to Tel: 01622 871944 material provided for inclusion. Electronic Specifier [email protected] [email protected] www.electronicspecifier.com is a controlled circulation journal.

electronicspecifier.com 3 Editor’s comment Keeping the show on the road There is an exhibition – embedded world – in Nuremberg later this month that has increased its audience year on year and topped 26,000 last year. Just down the autobahn electronica in its biennial November slot continues to draw 70,000 plus visitors. In the UK the Southern Manufacturing/Electronics show also defies the forecast that the digital revolution will see the At embedded world 2015 a number of new demise of the exhibition. products will be on parade from test and measurement companies. Keysight will debut Face to face meetings still count in business a power analyser and another significant and some recent research by the Centre for product that I can’t mention because it is under Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) reveals five embargo until the first day if the exhibition. reasons exhibitions will continue to flourish. Pico Technology will give its 200MHz portable Most surprising is the response from younger PC scopes centre stage, Keithley Instruments attendees – people usually seen as devotees will bring its graphical sampling digital of digital communication. The research showed multimeter to Nuremberg, and Tektronix has its that 98% feel they have a strong connection 2800 Euro spectrum analysers primed. to the exhibition channel because they identify important takeaways from attending. There is no better way to “get under the hood” of these products than visiting the show and Encouragingly for the test and measurement getting a first-hand demonstration of exactly industry the CEIR research shows keeping what these products can do and how they informed of leading trends and new products might benefit the visitors business. and gaining a deeper understanding of available products and services as key embedded world runs from February 24 to takeaways for young attendees as well February 26 at the Nuremberg Messe. as interacting and seeing a wide variety of products and meeting with a large number of The CEIR research is available on vendors in a short time period. www.ceir.org

4 electronicspecifier.com More Speed, Less Clicks Try our improved website now!

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uk.farnell.com/new-features Embedded World 2015

T&M sector heads to Nuremberg

The focus, the spotlight that the Embedded World show offers looks set to attract record numbers of exhibitors and visitors as it enters its thirteenth year. The Nuremberg-based event has stayed consistent in its approach to the market sector. Others shows with an Embedded title have come, changed brands and disappeared, while the event in Bavaria motors on smoothly.

Semiconductor suppliers, software Figure 1: The PicoScope 3000D Series oscilloscope suppliers, EDA specialists, distributors and test and measurement companies are engineers overcome usability and triggering among the 850 plus exhibitors that will all jostle challenges and improve their problem-solving for attention over the show’s three day run (Feb capability and productivity. 24-26). The shift to capacitive touch screens is being Virtually all the major test and measurement driven by a necessity to catch the eye of the companies will be tuning up their latest products iPhone generation for whom knobs are old hat. and as might be expected oscilloscopes will feature strongly with a peppering of capacitive As if to emphasise the point Keysight says touch screen instruments. that 3000T X-Series was designed specifically for operation with a capacitive touch screen. Keysight Technologies (formerly Agilent To further improve productivity, the interface Technologies if you haven’t been paying includes an alphanumeric touchpad that attention at the back of class) makes its debut replaces tedious knob-based operation and at Embedded World under its new brand to tell touch-based interaction that enables greater the embedded community that capacitive touch flexibility in displaying measurement information. screens and zone triggering have arrived in the mainstream oscilloscope market. The MDO3000 Series of Mixed Domain Oscilloscopes will be one of the highlights of Keysight (Hall 4/4-208) will demonstrate its the Tektronix (Hall 4/4-439) stand at Embedded InfiniiVision 3000T X-Series digital storage World in Nuremberg . The six in one instrument and mixed signal oscilloscopes with intuitive brings together oscilloscope functions graphical triggering capability. The scopes help integrated with a spectrum analyser, logic

6 electronicspecifier.com Embedded World 2015

analyser, protocol analyser, arbitrary function 460 Msample per channel, is available for all generator and digital voltmeter. bandwidth models.

In one sweep the design bench is cleared of UK-based Pico Technology (Hall 4/4-438) costly, specialised equipment says Tektronix. will give centre stage to its newly launched The MDO3000 Series oscilloscopes feature 2 PicoScope 3000D Series oscilloscopes which or 4 analogue input channels with bandwidth offer up to 200 MHz bandwidth, 2 or 4 analogue ranging from 100 MHz to 1 GHz, 16 digital channels plus 16 digital channels on the mixed- channels (optional) and one RF input channel signal (MSO) models, and deep memories from matching the bandwidth of the oscilloscope (9 64 to 512 MS. Capable of debugging the latest kHz up to analogue bandwidth). The RF input digital and mixed signal designs, the scopes frequency on any model can be extended to 3 offer a maximum real-time sampling rate of 1 GHz. GS/s and feature a USB 3.0 interface and a built-in arbitrary waveform generator (AWG).The It is five years since Rohde & Schwarz (Hall slim case design makes the scopes convenient 4/4-218) announced its entry onto the for both benchtop and portable use. oscilloscope market and the company will show new models, applications and accessories at The 512 MS buffer memory can be segmented, Embedded World. enabling acquisition of up to 10 000 individual waveform segments of 50 000 samples, with High definition mode increases the vertical less than 1 µs re-arm time between each resolution of the R&S RTO and R&S RTE digital segment. Memory segmentation is beneficial oscilloscopes to up to 16 bits, a 256 fold when analysing waveform bursts or serial data improvement over the 8 bit resolution available packets that include long gaps. PicoScope can in standard mode. To achieve this higher be set to trigger on each packet and skip the resolution, the signal is low pass-filtered directly gaps that are of no interest. This function allows after the A/D converter. The digital filter reduces the noise, while increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. The higher resolution leads to sharper waveforms, showing signal details that would otherwise be masked by noise.

Rohde & Schwarz has added a new model with 200 MHz bandwidth to its R&S RTM bench oscilloscope family. The history and segmented memory option, which expands the maximum memory depth to an unprecedented Figure 2: Teledyne LeCroy’s WaveJet Touch oscilloscope

electronicspecifier.com 7 Embedded World 2015

users to acquire, Fig 3. Rigol’s oscilloscopes will be on show for instance, CAN data packets over several minutes and then analyse the packet content at a later point in time.

The oscilloscopes are multi-function, and include a spectrum analyser and arbitrary waveform generator (AWG), and many advanced functions as standard, such as serial bus decoding, mask models leverage Rigol’s ground breaking ultra- limit testing, maths channels and filtering vision technology from the DS6000 series.

