Compliance Engineering

Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Design and Drawing Services at Lowest Rates

2008-09-25T00:06:00.000-07:00

Mechanical Engineering involves the Physical usage for mechanism and functioning, design, manufacturing, installation, operation and maintenance of mechanical systems such as boilers, condensers, heat engines, air conditioners & refrigerators, machine tools, thermal power stations etc.

Kinematics, dynamics, static, Energy conversion, Mechanics, Manufacturing and production, refrigeration and air conditioning are the foundation subjects of mechanical engineering. It also Engage its attention with other Engineering disciplines like Electrical engineering in electronics, Aeronautical Engineering in Fluid Mechanics, Civil Engineering in stress & Strain analysis, Computer Engineering in hardware manufacturing etc.

Accomplishing mechanical projects has always posed serious problems for companies, whether they need computer aided design such as electrical engineering, new industrial product design, or civil engineering of a new building.

Many people are familiar with online project marketplaces that connect businesses and individuals in need of services with skilled professionals to perform the work. Companies have long struggled with the engineering required to launch new products and build customized facilities. When you discuss the actual mechanical design of your next key product, or the structural engineering of a multi million dollar building, things cannot be left to chance and "close" is never close enough. Businesses need complete control over their projects, even if they are being outsourced. Mechanical engineers use the core principles as well as other knowledge in the field to design.

A Mechanical Engineer will:

~ Know how energy gets converted to useful power (thermodynamics).
~ Examine the wear and tear of machines and systems.
~ Prepare configurations and drawings of machines or machine parts.
~ Examine strength of material for a particular application.
~ Design advanced materials (machine design).

This article has been offer consideration of Mechanical 3d Modeling in http://www.mechanical3dmodelling.com/, Mechanical 3d Modeling, in Mechanical 3D Modeling Services more than 10 years.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harvesh_V_Modh

Rock Band 2 Xbox 360 stand-alone instruments for sale

2008-09-10T21:54:00.003-07:00

Advanced orders for Harmonix Inc.'s and MTV Games' Rock Band 2 stand-alone instruments for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 began pre-order sales this week at Amazon.com.The Rock Band 2 Wireless Drum Kit will retail for $89.99.

The Rock Band 2 Wireless Guitar will sell for $69.99.

A Rock Band 2 Special Edition SKU will include all music peripherals to start an instant virtual band for $189.99.

Microsoft this month said that music peripherals for upcoming music titles like Rock Band 2 will be cross-compatible with one another.

The disclaimer follows an announcement from Sony Corp. last week that music peripherals for Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Rock Revolution would all feature basic cross-compatibility on the Playstation 3.
The latest in the music franchise will introduce cooperative band play, multiple instruments, and new online modes.

Additionally, all previously downloaded music tracks from Rock Band will be compatible with Rock Band 2.

The title will debut exclusively to the Xbox 360 on Sept. 14.

Rock Band 2, standalone instruments coming next week

2008-09-10T21:54:00.002-07:00

Harmonix has announced that the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band 2 has officially shipped to retailers in time for its September 14 release date. The standalone wireless drums and guitar are also shipping sometime next week for $90 and $70, respectively. Also shipping next week are Mad Catz's "Fender P-Bass" wireless guitar controller ($70) and the ION Drum Rocker set (wired; $300).

The press release also reminded us that the RB Music Store had recently surpassed 21 million song downloads since its launch in late November. That's 15 million more since we last heard about it in March and an average of 2.3 million per month.

License Compliance Engineering

2008-09-10T21:54:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, I care about software licenses. Not every day, but enough to sometimes run the Krazy license checker over our codebase, just to find out what could or should still be licensed more officially. I don't believe there are any real licensing issues in kdelibs, for instance, but there are a few files where the header isn't quite in the shape that we'd like it to be. For instance, missing email addresses of contributors make it very difficult to contact authors if that should be needed. Everything is implicitly licensed in an LGPL v2 or LGPL v3 compatible fashion, but it's good to have that written out in full.

Sometimes I even think about license compliance. That's Armijn's fault (you may have met him at Akademy this year at the USB plugfest or the UPnP BoF) and I do enjoy exploring -- as a mathematician -- the limits of the words set out in licenses. What does section 3c of the GPLv2 mean, exactly? It's an interesting exercise.

But approaching licenses from a logical perspective -- word games -- or a developer's perspective -- either as a means to Free Software as an end or as an annoying thing that sometimes demands attention -- does not cover the whole spectrum of thinking about software licenses. You might think about business or legal aspects thereof, too. So it was with great interest that I read the SFLC GPL compliance guide which was released just today. It explains that some things I thought were logical violations are, in fact, not so because I'd missed some crucial sub-clause somewhere else. That's a relief.

Private Placement in Securities Regulation D Defined For Your Understanding

2008-08-20T22:03:00.002-07:00

The purpose of this article is to have Private Placement in Securities Regulation D Defined so that you can understand it. Security law can be very complicated for anyone who is not a lawyer, so getting Private Placement in Securities Regulation D Defined in easy terms will help you understand how regulation D applies to you and your sale of equity.

Private Placement in Securities Regulation D Defined - Purpose of the Regulation

The primary purpose of regulation D as it corresponds to private placement of securities is to ensure that you receive an exemption for the sale of your securities in a private transaction without registering said securities in addition to giving you a proper framework to do so. Without having Private Placement in Securities Regulation D Defined one can easily become confused as to what is exempt and what needs to be reported to the federal government.

One thing to remember is that regulation D does not provide exemption from reporting to anti-fraud or civil liability provisions for state and federal government and these provisions include civil and criminal penalties for misstatements or omission of facts. This is to protect consumers from investing in companies without being fully informed, but at the same time regulation D allows entrepreneurs the ability to raise capital without having to go through a Securities and Exchange Commission review. These reviews can take up to sixty days to complete and will require assistance by multiple attorneys and accountants, something that can be extremely expensive for the small business person.

The purpose of regulation D is to allow these smaller business investments, required by rule 505 to be less than five million dollars, the ability to raise capital without the overhead and time of lengthy full disclosures to the federal and state governments. The purpose of this regulation is not to allow small businesses to hide from the federal government, but rather to ensure that they can raise capital without having to incur more costs or incur costs that take up a sizable chunk of the capital being raised.

Having Private Placement in Securities Regulation D Defined for you before you decide best how to change your equity into finance will help you determine the best way to get your business off the ground or acquire more funding to let you truly grow. This article is by no means a comprehensive review of regulation D, but rather serves to point to you, the entrepreneur, what options are open to you when raising capital.

Gary K. Landry is the CEO of TIC Advisors, Inc. If you are looking for the most complete information on a 1031 exchange or TIC property ownership, then you should visit one of the TIC Advisors, Inc. websites: http://www.tic.com and http://www.ticadvisors.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_K_Landry

When it Comes to EDiscovery, EMail Management is Key

2008-08-20T22:03:00.001-07:00

It is not unlikely that one day your company will be a party in a law suit. In the digital age, this means scrambling to compile records in a broad variety of forms-e-mail, instant-messaging traffic, Microsoft Office files, accounting databases, CAD/CAM files, Web sites, sound and video recordings, and more-all to be used in the discovery phase of the legal process. You'll be asked to find this information no matter where it resides, regardless of whether it's in a managed or unmanaged repository. This task can be daunting. The expense of collecting the information is often costly.

With recent regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), there is a new world of compliance. Based on these regulations, companies must have clear policies on data retention, enabling management to quickly and easily identify applicable data for the discovery motion. If the company is the claimant in the law suit, it is required to disclose the company's e-discovery policies in its first meeting with the defendant after the filing of a case. This includes a plan for producing the data within a reasonable amount of time. If the company cannot produce data subject to discovery, per its own policies, the company could incur substantial fines.

What makes the ediscovery task even more overwhelming is the growing amount of data a company produces. A study by the The Radicati Group in 2007 reveals that a typical corporation will generate approximately 4.3 GB of electronic data per user per year. And by 2011, it is expected to grow to 6.7 GB per year. Much of this data is email. According to IDC, e-mail volume has doubled over the past 5 years to over 40 billion person-to-person e-mails daily. Moreover, the volume is expected to continue to grow over 18 percent in each of the next five years. The good news is there are now ediscovery solutions to help ease the burden and cost of compiling electronic data. Spirinet offers e-mail archiving, along with spam filtering and web defense, through its partner MX Logic. MX Logic Message Archiving, powered by MessageWatcher®, can easily and effectively help businesses to comply with email archiving and electronic security regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, HIPAA, and the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP).

