Test & Measurement

Historically, component temperature has been correlated with reliability, with early studies relating field failure rates to steady-state component temperature. More recently, physics-based reliability prediction has related failure rates of electronic assemblies to the magnitude of temperature change over an operational cycle (power-on, power-off, power-on…) and rate of temperature change, both of which are influenced by steady-state operating temperature. Electronics failures ...

Quadsat, the Danish drone-based antenna testing company, has launched its product range with an extended breadth of frequency ranges and the addition of uplink capabilities. The Quadsat range for RF measurement comprises: QS 1-18 DL (downlink tests, covering S-KU band), QS 6-24 DL (downlink tests, X – KA low band), QS 17-31 DL (downlink, KA band), QS 6-24 DL/UL (downlink ...

Toshiba is eyeing semiconductor test applications with a tiny photo-relay that operates at 1.6Vin “making it suitable for use with 1.8V FPGAs”, according to the company. “A resistor is built in on the primary side, enabling voltage-controlled operation.” Called TLP3412SRLA, it draws 6.6mA at the nominal operating voltage of 1.8V. Inside is a single Form-A (normally-open) ac or dc contact that ...

Transient gate overvoltage ringing during turn-on is a common phenomenon in GaN-based power converters, but a lifetime equation can account for all bias conditions with respective fractional lifetime, say Shengke Zhang, Han Gao and Siddhesh Gajare. Gate overvoltage spikes during device turn-on transients are commonly observed in GaN HEMTs (high electron mobility transistors) under high frequency, fast-switching conversion applications. The ...

MikroElektronika has announced a shield board that adapts its Click modules to Red Pitaya, the FPGA software-defined instrument and development tool, “The size of a credit card, Red Pitaya combines the functionalities of oscilloscope, signal generator and spectrum analyzer with programming capabilities and open-source software,” said MikroE. There are two sockets for Click boards (each with switchable 3.3 and 5V ...

Zurich Instruments has introduced three 8GHz instruments for controlling and analysing microwave-implemented qubits. “The product line, SHF+, enables high-fidelity qubit control for more reliable manipulation of fragile quantum states,” according to the company. “The ‘+’ versions receive a newly designed analogue front-end with reduced noise floor and phase noise.” SHFSG+ is an 8.5GHz signal generator with four or eight channels, depending ...

Pico Technology has introduced a 3GHz bandwidth display-less oscilloscope with 10Gsample/s maximum performance. Called PicoScope 6428E-D, it has four 50Ω input channels and four input ranges per channel (±50, ±100, ±200 and ±500mV). Maximum vertical resolution is 12bits. “The new oscilloscope extends the capabilities of the existing PicoScope 6000E Series, making it an ideal tool for scientists and researchers working ...

The MX-Q Series 2 is the updated version of the MX series DC power supply by Aim-TTi. The quad-channel power supply has a larger colour panel, with colour-coded outputs. It also includes a TripLink feature, which allows the user to define assigned outputs for over-voltage protection and over-current protection. Aim-TTi says it has also enhanced power sharing between outputs. The ...

Sciospec LCR-1 is a PC-based single-channel LCR meter that offers 2-, 3- and 4-port measurements across 100mHz to 500kHz, with 1mΩ – 1TΩ, 10fF – 1kF and 1nH – 1TH capability. Options include upper frequency expansion to 1 or 10MHz, and it comes with PC-based software for automated measurements and analysis, which displays up to four parameters at the same ...

Today’s multi-functional devices mean that a designer has to consider many factors when integrating electrical grounding in often limited spaces, advises Jesse Hagar. Not so long ago there was only one reason to think about electrical grounding: safety. Protecting people from electrical shocks remains a paramount objective, but modern consumer electronics equipped with multimedia and communications capabilities means that developing ...