A highlight of the Teledyne LeCroy (Hall 4/4-510) Rigol also offers for their customers a much display will be WaveJet Touch oscilloscope, better and extended flexibility in ordering and providing a nifty 500 MHz for $5,000. The configuring oscilloscopes of the DS/MSO4000 availability of a touch screen as well as powerful series, at affordable pricing for future needs. debug tools and advanced triggering is unique among oscilloscopes with comparable Citing a market trend for more accurate low specifications and pricing. Built on the popular power measurements, Keithley Instruments (Hall WaveJet 300 oscilloscope platform, the WaveJet 4/4-439) has launched a graphical sampling Touch is available in two models with 350 MHz digital multimeter that will be demonstrated in or 500 MHz bandwidth, four channels, up to 5 Nuremberg. Mpts of memory at 2 GS/s, and a 7.5in touch screen display. The new 7-1/2 digit instrument integrates a high accuracy digital multimeter, a digitiser for Rigol Technologies (Hall 4/4-520) will present waveform capture, and a capacitive touchscreen new oscilloscopes at embedded world user interface. 2015. This will complete Rigol’s portfolio with practice-oriented and cost-effective Expanded measurement ranges at 100mV, 1Ω, products. and 10µA enhance low level accuracy and an auto-calibration feature minimises temperature Besides their standard oscilloscopes Rigol will and time drift. Low burden voltage improves low show the Mixed Signal Oscilloscope Series current measurement accuracy. MSO1000Z (70 and 100 MHz bandwidth) and MSO2000A (up to 300 MHz bandwidth). Both The integrated 1MS/sec, 18-bit digitiser allows

8 electronicspecifier.com Come and see us at Embedded World 2015 Embedded World Nuremburg 24 – 26th February 2015 users to view and analyse current and voltage Booth 4 - 438 waveforms and transients without the need for an additional instrument or PC. THE NEW JTAG Technologies (Hall 4/4-578) will travel down from its Eindhoven to demonstrate its PICOSCOPE 3000 SERIES CoreCommander and JTAG Translator for Up to 200 MHz analog bandwidth FPGAs. Deep buffer memory up to 512 MS JTAG Translator is an IP module from JTAG MSO models with 16 digital channels Technologies that provides a JTAG interface to the internal IP connection bus of an FPGA 2 or 4 analog channels to which peripherals / peripheral controllers 1 GS/s real-time sampling are connected. JTAG Translator is operated through a dedicated CoreCommander that can be used with JTAGLive and ProVision as well as with all our production packages. CoreCommander provides high-level functions to write data to and read data from memory and I/O addresses without software programming. CoreCommander functions are applied via the JTAG interface.

Argosim (Hall 4/4-236) will unveil STIMULUS, a modelling and simulation environment to edit, debug, and test requirements and it will host a technical presentation and demos that exhibit how early validation of requirements can be achieved. The demonstration will use STIMULUS to validate the take-off procedure of an intelligent drone, which is able to autonomously track and film moving people equipped with a mobile phone.

PLS Programmierbare Logik & Systeme (Hall 4/4-310) will debut its Universal Debug Engine (UDE) 4.4 at embedded world 2015 in Hall 4, Booth 4-310. The UDE 4.4 features significantly enhanced debugging procedures for complex system-on-chips (SoCs) with heterogeneous controller cores, optimised data visualisation in system-level debugging as well as dedicated support of a wide range Includes serial bus decoding and analysis (CAN, LIN, RS232, I2C, of state-of-the-art 32-bit multicore SoCs of I2S, SPI, FlexRay), segmented memory, mask testing, spectrum different manufacturers. analysis, and software development kit (SDK) all as standard, with free software updates and five years warranty. electronicspecifier.com 9 www.picotech.com/PS424 Measurement quality Probing voltage power rails with optimum signal integrity By Ned Brush, Hardware Design Engineer, Keysight Technologies

Throughout the electronics industry, lower power consumption and increased data rates continue to drive power rails to lower voltages. Consistent with these lower amplitudes, tighter specifications are placed on the supplies and their power delivery. Oscilloscopes continue to be a valuable tool for measuring power rail characteristics such as transient response and periodic and random deviation. There are various probing options available for making these measurements, from blocking capacitors to active probes, each with benefits and drawbacks. Additionally, the probe’s physical connection can have an impact on the quality of the measurement. Input loading, noise and offset are important aspects of probing DC power supplies. Understanding the various probing tradeoffs is crucial in order to achieve the best signal integrity.

On the surface, DC power supplies appear rail with an oscilloscope probe can prove to be a simple component in the growing difficult. Noise from the oscilloscope and complexity of today’s electronic industry. the probe has the potential to drown out the However, as microprocessors and RF chips signal and a poor physical connection can continue toward reduced power consumption degrade the entire measurement. and increased data rates, they place greater demands on the circuits that provide their Minimal probe loading power. A supply must deliver voltage and Power rail probing requirements are much current that is stable and precise, regardless like that of any other signal, but there are of its varying load. Voltage rail designers some key differences. Noise, loading and are under pressure to tighten voltage offset are the primary concerns. As with tolerances and remove unwanted signals nearly all probing, minimal probe loading on their supplies. Accurately measuring is desirable although the loading at low characteristics such as periodic and random frequencies is of particular interest when deviation (PARD), noise, and dynamic measuring supplies. Power rails are less response is essential in today’s power supply sensitive to probe loading since they tend design. Power supply designers in almost all to have low source impedance. However, as electronic industries use oscilloscopes to see with other signals, minimal probe loading at power rail variation with time. Because these low frequencies, especially DC, is desirable variations are often small in amplitude, as low so that the probe doesn’t draw appreciable as tenths of millivolts, measuring the power current from the supply.

10 electronicspecifier.com Measurement quality

Figure 1 shows a plot of loading versus frequency for various power rail probing solutions.

In order to accurately measure small measurement, such as oscilloscope noise voltages, noise is perhaps the biggest and probe attenuation, is critical to achieving concern for power rail probing. Although optimal measurements. the DC voltage of a supply may be a fundamental measurement, the supply’s Lastly, probe offset range can play a critical output is not perfect DC. AC noise and role in minimizing noise. In order to measure transient responses to varying loads are the supply with an oscilloscope’s lowest principal concerns when analyzing power noise settings, the probe needs adequate rails. Specifications such as PARD must be offset range. By dialing the probe offset to measured in real-time, therefore averaging is match the supply’s DC voltage, the signal can be centered on the oscilloscope screen at maximum zoom, where the oscilloscope typically has no attenuation and thus minimal noise. Large offset capabilities allow different supplies to be closely inspected, regardless Ripple and noise characteristics of the DC voltage. Blocking capacitor There are a handful of different probing options for measuring power supply rails not practical. In order to accurately quantify on an oscilloscope. No method is perfect, the ripple and noise characteristics of the and each has different tradeoffs Perhaps supply, additional noise from the oscilloscope the most common technique is a blocking measurement should be minimized. capacitor or AC coupling mode on the Understanding noise contributed by the oscilloscope. This allows the rail to be