The fully-managed email archiving service also helps to protect businesses from workplace compliance issues, including harassment, discrimination and illegal activity.

Does your business need a better solution for managing email? Spirinet Technology Services can help you assess the best solution for your business. For more information, please call us at 877-DIAL-MSP.

Spirinet Technology Services provides IT services to the Northeast area small and medium size busineses. Our services include an all-encompassing, fully outsourced IT department with CIO-level consulting, budgeting, systems integration and administration, 24x7 helpdesk and Voice over IP services.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kirill_Bensonoff

What the Proposed Changes to the UK Equality Law Mean to You

2008-08-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

Last week, Harriet Harman announced new equality laws to tackle widespread discrimination. Under these new plans, age discrimination would be removed from all aspects of society, and further changes would be made to prevent workplaces from discriminating against minorities. There is also room for 'positive action' that allows business to hire women or minorities without fear of legal action if the candidates are equal in terms of ability.

But how do these changes to the equality law differ from how we act now?

What is actually so different?

The main points of the proposed bill are that:

- Business will be allowed to discriminate in favour of ethnicities and genders underrepresented in their place of work if interview candidates were of equal ability.

- Clauses in contracts that prevent staff discussing their wages with colleagues will be scrapped.

- Age discrimination laws will be widened to encompass the world outside the workplace.

There are also proposals on the table to make public bodies publish the pay gap within their organisations.

Why is the new system being introduced?

The new discrimination laws are being proposed in order to make a more balanced workforce in Britain, hence employers will be able to discriminate in favour of one group ahead of another given two equally matched candidates to diversify their work environment (contrary to tabloid implication, this actually works both ways, and a predominantly female office would be allowed to discriminate in favour of a male candidate).

The section affecting the wages of companies is being included to try and reduce the massive pay gap between men and women on business contracts. Although the gap has narrowed in recent years according to official figures, on average women still only earn 87p for every £1 that men earn. One of the statistics that Harriet Harman has used is that female part-time workers earn up to 40% less than their full time male counterparts. By making companies more open about their wage structures, it is hoped that the gap will close naturally.

Finally, the laws affecting age are aimed at tackling the discrimination people feel based on their age in their daily lives.

Isn't discriminating against age already illegal?

While workplace age discrimination has been legislated against since 2006, the proposed new equality laws are intended to tackle wider forms of ageism. This is planned to tackle the often costly discrimination that pensioners face in their daily life, from high insurance premiums to doctors putting illnesses down to their age and refusing treatment.

What are the main caveats of the new law?

The important things to bear in mind when thinking on the prospective changes are:

- Firms may be forced to publish pay rates

- Positive action is only an option in interviews where candidates are equally matched and will not be compulsory in any event.

- Some areas will likely be exempt from the age discrimination laws, such as free bus passes for the elderly and holidays for the over 50s and 18-30s.

Given the uproar that's been made against the positive action section of the bill, it's not guaranteed that every part of the bill will ever become law. Even if it does become law, it's almost impossible to put a stop of workplace discrimination, because you can't know with any certainty what an employer's reason for passing over a candidate is. For most of us, this legislation will mean very little to our business contracts, and we can carry on picking the best candidate for the job regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality or age.

Iain Mackintosh is the managing director of Simply-Docs. The firm provides over 1100 business contracts covering all aspects of business from holiday entitlement to non-disclosure agreements. By providing these legal documents (with content provided by leading commercial lawyers, HR and health & safety consultants) at an affordable price, the company intends to help small businesses avoid costly breaches of regulation and legal action.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Iain_Mackintosh

Site Waste Management Plans - Burden or Benefit to Contractors?

2008-04-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

From April 2008 on Contractors in England shall have another legal requirement to comply with among the host of national and European regulations. The requirement is the provision of Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs) which will be a legal requirement for all construction projects in England over £300,000, after the 6th of April.

On the face of it one would think that this would be just another pen pushing/PC keyboard keying burden, but the research says otherwise. In fact there is evidence to suggest that the SWMPs should actually save the construction industry significant sums of money in a manner which is also sustainable as it results in reduced energy utilisation and a lower raw material consumption rate.

Site Waste Management Plans should also help the construction industry to get maximum value out of its waste and make better use of resources and in this way they will be moving towards more sustainable waste management. It will also expose the cowboys in the industry, and reduce fly tipping as a result.

These plans are cited as being extremely beneficial in formalising a comprehensive recycling and waste management strategy for each project. If they succeed in this they will become important tools for the construction industry. Those that propound their use say they will be a good way to help businesses be careful about how they use, store and dispose of materials which at present usually only get consideration AFTER all other factors have been decided.

By taking early action on waste before the planned enforcement of Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs) contractors are said to be benefiting from significant cost savings, much to the surprise of all concerned. These Plans should provide a structure for waste delivery and disposal during construction projects, reduce waste going to landfill and increase recycling rates on-site.

The industry has been following a voluntary code of practice launched by DTI in 2004, but implementation has been patchy. Defra resolved that enforcement would be necessary and has developed proposals for the introduction of compulsory site waste management plans in England.

Contractors seeking more information about the plans should read the latest news on construction waste on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) website. There is also guidance for anyone working in building, demolition, civil engineering or building trades on the UK Government's NetRegs website. It has also been possible to download the non-statutory guidance for site waste management plans from the Defra website (PDF) for some time, and before the deadline for the new regulations this April there is likely to be updated information provided for downloading..

Construction Waste

Construction and demolition waste accounts for around 33% of controlled waste in the UK (over 100 million tonnes/ year), making it the single largest waste stream.

Construction is the single largest user of material resources in the economy and generates 100 million tonnes of waste every year WRAP. Construction firms are being urged to take early action on waste before the planned enforcement of Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs) next year so that they are not overburdened when enforcement commences.

If they work as intended by the government, SWMPs should do a lot to change the construction industry's attitude to waste by raising the profile of waste management planning. Defra held regional workshops for the construction industry during the consultation period at which a two way dialogue helped to do just that.

But, don't forget that it is not all about cost saving and sustainability for the government. Our English MPs are also concerned about the small, but increasing amount of construction waste that is illegally dumped or fly-tipped and which causes enormously bad publicity wherever locally it takes place.

The SWMP regulations will encourage contractors to recycle suitable spoil, demolition materials, prunings, and surplus construction material arising from the works on site to avoid the need to transport materials. CIRIA are currently developing Best Practice examples of waste minimisation in the UK Construction sector. Also, a SWMP, guidance document and a Code of Practice were launched back in July 2004 to help the construction industry face the major challenge of changes in waste management legislation, including SWMPs.

The purpose of SWMPs will basically also encompass a new site task to provide accurate projections for waste delivery and disposal at every stage of a construction project. Many will see this as very burdensome.

SWMPs will apply to all construction work including preparatory work such as demolition and excavation, civil engineering and engineering projects, and projects involving maintenance, alteration and decoration of existing structures. Also to be included in the plans is the installation, maintenance or removal of related services such as electrical, gas, water, sewage and telecommunications.

Conclusion

The workload required to produce and maintain and circulate the Site Waste Management Plan is significant, but these actions are seen to be of great value as an important tool for cost savings for construction companies and their clients, of all sizes. The new enforceable provision of SWMPs should provide another step in the quest to improve the environmental performance of all English construction contractors, and help them to meet regulatory controls, and reduce the ever-rising costs of disposing of waste.

The implementation of this statutory duty to prepare construction site waste management plans will be starting very soon. We recommend that all construction professionals should familiarise themselves now with the Code of Practice.

The SWMP should not be seen as a negative development as it aims to assist contractors in their own management of their waste development and disposal planning. Contracting industry staff will surely soon be able to roll out of Site Waste Management Plans rapidly and efficiently for the benefit of all involved after a short initial period of learning, and in most cases the SWMP should then save money for the site developer and users.

Are You in Compliance? California's New Sexual Harassment Law AB1825

2008-04-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

I was speaking recently at a business network meeting when a business owner asked whether she needed to be concerned with California's new Sexual Harassment law, AB1825. This business owner runs her company with 18 full-time, 20 part-time employees, 8 temp workers, and 5 sales subcontractors who are located in several states.

