KIPiS articles

Author(s):  Hancock, Johnnie
Issue:  KIPiS 2012 #4
A fundamental aspect of the curriculum of nearly all of today’s University Electrical Engineering programs are hands-on teaching labs. The test equipment that you will find in these entrylevel EE teaching labs typically includes oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, and function generators. But the core instrument that students use to test and verify assigned analog and digital experiments is usually the oscilloscope. As private and government investments in science and technology education have increased in the last decade, some oscilloscope vendors, including Agilent Technologies, have begun to shift resources from developing just higher performance DSOs to developing scopes that meet the tighter budget requirements of EE departments.

Issue:  KIPiS 2012 #4
Today most oscilloscopes are digital meaning that the measurement signal is sampled and stored as a continuous series of digital values. However, the trigger, which is responsible for the detection of a signal event, is still an analog circuit that
processes the original measurement signal. The R&S®RTO Digital Oscilloscope features a real-time digital trigger. It yields very low trigger jitter combined with a very high waveform acquisition and analysis rates.

Author(s):  Dyakonov V.
Issue:  KIPiS 2012 #4
In May 2012 the Russian office of the Tektronix corporation sent the author of this article a MDO4000 oscilloscope for its test and evaluation capabilities. During the test over 560 waveforms, spectrums and spectrograms have been received. This article describes the most important features of the new oscilloscope.

Issue:  KIPiS 2012 #3
iPhone, Android OS based devices were mostly used to watch video, play games, in other words for entertainment purposes. But recently a smartphone has become an instrument for engineering tasks. National Instrument Company has developed special applications on NI LabVIEW for iOS and Android devices which allow operating with NI hardware. These applications are designed to display the readings of built-in measuring systems of smartphones and tablets. Now compact and efficient smartphones and tablets allow engineers to make portable measurements using powerful data processing procedures for the complete analysis.

Issue:  KIPiS 2012 #3
Nowadays the use of white high-brightness LEDs (HBLED) is gradually becoming more popular. It can be easily explained with their efficiency and durability as well as ecological compatibility. White HBLEDs are so widely used due to their significant technical advantages and electric specifications. The present article describes the method of fast and precise measurement of such white HBLED specifications using a source measurement unit (SMU). Such Agilent SMUs, for example, B2900A series source measurement units, have various features which allow testing and measuring the parameters of both standard and high-brightness LEDs.

Issue:  KIPiS 2012 #1
Looking back we may notice that in 1990 the integration of analog and digital analysis methods changed the diagnosis technology of embedded systems. In 2000 the addition of serial protocols led to a new revolutionary breakthrough that means protocol-aware hardware test. The current decade has demonstrated the following achievement — the simplification of waveform generation and response measurement. Therefore it’s possible to suggest that physical integration of oscilloscopes and standard/arbitrary waveform generators can become the basis of new testing methodology. Find more details in the present article.

Author(s):  Afonskiy, Alexander
Issue:  KIPiS 2012 #1
2011 has become one of the most dynamic in the expansion of AKTAKOM test and measurement devices models. Old models have been replaced with new ones with functions and capabilities which the previous budget models couldn’t have. At the end of the year a new series of AKTAKOM AWG-41xx generators appeared, it’s better to say — a universal one, of very high performance and at a very reasonable price. The combination of such a price, high technical features, functionality and unique capabilities makes all three models of AKTAKOM AWG-41xx generators series one of the most promising devices in the measurement technology market for the nearest future. The present article introduces the main capabilities of the new generators series, their differences between each other and opportunities that they can give

Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #6
This summer National Instruments announced about its merger with AWR company, one of the leading CAD developers. The companies’ merger will contribute the strengthening of LabVIEW and AWR Microwave Office key products position as unique and at the same time due to the integration those customers who use LabVIEW and AWR Suite platforms in their production cycle will receive more advanced technical support. The present article informs about all advantages and new capabilities that users will receive after these two companies unify their forces.

Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #5
For accurate and fast level measurements in rectification columns and in any other high tanks without impulse lines and capillaries and regardless of the ambient temperature Emerson provides unique solution with digital architecture.

Author(s):  Afonskiy, Alexander, Guskov Andrey
Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #5
The electromagnetic background especially in office environment is constantly changing. How to conduct measurements of electromagnetic environment correctly? What equipment to use? You can find solution to these and some other issues in recommendations given in this article.

Author(s):  Smith, Trevor
Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #5
Wireless communication becomes a standard feature in emerging devices and the demand for wireless interfaces is agitated even more by low-cost components. In the debugging process of systems with wireless interfaces, development engineer has to analyze analog, digital and radio signals. The article describes the capabilities of Tektronix MDO4000 oscilloscope with combined analysis features enabling to analyze analog, digital and radio frequency signals which changes are interrelated over time.

Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #5
The growing number of technical colleges and universities around the world acknowledges the increasing interest in the engineering profession and education development in this area. Nowadays the measurements become more complex and their implementation requires integration of multiple devices. Professors are considering combining instruments in a single laboratory facility capable of using a computer to perform a wide range of tasks, including measuring, analyzing and storing data, etc. This article describes the principles and ways of implementing this task.

Author(s):  Afonskiy, Alexander
Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #5, KIPiS 2011 #6
As was previously considered Tektronix and Agilent Technologies are the ones to set trends for the oscilloscopes. And everything else is just a copy or attempts to repeat characteristics. But in summer 2011 an oscilloscope with a brand new design appeared on the test and measuring techniques market. This article provides a description and main characteristics of a new model of AKTAKOM digital oscilloscope with unique «hybrid» design.

Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #4
This article highlights various aeronautical radio navigation signals such as VHF omnidirectional radio range (VOR), instrument landing system (ILS) for glide slope (GS) and localizer (LLZ), as well as marker beacon (MB). R&S® test and measurement solutions for avionics navigation equipment are introduced based on application scenarios, including calibration, research and development, field tests, and transceiver testing.

Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #4
For over sixty years, Tektronix offers measuring, control and monitoring technologies and solutions for design, productivity increase and significant reduce of release time of products on the market. As world’s leading manufacturer of oscilloscopes Tektronix has introduced four new oscilloscope models of DPO/DSA70000D series with a bandwidth of 33 GHz and the highest accuracy in the industry.

Author(s):  Vandenberg, Wayne
Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #4
Satellites are high complexity devices that require sophisticated test equipment and procedures. Solar Array Simulators are specialized DC power sources designed specifically to emulate the dynamic I-V output characteristics of a real photovoltaic array. This article describes the unique characteristics that should guide the choice of the SAS. The sections of this article describe the characteristics of a solar array, the emulation techniques used by the Agilent E4360 SAS, and considerations for systems integration.

Author(s):  Afonskiy, Alexander
Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #4
At the beginning of 2011 the family of Aktakom digital storage oscilloscopes has been broadened with 12 new models. When analyzing characteristics of these models a modern trend of oscilloscopes evolution can be traced – the increase of screen width, slim profile, high functionality and high connectivity. The article provides a comparison between different series and models of Aktakom oscilloscopes.

Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #3
For more than sixty years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Current article announces the release of initial Tektronix products using IBM’s 8HP SiGe technology which are expected later this year.

Author(s):  Dr. Andrew Schaefer
Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #3
The effective number of bits (ENOB) is a way of quantifying the quality of an analog to digital conversion. A higher ENOB means that voltage levels recorded in an analog to digital conversion are more accurate. In an oscilloscope the ENOB is not just determined by the quality of the analog to digital converter but by the instrument as a whole. This article explains how to measure the oscilloscope ENOB and shows results for the R&S®RTO for different settings.

Issue:  KIPiS 2011 #3
The transfer of large amounts of data and spiraling transmission rates, needed for services such as video on demand to ensure ever increasing Internet bandwidth, are driving speed increase in infrastructure and components. Signals break through one performance barrier after another. The article tells about functional capabilities of Agilent’s arbitrary waveforms generators.