electronicspecifier.com 11 Measurement quality

probed directly with a cable into a 50Ω input. does not have enough offset range to The main benefit of this method is that the accommodate the DC voltage of interest, the oscilloscope can measure practically any only option is to increase the volts/division, DC voltage at high sensitivity. The main thus increasing the noise of the measurement. drawback is that low frequency content is not Another significant drawback to this method observable. Often power supply designers is the loading. The supply needs to provide need to analyze slow variations or long current for an additional load load at 50Ω DC. transients. If the frequency of the variations Depending on the design, this additional load is below the cutoff of the filter, a blocking may cause the supply to behave differently capacitor does not allow these behaviours to than it would without the 50Ω load at DC. In be observed. a simple example, the 50Ω load may cause a lower output voltage from a linear regulator. Another common technique is to probe However, in designs with less margin or the supply with a 50Ω cable directly into more complexity, the behavior may be more the 50Ω channel of the oscilloscope. By unexpected. dialing the oscilloscope channel’s offset to match the DC voltage, the signal can High sensitivity be viewed using minimal attenuation, thus Another option available to probe power minimizing the noise contribution from the supply rails is an active probe. Both single- ended and differential active probes are suitable for this measurement. By dialing the probe’s offset to match the DC voltage of the rail, the signal can be viewed at high sensitivity. Oscilloscope channel There are several factors to consider when using an active probe to measure a power rail. Active probes offer varying offset ranges. It is important to use a probe that oscilloscope. This method also allows DC has enough offset range to cover the power content and frequencies up to the bandwidth rail voltage. Another concern when using of the oscilloscope to be observed. If the an active probe is input noise. Most active bandwidth of the oscilloscope is considerably probes have attenuation in order to maintain greater than the frequencies of interest, the usable input ranges. Probe attenuation channel bandwidth should be reduced to increases the input-referred noise because help minimize the noise contribution from the it multiplies the oscilloscope noise by its oscilloscope. attenuation factor in addition to the noise contributed by the probe. Typically, active There are a few drawbacks to using a 50Ω probes with attenuation will have significantly cable directly into an oscilloscope channel. more input-referred noise than a blocking Perhaps the biggest drawback is the limited capacitor or direct 50Ω channel. Because a offset range of the oscilloscope at high probe’s attenuation can often be a significant sensitivities. As the volts per division setting contributor to its input-referred noise, a on the oscilloscope channel is minimized, probe with 1:1 attenuation is generally so is the offset range. If the oscilloscope preferred when probing power supplies.

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Even though active probes offer several Figure 2 shows a pigtail probe head connected to key advantages such as minimal loading a 0402 capacitor with minimal ground inductance. and wide input range, they are usually less desirable for probing power rails due to their higher noise. Probe loading at Very low noise higher frequencies Probes designed specifically for measuring power supplies are starting to see demand. These probes sacrifice some of the general purpose capabilities found in traditional active up to ±24V, with minimal noise and loading. probes in favour of characteristics that make For power rails, this probe offers many of the them ideal for power supply measurements. benefits of the probing techniques described They offer very low noise, minimal DC above with virtually no sacrifices. loading, large offset and wide input range. One example of these probes is the N7020A As mentioned earlier, loading is a concern from Keysight Technologies (Figure 3). With for power rail measurements, particularly at 1:1 attenuation and 50kΩ DC resistance, it low frequency. A plot of the probe loading can measure wideband content, including DC of the various probing options discussed

14 electronicspecifier.com Measurement quality

above is shown in Figure 1. Because most result of external influence due to an inferior power supplies have low source impedance, connection. There are two main sources of they won’t be significantly impacted by the noise caused by a poor ground connection. probe loading at higher frequencies. The One is ground loop injection and the other 50Ω cable will draw substantial current at is electromagnetic pickup. Excessive DC, whereas the other probes will not. The length in either the probe’s signal or ground active probe is the only option shown in connection will cause both cases to be Figure 1 that maintains low loading out to worse. high frequencies. While this is important in other general purpose probing applications Ground loops are often a concern with where the source impedance may be higher, single-ended probes. Ground loops are this is typically not advantageous for power created when two or more ground paths rail applications since the source impedance are tied together at two or more points. It is low. creates a problematic measurement when the device under test (DUT) ground potential differs from the oscilloscope chassis ground potential. When this occurs, current travels down the probe ground shield causing a Electromagnetic pickup signal to appear on the screen. To determine in the measurement

Identify sources of All of the probing options described above radiated energy have a common element that can have a drastic impact on signal integrity - the first 1/4in of the probe. Whenever the amplitude of the signals of interest is small, the quality of the physical probe connection can have if a ground loop is a concern, the probe a significant impact on the integrity of the ground and input should be connected to the DUT ground. If a signal appears on the oscilloscope, the ground loop should be removed. This can be accomplished by improving the DUT ground and oscilloscope ground at the bench or tying the oscilloscope Source impedance ground directly to the DUT ground with a low impedance path. Electromagnetic energy Noise can also be caused by electromagnetic measurement. Electromagnetic pickup in interference. In this case, the ground lead the measurement might be caused by the acts as a single turn loop antenna. Any oscilloscope and probe, it might be part of nearby circuits that emit electromagnetic the signal at the probe tip or it might be the energy could be picked up by the probe and

electronicspecifier.com 15 Measurement quality

show up in the measurement. If moving the ground lead around causes the nature of the noise to change, noise pickup is likely an issue. Another method to determine the source of the noise is to disconnect the probe from the DUT and connect the input to the ground lead. Effectively an antenna, the probe tip can be moved around to various potential offenders to identify sources of radiated energy.

In the case of a single-ended measurement, a prepared coaxial transmission line, often referred to as a “pigtail,” generally provides the best physical connection for measuring power rails. As shown in Figure 2, a pigtail has a protruding center conductor Figure 3 shows the N7020A probe and an exposed, tinned outer shield, making it easier to solder between supply side of the bypass and the shield can the voltage rail and ground. With virtually no be soldered to the ground side, as shown in excessive ground length, ground inductance Figure 2. is minimized. Additionally, the loop area between the center conductor and ground An oscilloscope is a valuable tool when is reduced, making the connection less analyzing power supply designs. As greater requirements are placed on power supply specifications and voltages of interest become smaller, signal integrity is paramount. Various probing methods, from blocking capacitors Minimizing the to active probes have different tradeoffs. ground length Factors such as input loading, noise and offset should be considered when choosing a probe. Additionally, the physical connection has a direct impact on the quality of the measurement. Minimizing the ground length is essential in order susceptible to outside influences. Often a to maintain the best noise performance. When bypass capacitor provides a convenient measuring power supply rails, it is important to location to probe a rail with a pigtail. The understand the tradeoffs of different probing centre conductor can be soldered to the techniques and connections.

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Keysight_RV_LTE-A_Product_PE_ELECSPEC.indd 1 12/01/2015 10:10 Mobile broadcasting Testing devices’ eMBMS performance: why conformance alone By Steve Bovingdon, Field is not enough Applications Engineer, Anritsu (UK)

The mobile telephone industry first Fast-forward to today, and the industry attempted to create a broadcasting is gearing up for a second attempt to service in 2007. It was a failure. implement broadcasting to the mobile phone. And this time around, the prospects of success look much brighter. As this In retrospect, it was a technology ahead article will show, however, users will expect of its time. Specified as a feature in the the service to work in widely varying UMTS protocol, Multimedia Broadcast conditions. In order to meet consumers’ Multicast Services (MBMS) was the subject expectations for quality of service, of a number of successful network tests, manufacturers and MNOs will need to but was never deployed commercially devise and perform sophisticated test by network operators. Several factors routines that will uncover any vulnerabilities contributed to the technology’s downfall at or faults in broadcasting service when the time, chief among them was the limited operating in difficult or changing conditions. bandwidth available on 3G networks, and the relative immaturity of users’ devices Feeding users’ appetite for data

The latest attempt to get mobile broadcasting off the ground is not a Meeting consumers’ repeat episode of the earlier failure – and this gives the industry hope that it will quality expectations succeed second time around. In fact, the broadcasting environment today is utterly changed from the situation in 2007. Now, video streaming from services such as Netflix and YouTube makes up the biggest (notably the coarse display resolution and proportion of the data being consumed by short battery life). In addition, the mobile subscribers, and industry analysts suggest network operators (MNOs) themselves that this trend is set to continue. Cisco lacked content or any strategy for predicts that monthly global mobile data distributing it. traffic will exceed 15 exabytes (15 million

18 electronicspecifier.com Mobile broadcasting

terabytes) by 2018, and that video will account for more than two thirds of this traffic.