Requirement: 50 + employees

On the surface it appears that she does not meet the 50+ employee requirement that determines whether she must train her supervisors. Taking a closer look at the law, however, reveals that temporary service workers and independent contractors, regardless of where they are located are included in the total count of employees.

Requirement: Training must encompass all aspects of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.

The training must address retaliation and: sex, race/color, religion, age, and national origin harassment and discrimination. Typically previous trainings did not include these areas.

Another business owner wanted to know whether or not they could continue to train in the same manner as the previous year's training.

Requirement: A system in place to track and document employee participation and compliance

The answer is maybe yes, maybe no. If the training included all forms of harassment and discrimination AND tracked employee participation throughout the training (not just through sign in/out sheets) AND assessed their understanding of the material AND you can provide proof, then yes, continue to train as in previous years.

A business owner, one on a very tight budget, commented "it is good that I only have to train 5 supervisors, because I can't afford to train more."

Requirement: Businesses must provide a harassment-free workplace for everyone

With this in mind, how harassment-free will the workplace be if this owner only trains the supervisors? . And if a claim is made by the employee, will the money saved by training only supervisors, be enough to pay for attorneys, lost production time, and/or punitive damages? Probably not.

Conclusion:

Regardless of the number of employees, location of employees, or previous training, employers need to both protect their company from harassment and discrimination claims and comply with the law. Ensure that your company is protected by training all employees in harassment and discrimination prevention.

Visit Chrome Zebra for more information on AB1825.

Sarbanes Oxley 404 Compliance - How Nov. 15, 2004 Deadline Affects You

2008-04-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires management to confirm the effectiveness of their IT and financial controls in an "internal control report", which is contained within the annual report (10-K) issued to the public. But what exactly is an internal control report, and why is it important to you?

The Section 404 Internal Control Report

First, the internal control report must affirm management’s responsibility for controls and procedure, and second, it must contain an assessment of the effectiveness of the internal controls and procedures for financial reporting. Although both of these issues might at first appear difficult to solve, they are actually not as hard as you would think.

Management’s Responsibility for Controls and Procedures

Affirming management’s responsibility for controls and procedures means more than to simply say management believes in or trusts their system. The affirmation will also need to include a program for a code of ethics for senior financial officers. The program must include prompt disclosures of any changes to your ethics program. So how do you do this?

Business Ethics and Compliance Program

You can easily implement a business ethics program using a step-by-step guide for developing your firm’s business ethics and compliance program. This manual will save you time researching, writing and editing your program. It provides sample policies, surveys, forms and training session outlines that are fully editable using MS Word. And it is also fully endorsed by The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as a tool to maintain a culture of integrity.

Internal Controls

Your internal control report must also contain an assessment of the effectiveness of your internal controls and procedures for financial reporting. In practical terms, control is equivalent to predictability. Everyday management creates forecasts and budgets to predict the future. And the further into the future you can accurately predict, then the more control you have.

Achieve More Control Over Your Forecasts and Budgets

A training class for creating well defined processes shows you how to attain more control. Real world exercises and examples explain how to increase management effectiveness, achieve process control, communicate clear procedures, and verify if your processes are working. So what about procedures?

Procedures Effectiveness

For dealing with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, you can look at products like the Management CFO Value Series that includes Accounting, Human Resources, as well as policies, procedures and forms for other departments. Such procedures will save you time researching best practices, creating a standard format, and thinking of clear and concise paragraphs to write.

Easier Section 404 Compliance

Your internal control report is the key to your Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance. You should also look at a business ethics and compliance program, attend a training class for creating well-defined processes to learn more about management effectiveness, and use a CFO Management Value Series to speed the development of your procedures. You want to achieve fast, easy, and effective relief for your Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance.

Chris Anderson has over 18 years of sales, marketing and business management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance. He is currently the Managing Director of Bizmanualz, Inc. Visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com

Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Requirements

2008-04-09T04:43:00.000-07:00

Implementation: Company managements have to be fully aware of the ramifications of the Act since compliance failure could lead to no end of trouble for company executives. A major issue with companies has been that the SOX, as the Act is frequently referred to, is ambiguous. The reality is that the SOX are here to stay and it would be in the interest of companies to have policies in place for mission-critical systems. Some aspects to be monitored are:

• The responsibilities and roles for compliance initiatives should be clearly defined, and there should be no ambiguity in this aspect.

• It pays to have a pro-active approach and not wait for a back-up log from their systems to indicate trouble. A continuous review of records and historical data will give a faster indication of trouble. Business processes should be automated on a continuous basis. Data administration issues like capacity management, storage requirements and retrievability assume significance.

• Have a foolproof e-mail policy in place. It will help in the long term, if all e-mails are saved. Good e-security policies are also essential. User access and intrusion detection infrastructure should be functional.

• Have a constant dialogue with the company’s auditors and institute the concept of continuous auditing. Accurate and reliable information about the company should always be accessible. There may be a need to review financially linked processes to ensure that adequate controls are in place.

• Contact terms with suppliers and vendors may have to be reviewed in the light of SOX requirements.

• Employees have to be educated and awareness created regarding the compliance and control issues, security standards and objectives. Employee training assumes greater significance in this environment.

• All systems and processes relating to compliance issues should be tested periodically to ensure their efficacy and reliability.

The basic premise of Sarbanes-Oxley is sound. Organizations should use the opportunity provided by the Act as a stimulant to review their operational and internal controls. The managerial processes have to be updated on a continuous basis. Besides meeting compliance requirements mandated by the Act, companies will be able to improve their operational efficiency in the long term.

Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

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Data Auditing Quiz - Does Your Compliance Data System Prove Your Innocence?

2008-04-09T00:18:00.000-07:00

One if the biggest mistakes I see when visiting client companies, is their underestimation of how well their compliance data system can be audited. It's understandable.

When you build a transaction system, your goal is to run the business. When you build a data warehouse, your goal is to analyze the business. But when does it become your goal to audit your business practices?

Usually, auditing business practices and data systems become an executive afterthought. It is in response to some regulation like HIPPA, PCI, or Sarbanes-Oxley ( SOX ). Or, it is when you have received notice that a big contract is being audited by an agency like the General Services Administration (GSA).

In all cases, when you are under-prepared for an audit it will cost you time, money and effort. Find out now if your data system proves your innocence and uncover some data audit-proofing tips for total compliance.

Take This Data Auditing Quiz Now to See If Your Compliance Data System Proves Your Innocence:

1. Does Your Data System Defend You from the Auditor's Point of View?

Some auditors want to see you survive an audit. But let's face it. Some auditors are out to get you.

Crusaders trying to prove a point at your expense sometimes spawn audits. So auditors are anticipating that there are bad business practices in place. They feel that it's their job to uncover your bad business practices and expose you. In their eyes you are guilty until proven innocent.

To defend yourself proactively, you have to approach it from the auditor's point of view. Just doing the right thing is not enough. You have to be able to prove that you're doing the right thing. Approaching it from the right frame is essential.

2. Is Your Compliance Data System Built with the Goal of Surviving an Audit?

They way most people attempt to leverage their data systems these days is all wrong.

Here's why...

When data systems were introduced, they were never built to serve the intentions of an auditor.

The key is not to attempt to leverage these systems at all. The key is to build a compliance data system with the goal of surviving an audit. This is taking business intelligence up a level to audit intelligence.

A compliance data system gets it's requirements from legislation, standards, past audit findings, and yes ... auditors. Your goal here is not to twist and turn your existing systems. That would be the equivalent of trying to do your strategic reporting out of your transactional system.

3. Do You Use An Ordinary, Normal Data Warehouse for Compliance?

Compliance data systems are much more robust than normal data warehouses. Like data warehouses, they will organize data from disparate systems into one central location. And, they will apply transformations as necessary.

However, metadata is taken very seriously. There is a clear explanation for everything that's in the data system. Audit trails are important from the original requirement to each data point. Response times are usually optimized for ad-hoc querying, so that auditors don't waste time waiting for the database.

4. Is Your Data System in Real Time?

Real time systems can take you up another level to prove your innocence. The business intelligence buzzword around this technology today is Operational Business Intelligence. These can be great for early warning systems.

As with all new technology though, be careful of the hype. As a result of this new buzz, vendors are preaching the Holy Grail again. The time tested best approach for your data system efforts is to form a good team of professionals, and build it in house.

5. Is Your Data System Cross Functional?

Audit proofing is not a Finance function, or an IT function. It is a cross-functional activity. To get the job done, you will need a good team of auditors, process analysts, subject matter experts, techies and a good coach or project manager.