As MNOs scramble to scale up 4G network capacity to meet the demand, they are finding that the bottleneck is the air interface. Mobile broadcasting is an attractive solution to this problem: users receiving the same content from a unicast mode of distribution (where each user occupies a dedicated resource) may be moved to a multicast or broadcast mode, sharing the same resources and freeing bandwidth.

There is an obvious problem with this Fig. 1: the channel structure of an eMBMS service strategy: the nature of the service provided by YouTube or Netflix means that no two users in the same cell are ever likely to be If mobile broadcasting is to be a success streaming the same content at exactly the second time round, however, the strategy same time. will need to involve more than the linear transmission of existing TV programming. In fact, there are many more uses for broadcast technology, and they could improve network efficiency and generate new revenue streams. Examples include: Peaks in demand for streaming video • large smartphone updates

• daily subscription content such as newspapers

• downloads of newly released films MNOs, however, are aware of the massive consumer appeal of certain kinds of All could be distributed simultaneously to live programming. For example, UEFA multiple user devices through a broadcast Champions League football matches, service. Formula 1 races, or contest shows involving audience voting all draw a large Rival broadcasting audience for live broadcasts. In fact, MNOs technologies are already seeing peaks in demand for streaming video during live events, without So how does the industry envisage having actively promoted their networks as implementing broadcasting to mobile a platform for viewing live programmes. handsets and tablets now?

electronicspecifier.com 19 Mobile broadcasting

Several existing technologies – DVB-H, DVB-T2 Lite, ATSC-MH – may be used to broadcast multimedia content to mobile devices. They are inferior in some important respects, however, to the latest version of the MBMS technology that failed in 2007, called evolved MBMS (eMBMS):

• eMBMS uses existing LTE network infrastructure, so does not require the installation of new broadcasting transmitter stations

• the amount of a cell’s capacity dedicated to broadcast can be adjusted according to demand

The new eMBMS technology takes advantage of the increased bandwidth available in LTE networks: a 5MHz LTE cell can support 20 streaming channels at 256kbps, whereas a UMTS cell can only support six. Fig. 2: the logical network structure of an eMBMS implementation

eMBMS is also gaining support from the main manufacturers of chipsets for groups of eNodeB stations transmitting the smartphones, and eMBMS will be available same data. From the perspective of the as a feature in an increasing number of user equipment, it appears as if the data handsets, starting with high-end models. originate from a single source.

Already, as of November 2014, one The operation of an MBSFN requires commercial network operator (in South each eNodeB in an MBSFN to be tightly Korea) has deployed eMBMS, and many synchronised, so that signals arrive at the others have successfully completed trials. user equipment within the cyclic prefix (which is extended in eMBMS to cater for New mobile broadcasting longer transmission paths); this reduces network architecture inter-symbol interference. An advantage of the MBSFN architecture is that the multiple The eMBMS protocol for LTE networks signals may be aggregated, improving is detailed in release 9 of the 3GPP reception particularly at cell boundaries. specifications, and continues to be enhanced in each new release. There are a To support MBMS for LTE, two new logical number of elements in the architecture of channels have been added: the MTCH eMBMS. One is the Multimedia Broadcast (Multicast Traffic Channel) and MCCH Single-Frequency Network (MBSFN): (Multicast Control Channel), along with a

20 electronicspecifier.com Mobile broadcasting

new transport channel, MCH, and a physical some dedicated core network elements (see channel, PMCH (see Figure 1). Figure 2).

The MTCH and MCCH are multiplexed on The Multi-cell/multicast Coordination Entity to the same multicast transport channel (MCE) is responsible for the scheduling of for transmission. The MCCH carries the MCH, allocating radio resources and information about the services available in deciding on the modulation and coding the MBSFN area, and about the way that scheme to be used. The MCE could user equipment can locate and decode the logically reside at the eNodeB, but this services transmitted on the MTCH. would limit the scope of the MBSFN area to those cells controlled by that one eNodeB. One MCH channel can carry multiple MBMS services but only for one MBSFN; an In addition, the Broadcast Multicast-Service MBSFN, however, may contain one or more Centre (BM-SC) bundles the content MCHs. received into packages, such as streaming video or files to be pushed to users, for The complexity of the network architecture delivery via the MBMS gateway. required to deliver broadcast content does not stop there, however. As stated The Mobility Management Entity (MME) above, an eMBMS service uses existing is not a dedicated eMBMS element, but infrastructure. This is true – but it also needs is a key component of all LTE networks.

With 2, 4 or 8 channels Yokogawa MSOs provide More channels, enough inputs and analysis features for complete measurements on embedded, automotive, power and more memory mechatronics systems.

Mixed Signal Oscilloscopes 250Mpoints memory – Capture for longer periods and maintain high sample rates.

Yokogawa DLM2000 & DLM4000 MSOs Contact us: +31 88 464 1429 2, 4 or 8 analogue input channels tmi.yokogawa.com/scopes Up to 24 digital inputs 200, 350 and 500 MHz bandwidths Memory up to 250Mpoints For more information: scan this QR-code.

DLM4000_130x190-AD.indd 1 05/02/15 11:36 Mobile broadcasting

It hosts functions such as authentication, NAS signalling, PDN gateway and serving gateway selection, bearer management and mobility functions. Verifying performance in all conditions

In such a complex architecture, there are many potential points at which a broadcast service could fail, and many different operating conditions could feasibly lead to stress that could disable the service. a defined MBSFN service area, correctly reads the specific system information Before deployment, therefore, chipset (systeminformationblock13 dedicated to manufacturers and mobile device MBMS), to determine the details of the manufacturers will need to test their MCCH that it will need to decode in order to devices’ eMBMS performance in many understand the services being offered and different use cases. the radio configuration required to receive broadcasts. The industry’s 3GPP consortium, of course, defines the eMBMS standard But a chipset or device OEM will need to and approves conformance test cases go beyond the conformance test cases which may be used to verify that a device if they want to be confident that the user performs in accordance with the standard. experience of the modem/handset will (In fact, Anritsu was the first test equipment meet consumers’ high expectations. This provider, in July 2014, to have eMBMS ensures that they will not subsequently have protocol conformance test cases validated to invest time and effort into investigating by the industry’s GCF testing body.) and remedying costly failures or problems of devices in the field.

Likewise, the network operator will want to test the interoperability of devices on its network implementation, again to verify Preventing costly the user experience and to prevent costly network faults network faults. Various use cases therefore need to be conceived and tested.

For instance, the modem must perform well when handling data at various coding rates, A conformance test, however, has a limited and with different modulation schemes. scope: it simply shows whether a device’s In the eMBMS specification there is no implementation of the eMBMS protocol concept of hybrid repeat requests. Also, conforms to the specification. For example, RLC transmissions are unacknowledged, it will check whether the device, on entering so data are not automatically retransmitted

22 electronicspecifier.com Mobile broadcasting

over the air interface. This means that it incomplete files, work seamlessly with the is important that the modem be robustly underlying protocol stack. The device must tested in difficult radio conditions, and be also be able to handle the reception of video tested when operating with a signal-to- transmissions when the network moves noise ratio markedly lower than normal. from broadcast to unicast transmission. This is crucial in eMBMS testing, because when packets are lost from a video These are just some of the many scenarios stream, the resulting image or sound that will need to be tested. break-up is readily noticed by the viewer, and user satisfaction with the device will Comprehensive platform consequently suffer. for eMBMS service testing

As stated above, Anritsu has moved quickly to provide device OEMs and chipset manufacturers with approved test cases for protocol conformance testing. But for more Ensuring functions extensive device testing, a tool such as the work seamlessly Rapid Test Designer (RTD), which runs on Anritsu’s MD8430A LTE signalling tester, greatly facilitates the development and execution of appropriate test routines.

Another key use case to be tested is the In addition, the RTD supports Expway’s operation of the device when in motion. BM-SC for Testing, a platform from which For instance, how does the device handle many of the test scenarios described above a temporary loss of signal? Does it recover the service when the signal returns?

And what happens when the device moves from a cell in the MBSFN area to a cell Comprehensive simulated outside it, where the current service might network environment no longer be available?

Testing will also reveal how the device performs in the presence of background packet-switched sessions. An incoming can be simulated. The RTD provides the voice call places a different stress on capability for test designers to simulate the device, requiring it to simultaneously repeatable network conditions, while receive both a unicast and a multicast Expway’s server, which is used in live transmission. network deployments, offers the ability to stream actual media content. Together, they It will in addition be necessary to test provide a comprehensive simulated network the integration of eMBMS middleware, environment, giving designers a detailed ensuring that the various functions, such insight into device performance in a wide as file delivery mechanisms and repair of variety of usage conditions.

electronicspecifier.com 23 Oscilloscopes Ease of use combined with powerful analysis tools By Sylvia Reitz, Product Manager Oscilloscopes, Rohde & Schwarz

Fig. 1: The multifunctional oscilloscopes provide time domain, logic, protocol and frequency analysis in a single box. They are available with two or four channels and a bandwidth of 200 MHz, 350 MHz, 500 MHz and 1 GHz.

The more details an oscilloscope can show, the higher the probability that the user will be able to analyze signal faults or important events. As a prerequisite, the oscilloscope must have a high time resolution that is based on the sampling rate. In addition, many applications also require long record lengths, for instance for analyzing the data content of Measurement results serial protocols. In order to maintain a high Digital oscilloscopes can be used for a wide sampling rate even for long signal sequences, range of applications from simple measurements the oscilloscope requires a deep memory. such as frequency and rise and fall times to The RTE offers a powerful combination of complex analyses such as determining the sampling rate and memory depth. A sampling switching loss of a switched-mode power rate of 5 Gsample/s at a memory depth of supply. The most important factor for users is 10 Msample is available per channel (can that they can rely on the quality of measurement be optionally expanded to 50 Msample per channel). Acquisition mode The less often signal faults occur, the longer Sampling rate and memory depth it can take to detect them. This makes a high acquisition rate critical. The core of the oscilloscope is an ASIC that was especially designed for parallel processing. As a result, the oscilloscope can acquire, analyze and display results. The R&S RTE oscilloscopes from Rohde more than one million waveforms per second & Schwarz (Fig. 1 and Table), are backed by the without a special acquisition mode (Fig. 2). The manufacturer’s many years of experience in the high acquisition rate makes it possible to find development of precision test and measurement signal faults faster and more reliably, effectively equipment. shortening debugging time.

24 electronicspecifier.com Oscilloscopes

The highly accurate digital trigger system is another factor ensuring precise results. This unique system determines when a trigger condition is met by directly analyzing the digitized signal with 500 fs resolution independently of the current sampling rate. The result is very low trigger jitter (< 1 ps RMS) and high measurement accuracy. Thanks to the digital trigger system, the trigger hysteresis can be adjusted to the signal quality. This ensures, for example, stable triggering even on extremely noisy signals.

The single-core A/D converter with more than Fig. 2: The oscilloscopes find rare signal faults very quickly thanks to their seven effective bits (ENOB) almost completely high acquisition rate of one million waveforms per second. eliminates signal distortion. The input sensitivity of 1 mV/div without any bandwidth limitations ensures that low-amplitude signals at the upper edge of the screen provides fast can also be measured with a high degree of access to all tools of the device. accuracy. Mask tests reveal whether a specific signal lies More functions, faster results within defined tolerance limits and use statistical These oscilloscopes include many integrated pass/fail evaluation to assess the quality and measurement tools for detailed signal analysis. stability of a device under test. Mask creation in They range from simple cursor functions to the oscilloscope is simply a matter of pressing mask tests to complex mathematical operations. a few buttons. The high acquisition rate ensures Many measurement functions such as histograms, spectrum display and mask tests are hardware-implemented. This makes the oscilloscope very responsive and ensures high acquisition rates, so that statistically conclusive Stability of device under test measurement results are available fast.

In addition to the automatic measurements that are customary for digital oscilloscopes, the R&S RTE offers the QuickMeas function, which is unique for an instrument in this class. that mask violations are detected rapidly and QuickMeas simultaneously displays the results reliably. Signal anomalies and unexpected of several measurement functions (Fig. 3), which results are easy to identify by stopping the users select according to their needs. A toolbar measurement if the mask is violated.

electronicspecifier.com 25 Oscilloscopes

Fig. 3: In the oscilloscopes, up to eight automatic measurements can be configured and activated simultaneously.

Real-time miniature views

Thanks to the high- resolution 10.4in XGA touchscreen, users can intuitively perform their daily T&M tasks. For example, users can simply drag & drop waveforms to arrange Signal interference them on the screen, and they can flexibly Where does the interference pulse in the organize the screen according to their signal come from? What caused the loss requirements by dividing it into several of a data bit? The real cause of a problem diagrams. Realtime miniature views of the can often only be found by looking at signals on the edge of the screen allow the history of a signal sequence. The history function always provides access to previously acquired waveforms. This enables users to later analyze in detail the measurement data stored in memory. Transparency of dialog boxes The FFT function of the oscilloscope makes spectral analysis easy (Fig. 4). The high acquisition and postprocessing rate conveys the impression of a live spectrum, and operation is as simple as entering users to always see what is happening. the centre frequency, span and resolution The RTE controls are colour-coded and bandwidth. Using the persistence mode, indicate which channel is currently active. rapid signal changes, sporadic signal The color coding corresponds to the signal interference and weak superimposed display on the screen. Dialogue boxes are signals can easily be made visible. The opened as semi-transparent overlays over ability to overlap FFT frames enables the the active waveforms, which maintain their oscilloscope to also detect intermittent full size. Users can adjust the transparency signals such as pulsed interferers. This of dialog boxes as required. Signal flow powerful FFT function plus the high diagrams and forward and back buttons dynamic range and input sensitivity of in the dialog boxes simplify navigation. up to 1 mV/div make the oscilloscopes The configurable toolbar provides fast ideal for tasks such as EMI debugging access to frequently used functions. Users of electronic circuits during product simply select a tool and apply it to their development. waveform.