Most compliance efforts are best practices enforced. So, you will find stakeholders in other departments that will benefit from your total compliance efforts. For example, I recently built a GSA compliance data warehouse for a large company that was funded by their sales department. The VP of Sales was very interested in getting clarity on how discounts were being used. This was a great side benefit for the primary requirement of proving that the government was getting the best discounts.

Leveraging your business intelligence infrastructure to build a compliance data system is an intelligent way to audit-proof your company for total compliance. Start today by writing a project charter for your most important compliance exposure. This two to three day effort will end up saving you huge amounts of time and money.

In a recent GSA compliance effort, John Weathington, The Chief Compliance C

Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) and Its Effects

2008-04-09T00:16:00.000-07:00

In recent years there has been considerable discussion and concern about the possible hazards of electromagnetic radiation (EMR), including both RF (Radio Frequency) energy and power frequency (50-60 Hz) electromagnetic fields.

All life on Earth has adapted to survive in an environment of weak, natural low-frequency electromagnetic fields (in addition to the Earth's static geomagnetic field). Natural low-frequency EM fields come from two main sources: the sun and thunderstorm activity. But in the last 100 years, man-made fields at much higher intensities and with a very different spectral distribution have altered this natural EM background in ways that are not yet fully understood. It has been known since the early days of radio that RF energy can cause interference in most of the wireless operated systems and in devices which process extremely low power signals associated with control systems and in medical equipments. Very high density of Electromagnetic Fields have been known to have resulted in injuries by heating body tissue. These heat-related health hazards are called thermal effects. In addition, there is evidence that magnetic fields may produce biological effects at energy levels too low to cause body heating. The proposition that these thermal effects may produce harmful health consequences has produced a great deal of research. Human body nervous system is also known to work on extremely low intensities of electrical signals. Very little has been done to investigate the effect of Electromagnetic Fields on the human nervous and control system which as such leaves a lot of scope for future research.

Potential Sources of EMR

The list could be endless starting with seemingly harmless AC (alternating current) operating devices to all the intentional and non- intentional transmitters. Appreciable radiation occurs as the size of the components and connecting wires approaches one tenth of the wavelength of the operating frequency. The intensity of the field so radiated also depends on the power handled by the device. To name a few tube lights, spark plugs, washing machines, music systems, power amplifiers, computers, lifts, air conditioners, cable TV, computer screen etc all fall in the category of non-intentional transmitters but can be potential source of Electromagnetic Radiations. All radio and TV broadcasting systems, telecommunication systems and equipments, RADARS, mobile phones etc are intentional transmitters of Electromagnetic Radiations and may result in typical effects on various systems in addition to causing serious interference problems and affecting human body.

With ever increasing use of modern digital technology in almost all the modern processing and communication equipments the threat of unintentional Electromagnetic Radiation is further enhanced. As all digital signals positively have a very large bandwidth, its increasing use will result in Electromagnetic Radiations in almost all the frequency ranges there by leaving a possibility of affecting most of electronic devices and also human beings.

Some Typical Effects of EMR

Electromagnetic Interference: Interference is the energy levels introduced by electronic or communications systems that have a detrimental effect on other systems. Any electronic system is capable of receiving Electromagnetic Radiations if the size of the components or connecting wires approaches one tenth of frequency that may be present in the surrounding environment due to any intentional or unintentional transmitter. Depending on the intensity of this unwanted received radiation there could be instances of malfunctioning of the device receiving this energy. There have been number of instances where such a condition had resulted in catastrophic failure of the equipments. The most famous example is the failure of the Electronic surveillance system installed at one of the ships of United Kingdom Naval forces during Falkland war due to operation of its own Radar system installed on the same warship. As a result of this only one system could be operated at one time resulting in the loss of the ship. Intentional Jamming of the radio receivers by the security and police forces is the utilization of this effect to make the enemies receivers inoperative, however it can also happen due to unwanted and unintentional Radiation of Electromagnetic fields.

Effects on Human Body: Body tissues that are subjected to very high levels of RF energy may suffer serious heat damage. These effects depend upon the frequency of the energy, the power density of the RF field that strikes the body, and even on factors such as the polarization of the wave.

However, additional longitudinal resonances occur at about 1 GHz near the body surface.

Health Care Engineering: Is electromagnetic Interference (EMI) becoming a problem in the healthcare environment? Although electrical interference in hospitals is often regarded as no more than a minor nuisance, there are documented cases in which equipment failures due to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) have lead to injury or death. Some examples fare as follows: -

• In 1992, a patient attached to a monitor-defibrillator in an ambulance died because of interference from the ambulance radio prevented the machine from working (1).

• In 1987, patient monitoring systems failed to sound alarms because of interference; two patients died as a result (2).

• In 1993, a patient fitted with a pacemaker went into ventricular fibrillation shortly after being scanned with a metal detector outside a courtroom (2).

As in many other fields, the amount and complexity of electronics in hospitals and other medical environments is increasing year by year. Despite this, the number of reported incidents of EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) problems fortunately does not appear to be growing. This is probably because most manufacturers and designers of medical electronic products have developed a good awareness of EMC. Pacemakers are typical examples, where their design with respect to compactness and immunity to radio frequency interference has greatly improved over the years. Nowadays, pacemakers are very reliable, but can still fail under extreme conditions. Pacemakers have failed in patients undergoing electro surgery (2) and in other cases where patients kept mobile phones in their chest pockets, a few centimeters from the pacemaker leads (3). The powered Wheelchair is another typical example: there are many stories of radio frequency interference. (RFI) from mobile phones or police ‘walkie-talkies’ causing the wheelchair to drive itself and its occupant into traffic. These stories are based on real occurrences; reports of incidents in the USA in the early 1990s prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate the problem and recommend that the manufacturer change the design to give an immunity of at least 20V/m to RFI.

The use of many items of electronics equipment in close proximity in the hospital environment means that the same sort of EMC problems are encountered as with other types of electronic products. However there are some special features of the hospital EM environment:

• Failure of medical devices can lead to injury or death.

• Some equipment found in hospitals is intentionally designed to emit electromagnetic energy, often for therapy. Other equipment, which may be located nearby, is designed to detect very small physiological signals. This combination has the potential to create EMC Problems.

• Also in hospitals, there is the question of whether to ban or restrict the use of mobile phones. They improve communications but can interfere with critical equipment.

• Many medical devices are connected directly to patients. For mains-powered devices, the designer must prevent electric shock as well as ensure EMC. Electronic equipment is constantly evolving, so there is always the possibility of new problems arising, e.g. interference from new types of mobile communications devices.

Some Remedial Measures

Ensuring EMC of the devices/ components: Electromagnetic compatibility describes a state in which the electromagnetic environments produced by natural phenomena and by other electrical and electronic devices do not cause interference in electronic equipment and systems of interest. In order to reach this state, it is necessary to reduce the emissions from sources that are controllable, or to increase the immunity of equipment that may be affected, or to do both.

To try to eliminate all possibility of interference by decreasing emissions and increasing immunity further could incur a high cost to industry and could prevent new technologies from emerging. For example, a restriction lowering the transmitting power of cellular telephones so that consumers could place their cell phones on top of any electronic equipment might compromise the performance and economic viability of such communication systems. On the other hand, a requirement that all commercial electronic equipment perform without malfunction at ambient levels of 50 V/m would place a financial burden on manufacturers of a large range of equipment.

The following are some of the techniques used to counter the effects of EMI:

Source Elimination: An effective technique to eradicate interference is through identification and elimination of the source. In theory, this represents arguably the most effective of any measures, but is not practical in most situations, whereas this would require the source to be periodically or permanently disabled from operation. Grounding a grounding point represents a common reference point for a device or multiple devices that functions to ensure the safety or the equipment and operator, and its effects provide some immunity to noise and interference. Certain transmission and other Electronic equipment require adequate grounding to ensure proper operation. The Conductor used to ground the equipment should be the shortest necessary length to avoid a ground loop condition. This could result in energy transfer through conduction to connected devices.

Filters The use of filters allows selected frequencies to pass through to the connected device, while rejecting or attenuating any frequencies that are outside the filter specifications. Examples of filters include low-pass, band-pass, and high-pass.

Shielding. An effective manner used to minimize, and in some instances eliminate, EMI is to effectively shield components from interaction with electromagnetic energy. This technique is often expensive and causes major design engineering challenges, especially to fully shield a device, which requires that conductive material completely enclose the equipment or circuitry. Any separation in the shielding material reduces the effectiveness of the shielding technique.

Conclusion

With ever increasing use of the spectrum due to modern communication equipments and also use of latest digital processing techniques for most of the devices there is a need for laying down the guidelines for Emission standards. The extent of the spurious radiation by any device should be limited to the extent possible without increasing the cost of the product. Various governmental and nongovernmental agencies must come forward at national and international level to coordinate and standardize the permissible radiation limits

REFERENCES

(1)Banana Skins’, UK EMC Journal, vol. 15, p. 8, February 1998.

(2)Healthcare Engineering: Latest Developments and Applications; I Mech E, London, 25-26 Nov 2003 and Jeffrey L Silberberg, ‘Performance degradation of electronic medical devices due to Electromagnetic Interference Compliance Engineering vol. 10 p. 25 1993.

(3)Medical Devices Agency, Electromagnetic Compatibility of Medical Devices with Mobile Communications, MDA DB 9702, 1997.

Lt Col A K Nigam is M. Tech from IIT Kanpur and fellow member of IETE. He has Advance Diploma in Management and PG Diploma in Telecommunications He was trained by Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) and Military College of Telecommunication Engineering and has extensively worked in the field of Telecom and Education for over 28 years. He has distinction of being part of a core group for fielding a Packet Switching Network of National Importance on western border covering a span of over 1000 kms which was dedicated to nation by Prime Minister in 1994. He had been head of a task force for provision of communication in Ladakh region during outbreak of hostilities and was actively involved in development & deployment of highly mobile Area Grid Mobile Communication System developed for Indian army involving switching equipments, RR, Radio, Satellites and other diverse media. Currently he is serving as Professor with Institute of Technology and Management at Gurgaon, Haryana (India)

Safety Engineering Schools

2008-04-09T00:15:00.000-07:00

Safety Engineering Schools provide bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees, as well as certificates for specialization in various areas of safety engineering. At the bachelor level, studies will address subjects within the field of safety engineering that will include safety and health, probability, statistics, risk, management. Students will also study principles of science, computers, theory, and communications in order to develop technical skills for solving technical problems that relate to the safety engineering field.

At the master degree level, safety engineering students will take on responsibilities of a safety engineer that includes property loss control, safety program design and management, accident investigation, ergonomics, hygiene, and OSHA regulations and compliance.

Doctorate level safety engineering studies will involve research with consideration for applications to industry. Courses may include laws for safety and health, preparations that must be taken for emergency and disaster management, analytical safety, and engineering that factors in elements of dealing with humans.

Safety Engineering Schools teach students to design, test, oversee, and maintain, and determine qualities of success and causes of failure. Safety engineering requires extensive use of computers to aid in production, analysis, and testing of mechanical structures and system operations, and to monitor quality and control of environments and work processes.

Safety Engineering Schools teach engineers to be adept in using tools of many types for development of processes and procedures used in industry to develop and maintain safe products and safe environments.

If you are interested in learning more about Safety Engineering Schools and courses, please search our site for more information and resources.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Notice to Publishers: Please feel free to use this article in your Ezine or on your Website; however, ALL links must remain intact and acti

Software speeds emissions measurements

2008-03-01T03:12:00.001-08:00

EMF measurement software enables engineers and technicians to quickly and easily validate compliance with legally defined emission limits

RFEX-Fast EMF measurement software from Rohde and Schwarz enables engineers and technicians to quickly and easily validate compliance with legally defined emission limits. Network operators, test houses, service providers, and regulatory authorities can all benefit from its efficiency and ease of use.
The portable one-box measurement system together with the R and S FSL spectrum analyser and the R and S TS-EMF isotropic antenna is especially suitable for performing measurements outdoors or in highly inaccessible locations.

The compact RFEX-Fast software solution is designed for measurements on equipment such as basestations and broadcast transmitters; plus, it is also ideal for fixed-site transmission systems or WLAN infrastructures.

The software performs the measurements in a matter of seconds and displays the individual radio services.

Engineers and technicians can see at a glance whether minimum and maximum limits, such as those defined by ICNIRP (International Commission on nonIonising Radiation Protection), have been violated.

A simple maximum search of the electromagnetic field strength can also be performed.

The software is easy to configure because the radio services are solely defined by their frequency range.

This permits the system to adapt quickly to the measurement task.

The results can be interpreted immediately as the sum value of the field strength is output directly.

The software supports several Rohde and Schwarz spectrum analysers, thus extending manual measurement capabilities beyond EMF.

When used with the appropriate spectrum analysers, the EMF measurement software can also handle measurements of new radio services above 3GHz such as WiMAX and WLAN 802.11a/h signals.

Moreover, the tried-and-tested R and S RFEX software enables further analysis of the data obtained.

Software slashes SATA compliance test time

2008-03-01T03:07:00.000-08:00

TekExpress SATA leverages the approved suite of Tektronix serial data performance instruments to automate 100% of the required SATA Gen-1 and SATA Gen-2 compliance tests

New from Tektronix is the TekExpress compliance test automation framework and TekExpress SATA automated compliance test software. Running on the TekExpress framework, TekExpress SATA leverages the approved suite of Tektronix serial data performance instruments to automate 100% of the required SATA Gen-1 and SATA Gen-2 compliance tests for receivers, transmitters, and interconnects.
The TekExpress compliance automation framework has been developed for automated one-button testing of high speed serial data standards.

The TekExpress framework is built on top of TestStand from National Instruments that serves as the sequence control engine.

Controlled from a Windows XP PC, TekExpress SATA efficiently executes the 153 SATA Gen-2 tests required by the Methods of Implementation (MOI) certified by the SATA-IO working group.

TekExpress SATA software orchestrates the instrument setup and control sequences to provide complete certification test results for all four SATA-IO approved MOIs in less than 3 hours of total elapsed test time.

This represents a reduction in compliance test time of approximately 70%, saving designers valuable time on SATA design verification cycles.
Second generation serial databus architectures including SATA Gen-2 provide an order of magnitude greater data throughput than possible only a few years ago.

The accelerating performance of datarates is making design efforts even more challenging and adds design complexity that can hinder time to market and increase development cost.

Consequently, engineers need powerful test equipment and software capable of greater performance, more extensive analysis, and improved test efficinecy.

The new TekExpress SATA automated compliance test package from Tektronix provides unattended compliance testing for SATA Gen-1 and SATA Gen-2 that helps customers to streamline test operations and assists them with bringing new products to market quickly.

'There are over a hundred tests that need to be performed by test engineers to achieve SATA Gen-2 compliance', says Lynne Camp, Vice President, Performance Plus Instruments, Tektronix.

'The combination of growing test complexity, multiple instruments, and the need for measurement efficiency and speed are significant challenges for our customers'.

'Customers have asked Tektronix for a simple, complete, and efficient SATA II automated compliance test suite'.

'TekExpress SATA addresses these customer requirements'.

The compliance test modules for TekExpress SATA are divided into those for 'Hosts/Devices' and for 'Cables'.

There are six modules required for the former and one for the latter.

For Hosts/Devices, the automated test modules include: Physical Layer (PHY); Transmitter Signalling Group (TSG); Out of Band (OOB); Receiver Signalling Group (RSG); Receiver Margin Test (RMT) and; Transmit and Receive (Tx/Rx).

For Cables, there is an additional Cable Signal Integrity (SI) module.

Execution of the SATA MOIs is performed from any Windows XP computer.

Using traditional test methods customers typically take eight or more hours to cycle through the required SATA Gen-2 compliance tests.

This is especially time consuming if an error is encountered and the tests need to be performed again.

By using TekExpress SATA, a complete SATA Gen-2 compliance test can be performed largely without user intervention, providing complete test results in a few hours.

'We have been able to utilise the pre-release version of the new TekExpress automated compliance software for SATA Gen-2 from Tektronix and have seen dramatic reductions in set-up complexity and execution time required to complete the needed tests', says Johan Craeybeckx, Chief Technology Officer, Testronic Laboratories.

'Companies that once found SATA II compliance testing a difficult and time consuming task will be pleasantly surprised, whether performing these tests themselves or at a certified test house'.

'Tektronix provides us with the best expertise and test bench for high speed serial technologies and standards'.

'We will standardise our SATA Gen-2 compliance test tools and procedures using Tektronix instrumentation and the new TekExpress SATA software'.