26 electronicspecifier.com Oscilloscopes

Tools with related functions are grouped The R&S RTE at a glance together. In addition to the standard tool suite, the oscilloscope features many Bandwidth 200 MHz, 350 MHz, 500 MHz, 1 GHz (upgradeable) highlights such as fingertip zoom, which allows users to quickly view signal details Analog channels 2 / 4 channels by moving their finger or mouse along the Sample rate 5 Gsample/s per channel signal. Another example is the SaveSet tool, which enables users to quickly load Memory depth 10 Msample per channel different configurations. To select the right (optionally 50 Msample) configuration, the user simply swipes a Acquisition rate > 1 000 000 waveforms/s screenshot. ENOB (ADC) > 7 Dedicated application R&S RTE-B1 16 digital channels, 5 mixed Gsample/s and 100 solutions signal option Msample per channel In addition to the standard functionality, Color display 10.4”, 1024 × 768 pixel the oscilloscopes offer various optional (touchscreen) application solutions, including trigger and decoding options for serial buses (such as channel. It is possible to decode up to four I2C, SPI and CAN) and a power analysis serial or parallel buses simultaneously. option. The logic analysis capability offered by the R&S RTE is essential for analyzing digital A comprehensive portfolio of high-quality components of embedded designs. The R&S active and passive probes is available for RTE-B1 mixed signal option can be added to the R&S RTE to perform measurements in any base unit and offers 16 additional digital common voltage and current ranges. One channels with a sampling rate of 5 Gsample/s of the highlights of the active probes from and a memory depth of 100 Msample per Rohde & Schwarz is a micro button on the probe tip. This button can be used to perform a variety of functions such as run / stop, autoset and adjust offset on the oscilloscope. The highly precise R&S ProbeMeter DC voltmeter (measurement error: ±0.1 %) is integrated into the active probe and provides a convenient means of answering questions such as “Is the supply voltage correct?” and “Is DC voltage superimposed?”

Fig. 4: The RTE FFT function offers accuracy, speed, functionality and ease of use.

electronicspecifier.com 27 Product News

On the menu: Power analyser with added oscilloscope

Keysight Technologies has in identifying and combined the attributes characterising energy of an oscilloscope into its efficiency improvements IntegraVision power analyser. in devices like power inverters stimulus and common AC or converters, universal power measurements such It means R&D engineers power supplies, battery as frequency, phase, and designing and testing electronic systems, vehicle and aircraft harmonics. power conversion systems power systems, lighting can now use one instrument systems and electronic It has external sensor inputs to access dynamic views of ballasts and appliances,” and 2-current probes and current, voltage and power. says Ken Christensen, transducers up to 10V full Neither will they have to use product manager at Keysight scale. a power analyser to make an Technologies. accurate measurement and Keysight has also included then turn to an oscilloscope to The power analyser will suit a 12.1in capacitive touch visualise repetitive and single- engineers who want to quickly screen with pinch, zoom and shot events such as turn-on and interactively measure AC scroll capabilities, which as and occurrence of transients. and DC power consumption, Christensen points out, “Makes power conversion efficiency, the instrument incredibly easy “It will aid engineers operational response to to use.”

Test solution takes aim at IoT, M2M markets Vector Software will release an 6.3 offers a very small market evolves, the need Internet of Things (IoT) - ready memory footprint for test for an automated, thorough test solution, VectorCAST 6.3, harnesses, enabling support test solution that ensures at Embedded World 2015. for 8 bit processors with that the embedded software less than 1 kilobyte of RAM, works as intended is The new VectorCAST tool necessary to support the small essential for successful IoT suite is engineered to leverage microprocessors needed for deployments”. Vector Software’s deep IoT / M2M applications. domain expertise in embedded In conjunction with the product safety-critical applications for “VectorCAST 6.3 offers release, John Paliotta, Vector use in less regulated markets, organisations the ability Software’s Chief Technology like Internet of Things (IoT) and to achieve robust quality Officer will be speaking about Machine-to-Machine (M2M). gains,” said Bill McCaffrey, “Five Actionable Ideas to get Chief Operating Officer, Quality Software to the Market To realise this, VectorCAST Vector Software. “As the Sooner.”

28 electronicspecifier.com Product News

Portable PC scopes feature 200MHz bandwidth

The newly launched PicoScope unrestricted. A large PC display 3000D Series oscilloscopes shows the acquired waveforms offer up to 200 MHz with exceptional clarity, with bandwidth, 2 or 4 analogue easy zooming and panning channels plus 16 digital under keyboard or mouse channels on the mixed-signal analysing waveform bursts or control. Other built-in features (MSO) models, and deep serial data packets that include include colour persistence memories from 64 to 512 MS. long gaps. PicoScope can be display modes, automatic Capable of debugging the set to trigger on each packet measurements with statistics, latest digital and mixed signal and skip the gaps that are of programmable alarms, and designs, the scopes offer a no interest. This function allows decoding of I2C, UART/RS232, maximum real-time sampling users to acquire, for instance, SPI, CAN bus, LIN, FlexRay rate of 1 GS/s and feature a CAN data packets over several and I2S signals. USB 3.0 interface and a built-in minutes and then analyse the arbitrary waveform generator packet content at a later point The new scopes benefit (AWG). in time. from the latest updates to the PicoScope software. A The slim case design makes The oscilloscopes are multi- new fast persistence mode the scopes convenient for both function, and include a gives updates of around 100 benchtop and portable use. spectrum analyser and arbitrary 000 waveforms per second, waveform generator (AWG), while the math channels have “The deep memory on the new and many advanced functions been expanded to include PicoScope 3000D scopes as standard, such as serial configurable filters. means that you can use long bus decoding, mask limit timebases with the fastest testing, maths channels and A free Software Development sampling rates,” explained filtering. Advanced triggers Kit (SDK) allows control of the Managing Director Alan Tong. include pulse width, interval, scopes from industry standard “For example, even at 1 GS/s window, window pulse applications and programming sampling rate you can capture width, level dropout, window languages. The SDK includes a 500 ms waveform—that’s dropout, runt pulse, variable example programs in C#, half a billion samples—while hysteresis, and logic. All C++, Excel, LabVIEW and hardware acceleration keeps triggering is digital, ensuring MATLAB, and can be used with the display updating smoothly.” low jitter, high accuracy and any language that supports single-LSB voltage resolution. C calling conventions. The The 512 MS buffer memory MSO models combine these PicoScope software and SDK can be segmented, enabling triggers with edge and pattern are compatible with Microsoft acquisition of up to 10 000 triggering on the digital inputs. Windows XP through to individual waveform segments Windows 8, with beta versions of 50 000 samples, with less PicoScope utilises the host for Linux and Mac OS X. Beta than 1 µs re-arm time between PC to control the instrument drivers are also available for the each segment. Memory and display waveforms, so ARM-based Beaglebone Black segmentation is beneficial when screen size and resolution are and Raspberry Pi.