TekExpress SATA extends the level of support Tektronix provides for SATA Gen-2 development and compliance efforts through its family of high-performance instrumentation.

Tektronix offers a unique breadth of best in class instruments, performance levels and product automation which when applied to a any specific standard brings the customers productivity to the new level of productivity expected in today's rapidly evolving serial standards market.

Required equipment for the TekExpress SATA compliance test are a high bandwidth real time oscilloscope (DSA70000 Series digital serial analyser), a high speed serial signal generator (AWG7102 arbitrary waveform generator), and a high bandwidth sampling oscilloscope (DSA8200 Series digital serial analyser).

Tektronix DSA oscilloscopes and AWG signal generators provide the performance necessary for testing all generations of SATA devices, including the planned SATA Gen-3 spec, set to run at 6Gbit/s.

These next-generation instruments and application software solutions are part of an entirely new and comprehensive test bench for high-speed serial data.

NI TestStand is a ready-to-run test management environment designed to simplify the automation of test and validation systems.

TestStand, when combined with TekExpress can be used to develop, manage and execute additional test sequences beyond SATA Gen-2 Compliance Testing.

Software assists GPS testing

2008-02-26T04:50:00.000-08:00

GPS-capable mobile devices simultaneously obtain navigation data both from the satellite and from a mobile radio network

Rohde and Schwarz has developed software that allows manufacturers of mobile devices with built-in GPS receivers to simulate and test all GPS scenarios and conformance test cases defined by the A-GPS (assisted GPS) protocol. The option is available for the R and S SMU200A and R and S SMATE200A vector signal generators as well as for the R and S AMU200A baseband signal generator.
To accelerate the accurate positioning of a GPS receiver after it has been switched on, A-GPS-capable mobile devices simultaneously obtain navigation data both from the satellite and from a mobile radio network.

Using the mobile radio network can reduce initial positioning time from several minutes (in the worst case) to just a few seconds.

This time advantage is useful in situations such as emergency calls.

The new A-GPS signal generator option from Rohde and Schwarz enables manufacturers to select the GPS scenarios specified for A-GPS conformance tests in just a few keystrokes.

The signal generator is then configured automatically.
In addition, manufacturers can easily and flexibly configure their own scenarios.

Position, navigation data and up to eight satellites can be configured to meet individual requirements.

To simulate moving receivers, manufacturers can define the route to be traveled using popular mapping applications such as Google Earth and then store the data in the signal generator.

In addition to standard-compliant A-GPS conformance tests, manufacturers can also make measurements such as Go/No-Go tests or sensitivity tests.

Go/no-go tests verify whether a GPS receiver can determine its position correctly.

Sensitivity tests check the minimum power at which a GPS receiver can detect the satellite.

The R and S SMU200A, R and S SMATE200A and R and S AMU200A signal generators are the only instruments presently on the market that can generate both mobile radio signals and GPS signals in real time.

Manufacturers can therefore test the normal functionality of their mobile phones as well as the positioning function of their GPS receiver by using just one instrument.

To generate the signals of up to eight satellites, the following test setup is required: one signal generator with two basebands, two GPS options (R and S SMU-/R and S SMATE-/R and S AMU-K44) and the A-GPS option.

The setup also requires a protocol tester such as the R and S CRTU, which simulates the mobile radio connection required for A-GPS.

A-GPS tester has all standards covered

2008-02-25T05:07:00.000-08:00

Test platform supports industry-standard TTCN A-GPS protocol test cases as well as Minimum Performance tests and the OMA SUPL V1.0 conformance tests

The Aeroflex 6401 AIME A-GPS is the only test platform available that supports the industry-standard TTCN A-GPS protocol test cases as well as the Minimum Performance tests and the OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) SUPL V1.0 (Secure User Plane Location) conformance tests, as mandated by the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and PTCRB handset certification bodies.
This complete W-CDMA A-GPS conformance test capability is available as an upgrade to the well established Aeroflex 6401 AIME/CT conformance test platform, currently in use in certification test labs around the world.

The W-CDMA A-GPS signalling test cases supported by the Aeroflex 6401 are based on the common TTCN published by the 3GPP RAN5 working group.

The RAN5 TTCN forms the reference implementation for W-CDMA signalling tests and has been reviewed and verified in the open forum provided by the 3GPP, generating a higher degree of traceability and stability when compared with proprietary implementations.

As a result, a high level of confidence in the certification testing is rapidly achieved.

The A-GPS signalling test cases are published in 3GPP TS 34.123.

The Aeroflex 6401 AIME A-GPS system also supports the Minimum Performance test cases found in 3GPP TS 34.171 in addition to the SUPL test cases published by the OMA.

Collectively, these tests ensure that the behaviour of location aware terminals meets the standards.

'There is an increased level of interest in A-GPS, both in emergency call situations and commercial location and navigation services', says Phil Medd, Product Manager for Aeroflex Test Solutions, Wireless Division.

'Combining location information from the cellular network with GPS satellite signals improves the time to first fix, enhancing the user experience of location services'.

To complement this comprehensive, industry-standard A-GPS test capability, Aeroflex can supply network operator-specific test cases that check the Emergency Call location (E911) accuracy in simulated indoor signal conditions.

Furthermore, the Aeroflex 6401 AIME/CT offers general W-CDMA TTCN-based protocol testing (including HSDPA and HSUPA) making it a uniquely versatile platform.

Vector signal generators upgrade to HSPA+

2008-02-22T22:57:00.000-08:00

Software option handles comprehensive physical layer tests on HSPA+ receivers, baseband modules and RF front ends

Rohde and Schwarz has become the first T and M equipment manufacturer worldwide to deliver a signal generator solution for HSPA+. A new software option handles comprehensive physical layer tests on HSPA+ receivers, baseband modules and RF front ends (including MIMO tests). Manufacturers of mobile phones and basestations can now confidently take the next step in the evolution of the UMTS standard.
The new option for vector and baseband signal generators from Rohde and Schwarz covers the physical layer extensions defined for HSPA+.

These extensions include higher order modulation (HOM) in the uplink and downlink, continuous packet connectivity (CPC), and MIMO extensions for HSDPA.

Mobile customers using HSPA+ will achieve higher data throughput and faster response times from the mobile radio network when compared with HSPA.
With the new option, HSPA+ signals can be generated in the downlink to test HSPA+ receivers in mobile radio equipment and modules.

One example of the additional HOM schemes supported is 64QAM.

Test model 6 defined for HSPA+ is also available.

The R and S SMU200A and R and S AMU200A signal generators generate correct test signals including MIMO precoding and 2x2 MIMO real-time fading.

This allows manufacturers to test MIMO receivers for HSPA+ using only one instrument.

Since the signal generators cover a number of other mobile radio standards, T and M equipment users can also easily perform interoperability tests.

Uplink functions for basestation tests and the capability to generate standard-compliant reference channels in the uplink (fixed reference channels) and downlink (H sets) will be integrated into future versions of the option.

It will also be possible to retrofit the new functionalities at no charge by means of a firmware update.

The HSPA+ functionality is provided as an internal option (R and S SMx-/AMU K59) for the R and S SMU200A, SMATE200A and SMJ100A vector signal generators, and for the R and S AMU200A baseband signal generator and fading simulator.

Signal generators bring diversity to 3GPP LTE

2008-02-20T04:52:00.000-08:00

By including the latest revisions of the 3GPP LTE standard in the firmware for its signal generators, Rohde and Schwarz offers highly flexible testing for LTE equipment

Rohde and Schwarz has added channel coding and MIMO precoding for up to four transmit antennas to its industry-leading signal generators for 3GPP LTE (uplink and downlink). Whether mobile equipment manufacturers are looking for an all-in-one solution for 2x2 MIMO signals and real-time fading or simply need standard-compliant RF or baseband signals, Rohde and Schwarz offers the answer.
By including the latest revisions of the 3GPP LTE standard in the firmware for its signal generators, Rohde and Schwarz offers highly flexible T and M equipment for the development of LTE equipment.

In performance testing, for example, both the R and S SMU200A vector signal generator and the R and S AMU200A baseband signal generator, generate standard-compliant test signals, including 2x2 MIMO fading in real time.

Both one-box solutions support the ITU fading profiles defined for 3GPP LTE including the correlation between the fading paths.

Manufacturers no longer need external fading hardware or control software for testing 3GPP LTE mobile stations.

As the signal generators provide 3GPP TS 36.211 standard-compliant signals, the full scope of RF performance can be tested.

No additional instruments or an external PC for signal calculation are required, which simplifies the test setup significantly.

The new firmware update for MIMO precoding and channel coding for 3GPP LTE can be installed on the R and S SMU200A, SMATE200A and SMJ100A vector signal generators, as well as into the R and S AMU200A and AFQ100A baseband signal generators.

TUV Rheinland and TUV SUD move to merger

2008-02-18T04:33:00.000-08:00

Combined technical services group will emply 25,000 people, with core competencies in testing, inspection, certification and training

TUV Rheinland Holding and TUV SUD plan to merge in a move expected to create an internationally powerful technical services group with core competencies in testing, inspection, certification and training. The new company would employ about 25,000 people worldwide and achieve sales of more than Eur 2.2 billion.
The project is subject to approval by the responsible antitrust authorities and the relevant committees of the associations and the groups.

'A strong international company with a strong German brand, providing economic added value to its customers through neutral testing and certification of quality and safety is becoming even stronger internationally', says Prof Dr-Ing habil Bruno O Braun, CEO of TUV Rheinland.

'The merger gives us significantly greater international capability and reach'.

'We will become even more attractive as an employer for qualified specialists and managers'.

The CEO of TUV SUD, Dr-Ing Axel Stepken, adds: 'This merger is about international growth'.

'Through the planned merger we are creating one of the biggest and most efficient groups for testing and certification, both nationally and internationally'.

'Already today, significant shares of the sales of both companies come from outside Germany'.

'Combining our strengths will enable us to faster access and expand international growth markets'.

The merger is not expected to result in any job losses.

In addition to the merger of associations and the groups, it is also planned to set up a joint foundation to hold shares in the new group as an independent third party.

One of the major roles of the foundation will be the promotion of the next generation of engineers.

It is planned to locate the merged associations and the foundation in Cologne.

The headquarters of the merged group will be based in Munich.

The current CEO of TUV Rheinland, Prof Braun (65), will head the Managing Board of the new group.

His deputy and designated successor will be Dr Stepken (49), the current CEO of TUV SUD.

Testers are chosen for WiMAX compliance testing

2008-02-18T04:31:00.000-08:00

Aeroflex/AT4 wireless MINT223x protocol conformance test system and AT4 wireless MINT T2110 radio conformance test system are named official test equipment for WiMAX Certification

The WiMAX Forum has designated the Aeroflex/AT4 wireless MINT223x protocol conformance test (PCT) system and AT4 wireless MINT T2110 radio conformance test (RCT) system as official test equipment for WiMAX Certification (802.16-2005). Both systems have been installed and are being actively used for WiMAX equipment certification at the first worldwide WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Laboratory which has been established on behalf of the WiMAX Forum within AT4 wireless' comprehensive Wireless Certification and Testing Laboratory in Malaga, Spain.
We are extremely pleased to be able to count on the WiMAX conformance test capabilities of the AT4 wireless RCT and Aeroflex/AT4 wireless PCT systems in the WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Laboratory', says Jose de la Plaza, who is responsible for the operation of the WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Laboratory.

'In order to quickly make the WiMAX Certification process a reality we need to be able to draw on the extensive expertise, technical innovation and understanding of WiMAX technology of leading test equipment developers like Aeroflex and AT4 wireless'.

'The designation of our conformance test systems by the WiMAX Forum as official test equipment for WiMAX Certification is testament to our market leadership in WiMAX test', adds Paul Argent, Director of Infrastructure Products at Aeroflex Test Solutions, Wireless Division.

'The early availability of quality WiMAX test equipment is crucial to the ongoing development of the WiMAX market both in terms of infrastructure and subscriber equipment and we are leading its delivery'.

Website catalogues RoHS Directive exemptions

2008-02-13T02:14:00.000-08:00

The SGS website is a valuable source of information on the RoHS Directive, with comprehensive details of exemptions from the directive

On 1st July 2006 the RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC) becomes enforceable. This directive bans the putting on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) containing more than 0.1% lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB or PBDE and puts a limit of 0.01% on cadmium content. The RoHS Directive covers nearly all kind of EEE 'designed for the use with a voltage not exceeding 1000 volts for alternating current and 1500 volts for direct current'.
Medical devices as well as monitoring and control instruments are not covered by the scope of the RoHS Directive.

Also the Directive does not apply to spare parts for the repair or to the reuse, of EEE put on the market before 1st July 2006.

Further exemptions are only possible due to technical reasons.

The SGS website includes listings of all exemptions from the directive, both currently in force and under consideration.

Training course offers hands-on EMC testing

2008-02-13T02:04:00.000-08:00

A 'hands-on' two-day training course covers the theory and practice of EMC testing, and qualifying SMEs can get a 50-70% rebate on the cost

The EMC Test Club in Hertfordshire now offers a 'hands-on' two day training course covering the theory and practice of EMC testing, and qualifying SMEs can get a 50-70% rebate on the cost. Delegates will learn how to undertake radiated and conducted emissions and immunity tests, including burst, surge, ESD and power quality testing, with the opportunity to make tests yourself in the EMC Test Club's two chambers.
Training is a cornerstone of the EMC Test Club.

Nonmembers can sign up for its training courses, and club members receive initial members' training sessions backed up by on-going training.

One of the key benefits of using the EMC Test Club is the training in EMC principles, learning how to test with the club's equipment, and practice with hands-on use of the equipment.

Making the tests yourself you will enhance your own skills, while discovering much more about your product's strengths and weaknesses.

This facility is now readily available to all engineers, consultants and electronics companies; you can join the EMC Test Club or pay-as-you-go, and learn how to use the screened ferrite-lined, fully anechoic chamber and other facilities yourself.

Software allows realistic wireless testing

2008-02-11T00:19:00.001-08:00

Agilent's N5970A IFT software is suitable for UMTS mobile phone/device developers conducting functional validation, as well as service providers performing acceptance testing

Agilent Technologies has released interactive functional test (IFT) software for its 8960 series 10 (E5515C) wireless communications test set. Expanding on the functional test capability of this test set, the new IFT software provides an automated and simplified interface for realistically testing 'user experience' by stress testing cellular mobile devices in real-world network scenarios.
By allowing earlier identification of design issues and reducing time to market, this software is suitable for UMTS mobile phone/device developers conducting functional validation, as well as service providers performing acceptance testing.

Agilent's N5970A IFT software provides an automated solution for functional testing, including parallel test execution, reducing the time it takes to validate a design and allowing more testing in a given release cycle.

It can simultaneously test call processing, FTP and SMS while monitoring current drain and changing the RF power to the phone to provide a real network test.

This solution brings more realistic testing into the design cycle earlier, enabling the user to more easily modify the design.

It also ensures the user is able to find complex issues, whether related to hardware, protocol or software, that are specific to how the cellular mobile device will function on the network.
Finding such 'user experience' issues before a device is rolled out to the network significantly reduces expensive validation cycles.

The IFT software also includes a failure analysis/troubleshooting toolset that enables the user to find corner-case issues in data throughput, protocol and current drain.

It provides the data necessary to resolve the issue, reducing problem-resolution time and time to market.

By testing beyond the conformance tests, the IFT software identifies trivial issues early in the design process that can slow down the launch of the design, thereby increasing validation, IOT and field-test success.

Another key feature of the IFT software is its ability to provide easy phone control in situations where the phone UI is not yet fully developed or is not part of the product design.

This capability greatly simplifies user access to varied and complex commands.

'Agilent is advancing the technology of mobile measurement across the R and D lifecycle', said Niels Fache, Vice President and General Manager of Agilent's Mobile Broadband Division.

'As mobile devices become increasingly complex, it becomes critical to ensure a positive user experience'.

'Engineers, therefore, need more tools to stress test their devices in a 'real-world' environment'.

'Our new IFT software automates and simplifies mobile stress test, providing engineers the functional analysis and troubleshooting tools they need to effectively perform 'user experience' testing in design and validation labs'.

R and D tester offers wide compatability

2008-02-11T00:11:00.000-08:00

The S-CAT 6000 seamlessly integrates with a wide range of external equipment, enabling testing over RF bearers such as GSM/GPRS, EGPRS, WCDMA, UMA/GAN, CDMA 2000, LTE and TD-SCDMA

setcom has released the S-CAT 6000, an all-in-one solution for R and D and conformance testing of both mobile multimedia applications and signalling protocols including UMA/GAN. This new platform is now offered with internal RF capabilities as well as setcom's enhanced test environment, providing a complete stand-alone test solution.
The S-CAT 6000 includes all the functionality of the S-CAT 5000 series, using setcom's Operating SW and 1000+ Test Cases, but now includes further flexibility and support for a wider range of R and D functionality, delivering a true R and D testing environment as well as a proven conformance testing platform.