electronicspecifier.com 29 Product News

Test capacity Graphical sampling integrated expanded to into digital multimeter service mobile Citing a market trend for coms standards more accurate low power measurements, Keithley CETECOM has increased Instruments has launched testing capacity to service a graphical sampling digital the growing demand for multimeter. “The time to mobile communications market pressure on engineers (GSM, W-CDMA and LTE). is relentless,” says Peter CETECOM is an accredited Bachmeyer, Technical laboratory (ATL) for all of Marketing Manager, EMEA, accuracy and an auto- these technical standards Keithley Instruments. “Typically calibration feature minimises in North America, Europe with a digital multimer, the temperature and time drift. Low and Asia. engineer only sees a numerical burden voltage improves low display of test results. They current measurement accuracy. “With the dramatic growth of want more.” smart, connected devices for The integrated 1MS/sec, homes, businesses, individuals Another trend is the change in 18-bit digitiser allows users and vehicles, CETECOM is expectations. “There is a new to view and analyse current investing in expanded testing generation of engineers used to and voltage waveforms and services,” declared Wilfried smartphones and tablets. They transients without the need for Klassmann, CEO of the are not familiar with lots of an additional instrument or PC. CETECOM Group. “By adding buttons,” Bachmeyer remarks. It offers enhanced analogue test chambers and modern triggering includes edge, pulse, instruments, CETECOM is The new 7-1/2 digit instrument and window triggers and it well-equipped to efficiently integrates a high accuracy is ideal for low level power service our clients.” digital multimeter, a digitiser analysis, sensors, medical for waveform capture, and a device R&D, component test. “Our customers demand fast, capacitive touchscreen user cost-effective 2G, 3G and 4G interface. The multimeter’s touchscreen certification testing,” explained mimics that of smartphone. Maan Ghanma, CEO of Engineers can select resolution Tests can be set up faster CETECOM in North America. levels from 3½ to 7½ digits and and results can be viewed “With the complete range says Keithley, the instrument numerically and graphically. It of testing and certification provides DC accuracies typically also allows users to interact programs for connected only found in metrology-grade with the signals they’re devices, CETECOM instrumentation—but at about studying for greater insights streamlines all mandatory half the price of those solutions. into results. Pan, pinch, and testing for PTCRB, Global zoom functions and the ability Certification Forum (GCF) and Expanded measurement to set cursors support flexible carrier acceptance testing with ranges at 100mV, 1Ω, and signal capture and allow for our one-stop testing labs.” 10µA enhance low level high interaction with test data.

30 electronicspecifier.com Product News

Mainstream scopes boast capacitive touch screens

Capacitive touch screens and rich set of advanced features zone triggering have arrived in accelerate their problem the mainstream oscilloscope solving.” market. Keysight Technologies is offering its InfiniiVision 3000T The 3000T X-Series was X-Series digital storage and designed specifically for mixed signal oscilloscopes with operation with a capacitive intuitive graphical triggering into subtle signal details. touch screen, which allows capability. The scopes help The series comes with six- engineers to select targets engineers overcome usability instruments-in-one integration, naturally and quickly. To and triggering challenges and including oscilloscope further improve productivity, improve their problem-solving functionality, digital channels the interface includes an capability and productivity. (MSO), protocol analysis alphanumeric touchpad that capability, a digital voltmeter, replaces tedious knob-based As digital speeds and device a WaveGen function/arbitrary operation and touch-based complexity continue to waveform generator, and an interaction that enables increase, signals under test 8-digit hardware counter/ greater flexibility in displaying are getting more complex, and totaliser. Finally, the 3000T measurement information. engineers are more challenged X-Series delivers correlated to isolate anomalies in their frequency and time domain With the series’ devices. Intuitive graphical measurements using the uncompromised high- triggers, previously unavailable gated FFT function for the first speed waveform update in mainstream oscilloscopes, time in this class, to address rate, even with the digital help engineers debug and emerging measurement channel, protocol decode, characterise their cutting- challenges. measurements and math edge devices faster and more functions turned on and easily. With graphical triggers, “These new scopes simplicity of zone touch engineers can use a finger to give engineers using triggering, engineers have draw a box around a signal mainstream oscilloscopes an the highest probability of of interest on the instrument uncompromised ability to find discovering anomalies of display to create a trigger. and isolate the most difficult interest. problems in their designs,” said The new oscilloscope series Dave Cipriani, vice president The new gated FFT function offers upgradable bandwidths and general manager of allows engineers to correlate from 100 MHz to 1.0 GHz and Keysight’s Oscilloscope and time and frequency domain several benchmark features in Protocol Division. “Design-for- phenomenon on a single addition to the touch screen touch operation improves their screen. Finally, the power interface and graphical zone debugging efficiency. Mixed- analysis, video analysis and triggering capability. An domain analysis capabilities hardware-based mask test uncompromised update rate with time-correlated frequency/ option makes the 3000T of one million waveforms per time domain measurements, X-Series a comprehensive second gives engineers visibility six-in-one integration and a mainstream oscilloscope.

electronicspecifier.com 31 Product News

eMBMS test solution accelerates mobile device development Anritsu has released its be used for the efficient protocol test solution delivery of content services for Enhanced Multicast such as live video from Broadcast Multimedia sporting events. It enables Service (eMBMS). It says carriers to adjust coverage server. This provides the the new solution is already and capacity as needed, most effective way to debug helping mobile chipset and allowing for more efficient device implementation and device makers accelerate the use of network resources. accurately reproduce the development of products that The BM-SC is a key element end user experience. Until can receive LTE broadcast within all LTE networks that now, only basic functions services. EXPWAY’s e-Cast support eMBMS, controlling could be tested in the Broadcast Multicast Service the distribution of media laboratory by streaming Centre (BM-SC) Server content to the end users. media files to a device has been integrated with with fixed transmission Anritsu’s MD8430A LTE Integration of the BM-SC parameters. signalling tester and Rapid into the Anritsu solution Test Designer (RTD) test provides a unique method Anritsu’s solution enables environment to create a for device makers to more in-depth simulation of complete test solution. effectively simulate LTE functions such as automatic broadcast service delivery file repair and reception eMBMS allows the LTE in the laboratory using reporting, with dynamic network infrastructure to a real network eMBMS configuration changes.

Audio test software enhances analyser performance Audio Precision has released For both APx555 and 525 improving the user’s ability to version 4.1, of its APx500 analysers (the latter with fully explore the device under audio test software. It provides option BW52 installed), test. enhancements, including full this means 1 MHz of input input bandwidth across all bandwidth on both channels. Version 4.1 also offers users channels for their two-channel With regards to the APx586, greater control over the (APx555 and APx525) and v4.1 software enables up to Acoustic Response time sixteen-channel (APx586) 90 kHz of input bandwidth window, with either auto or analysers. Version 4.1 of the across all sixteen channels. manual setting of the window APx500 audio test software start time and establishment enables users of the APx555, Additional enhancements of an absolute time zero for APx525 and APx586 audio to the APx software suite measurement. This enables analysers to access their include a more flexible choice accurate loudspeaker system’s maximum input of filter settings in the signal measurements even in bandwidth across all channels path, allowing a wider range the presence of high-level of the test system. of cutoff frequencies and reflections.

32 electronicspecifier.com Product News

Portable recorder supports host of sFPDP operation modes Pentek has added the Model additionally supports sFPDP RTR 2736A multi-channel baud rates up to 4.25 Gbaud, Serial FPDP (sFPDP) rugged making it an ideal upgrade portable recorder to its Talon to existing systems. The new family. It is suitable for military Talon portable chassis for The recorder supports and aerospace, radar, and the recorder boasts a smaller different sFPDP modes of communications applications. footprint that is lighter in operation including copy The recorder is capable of weight, and provides double mode, flow control, CRC capturing up to 8 Serial FPDP the storage capacity, number and copy loop. Options for data streams in real time to of channels and the recording copper and multi-mode solid state drives (SSD). rates of previous generation of or single-mode optical Talon portable recorders. It also interfaces make it compatible It fully complies with the supports AC and DC power with virtually any existing VITA 17.1 specification and options. sFPDP system.

DC electronic loads offer transient operation up to 25kHz B&K Precision has added a sources such as DC power Combined with a high new product to its range of supplies, DC-DC converters, resolution and high accuracy standalone DC load offerings. batteries, LED drivers, and 16-bit measurement system, The 8600 Series programmable photovoltaic arrays. the instrument’s bright dual- DC electronic loads deliver line display allows users to the performance of modular Most electronic loads regulate view both measured and set system DC electronic loads their input current or voltage parameters simultaneously. in a compact benchtop form using constant current (CC) factor. The series includes three mode or constant voltage (CV) For remote control and models of 150 W - 250 W DC mode. The 8600 Series can programming, the 8600 Series electronic loads that can sink operate in any of these modes includes standard GPIB, current up to 60 A at wide along with constant resistance USB, and RS232 interfaces voltage ranges up to 500 V. (CR) and constant power (CW) supporting USBTMC and SCPI mode. communication protocols. The All models provide fast transient instrument also offers terminals operation speeds up to 25 In addition, the new loads on the rear for external kHz along with built-in battery provide transient, list, and triggering, input On/Off control, and LED test mode functions, automatic test functions for voltage fault monitoring, making these high-performance more complex loading profiles remote sense, and external DC loads suitable for testing of varying load levels, switching analog current control and and evaluating a variety of DC times, and operation modes. monitoring.

electronicspecifier.com 33 Product News

USB arbitrary waveform generator aims at multiple applications ACCES I/O Products has created using the software released a new USB high tools provided by ACCES and speed arbitrary waveform also by third-party software output board with flexible packages such as LabVIEW. ranges and configurable digital The ARB relieves some of the I/O lines. Industry standard load placed on the CPU by 3.775 inches and BNC connectors are used for handling the waveform timing ships inside a steel powder- the analogue waveform output at the hardware level, using coated enclosure with an and the gate control input, an on-board FIFO and control anti-skid bottom. A DIN rail while the utility digital I/O lines logic. This is especially useful mounting provision is available are accessed via a 16-pin in time-critical applications as for installation in industrial shrouded connector. outputs remain unaffected by environments. latencies inherent in popular The USB-AO-ARB1 can operating systems. The USB-AO-ARB1 utilises be used in an assortment a high-speed custom of embedded applications Key features of the board function driver optimised for including stimulus-response, include 16-bit analog output a maximum data throughput test, simulation, industrial for precisely timed waveforms that is thousands of times equipment control, waveform/ up to 8MHz, a high-speed faster than the USB human audio synthesis, advanced USB 2.0 device, USB 3.0 interface device (HID) driver substance scanning and compatible, three unipolar and used by many competing detection, medical imaging three bipolar output ranges, products. This approach systems, military/mission- start/stop hardware control maximises the full functionality critical, cyber security systems, via 2nd BNC connector or via of the hardware along with manufacturing test, and software command, and 8 lines capitalizing the advantage of process monitoring. of digital, configurable as inputs high-speed USB. The USB- or outputs in groups of 4. AO-ARB1 is supported for use Arbitrary waveform generation in most operating systems and capability becomes increasingly An OEM version (board only) includes a free Windows and necessary as CPUs are features PC/104 module size Linux (including Mac OS X) burdened with a greater and mounting capability. The compatible software package. abundance of complex tasks. board is housed in a rugged, This package contains sample An arbitrary waveform is a steel, 4in x 4in x 1in industrial programs and source code user-defined set of digital enclosure. in Visual Basic, Delphi, and values specified point by Visual C++ for Windows. Also point over time. These values The USB-AO-ARB1 was provided is a graphical setup are then clocked through a designed to be used in rugged program in Windows. Linux DAC to provide the analogue industrial environments but support includes installation output signal or generate is small enough to fit onto a files and basic samples for the waveform. Virtually any desk or testing station. The programming from user level via waveform can easily be board measures just 3.550 by an open source kernel driver.

34 electronicspecifier.com Product News

Test solutions accelerate VarioTAP model USB 3.1 compliance libraries test Bay A comprehensive set Trail processors of USB 3.1 compliance test solutions that allows GOEPEL electronics has designers to quickly verify developed specific model designs against the latest libraries for testing and USB specifications and programming of Intel Bay achieve fast time to market Trail processors, which are while minimising costs has part of the Intel Atom family. been launched by Tektronix. Processes for defining test The libraries called VarioTAP The new release expands parameters, putting the models allow flexible execution Tektronix’ already extensive device into the proper test of processor emulation tests USB 3.1 and USB 2.0 test mode, measuring errors, using the native debug port. capabilities to include a showing results after each Users are now able to use the new USB 3.1 receiver test frequency is executed, and processor as an instrument solution supporting the 10 printing/storing the test for hardware design validation Gb/s data rate, a new USB results are all fully automated, of prototypes as well as Power Delivery test solution saving time and improving programming of Flash devices. and a new USB Type-C accuracy. cable test solution. Intel Bay Trail is a series of The solution provides multi-core SoC (System-on- The new solution all of the required signal Chip) solutions based on reduces the complexity impairments for USB 3.1, the Silvermont architecture. of performing USB 3.1 including SJ, RJ, SSC, and Manufactured in a 22nm compliance tests while signal attenuation with a process, the Chips offer also supporting debug and compliance channel. optimized performance with margin analysis. low energy consumption. Developed in conjunction Receiver testing is now a with Tektronix partner Granite Main application fields of the mandatory requirement for River Labs, the new GRL- Bay Trail processors are mainly USB 3.1 certification. Due USB-PD software supports mobile applications such as to faster data rates, it is critical PHY layer testing as tablets and notebooks, but critical to ensure that the detailed in chapter 5 of the also hybrid and embedded receiver properly interprets Power Delivery specification. devices. There are various Intel the incoming bit stream. Bay Trail series with up to four The new BSAUSB31 Tests include rise/fall time, processor cores and clock solution for Tektronix transmitter and receiver eye speeds up to 2GHz. BERTScope bit error mask and others. In addition, rate testers significantly the software provides pattern VarioTAP offers embedded simplifies receiver testing. decode of the Binary Mark instruments for test, hardware No longer must the end Coded (BMC) signals for debugging, Flash programming user be an expert in USB. further debug and analysis. and design validation.

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