With the S-CAT 6000 series' internal RF modules all mobile multimedia and GAN test cases can be performed.

Besides testing over its internal RF modules, external RF units can be configured to address even more demanding and complex test scenarios.

Like the S-CAT 5000 series, the S-CAT 6000 series seamlessly integrates with a wide range of external equipment, enabling testing over RF bearers such as GSM/GPRS, EGPRS, WCDMA, UMA/GAN, CDMA 2000, LTE and TD-SCDMA.

'The internal RF capability of the S-CAT 6000 series provides an avenue for customers to test mobile device functionality from the radio layer right the way through to the control, service and application layers without the large expense of an external network simulator'.

'Having internal GSM/GPRS, EGPRS, WCDMA and GAN capability for mobile engineers who do not require all the measurement capability of existing RF network simulators, means that the S-CAT 6000 provides an easy to use and cost-effective solution for testing handovers, mobile applications and signalling protocols' said Peter Lund, President Worldwide Sales of setcom.

Ellacoya passes the quality test

2008-02-10T23:56:00.000-08:00

The TUV SUD America has granted ISO9001:2000 Certification to Ellacoya Networks, a leading provider of carrier-grade deep packet inspection solutions for broadband IP networks

The TUV SUD America Management Service Division has granted ISO9001:2000 Certification to Ellacoya Networks, a leading provider of carrier-grade deep packet inspection (DPI) solutions for broadband IP networks. The scope of the certification is for 'Design and manufacture of service control systems for monitoring and management of IP networks'.
'Our customers base their business on a mission-critical network for which Ellacoya provides an integral Deep Packet Inspection network element', said Gerald Wesel, Chairman and CEO at Ellacoya Networks.

'Ellacoya has always been committed to quality assurance and customer satisfaction'.

'This ISO9001 certification further demonstrates that commitment and certifies that our quality processes scale to meet all of our customers' requirements - including telco, wireless and cable broadband networks with millions of subscribers'.
Ellacoya has proven compliance with this standard through a rigorous audit performed by TUV SUD America, which has partnered with more than 3000 companies throughout the NAFTA region, assuring product and management systems excellence and acceptance in the global marketplace.

Commenting on Ellacoya's recent certification, Charles A Clark Jr, Lead Auditor, TUV SUD America, states: 'Ellacoya has demonstrated a strong, lean cross-functional company culture where employees are well informed and involved in the success of the quality management system'.

'The management team shows an inclusive and visionary leadership that highlights the importance and committement to an effective quality management system that meets the international standard requirements of ISO9001:2000'.

'Our commitment spans all functional areas of the company to operate in accordance with the quality management and continuous improvement processes required by the ISO9001:2000 standard', said Phil Bedard, Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at Ellacoya.

'This is a significant achievement which guarantees our customers and partners that quality assurance is a strategic company priority'.

Telecomms quality certification proves popular

2008-02-10T23:51:00.000-08:00

TUV SUD America has achieved notable market placement to date with respect to the overall number of active TL9000 management system certifications

TUV SUD America announces it has achieved notable market placement to date with respect to the overall number of active TL9000 management system certifications, ranking fourth for TL9000 certifications in the USA and sixth for TL9000 certifications worldwide. The TL9000 quality management system (QMS) was created by QuEST Forum to meet the quality requirements of the worldwide telecommunications industry.
The registration management system (RMS) provides information on an organisation's registration to the TL9000 standard.

Certified registrations are public records of the TL9000 registration and proof to the industry that all the applicable TL9000 requirements including measurements are being met.

The RMS is an extremely valuable resource with multiple functions that support TL9000 registration, quick reports and statistics, data submission, account management, and registrar access.

These rankings, published by the QuEST Forum, include companies that have issued the most active certificates in the telecommunications market segment.

TUV ranked fifth among TL9000 certified locations worldwide and third for number of TL9000 certified locations in the USA.

Commenting on QuEST Forum rankings, TUV SUD America's Director, Management Service, Calin Molldovean, says: 'We are pleased with the ranking results, which demonstrate our ongoing and global commitment to being at the forefront of quality and efficiency for certification development on behalf of our customers'.

'We look forward to further improving our record for service delivery for TL9000 in 2007'.

Wimax lab adopts protocol testing system

2008-02-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

Anite's AS8140 mobile Wimax PCT system allows the certification and development of Wimax devices through the provision of comprehensive logging of protocol messages, debugging and analysis tools

AT4 wireless' Wimax forum-accredited lead test lab in Malaga, Spain will use Anite's AS8140 mobile Wimax protocol conformance test (PCT) system for the PCT testing of Wimax mobile devices and basestations. Anite's Mobile Wimax PCT Test system is based on IEEE802.16-2005 Corrigendum 2, Draft 3, as specified by the Wimax Forum.
The system provides for extensive configuration of physical and MAC layer protocol parameters for certification and development of Wimax devices through the provision of comprehensive logging of protocol messages, debugging and analysis tools.

The modular design of Anite's AS8140 Mobile Wimax PCT test system enables the AT4 wireless lab to perform simultaneous certification testing of multiple devices.

This increases the lab's capacity to perform certification testing and gives flexibility in allowing various combinations of mobile devices and basestations to be tested.

'PCT is a critical part of the Wimax Forum certification testing process', said Fernando Hardasmal, Deputy General Manager, AT4 wireless.

'We are delighted to add Anite's Mobile Wimax test system to our Wimax certification lab here in Malaga'.

'The addition of Anite's Mobile Wimax PCT test system will significantly enhance AT4 Wireless' Wimax certification capabilities' said Jose de la Plaza, Wireless Laboratory Manager, AT4 Wireless.

Certification is a milestone in compliance

2008-02-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

Electronics industry environmental compliance specialist GreenSoft Technology has itself received approval to be registered to the GB/T19001:2000 idt ISO9001:2000 quality management system standard

GreenSoft Technology, a leading provider of environmental compliance content management tools and services for the global electronics industry, has received approval to be registered to the GB/T19001:2000 idt ISO9001:2000 quality management system standard. The certification, awarded by World Standards Certification centre, demonstrates GreenSoft's dedication to and implementation of a systematic and quantifiable approach to quality-of-service standards through a rigorous auditing process.
ISO9001:2000 is an internationally recognised quality management system standard of the International Organisation for Standardisation based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The ISO9001:2000 standard provides guidelines for companies to establish consistent quality management.

The GB/T19001:2000 standard is equivalent to the ISO9001:2000 standard.

To ensure compliance, GreenSoft will be subject to frequent audits of documentation and processes.

'The ISO9001:2000 standard is the benchmark for quality business systems around the world and achieving this certification is a milestone for GreenSoft', says Larry Yen, President and CEO of GreenSoft Technology.

'Our company has a proactive quality management system that ensures that our customers receive the highest quality software and data'.

'Our process makes sure that customers are satisfied at every stage of their relationship with us, including product development, sales, design, implementation and support'.

Platform accelerates 3G conformance testing

2008-02-02T02:32:00.000-08:00

A new bespoke test platform enables Cetecom to perform 3G blocking tests simultaneously with other RF conformance procedures

Experts consider the 3GPP TS 34.121-1 TC 6.5 blocking test case for 3G as one that requires a comparatively long time for processing. And during this time, the RF conformance test platform is not available for any other test. As a leading GSM and 3G test laboratory that disposes of several high-value test systems from a number of renowned manufacturers Cetecom has had to face this challenge in every 3G testing project.
A team of Cetecom experts that specialises in development and engineering services has met this challenge and developed a new test platform especially for this purpose.

The new Factsware test system complements the existing conformance test equipment at the Cetecom laboratories and optimises its efficiency: Factsware enables the processing of the 3G blocking test case according to the GCF and PTCRB requirements on an isolated platform and separated from the other test cases that have to be carried out.

Thanks to this, the blocking test can now be processed in parallel with other tests.

More than a decade of experience in mobile communications testing and a wealth of knowledge have been channelled into the new test system.

Cetecom's customers benefit from this proprietary development by an optimised test procedure and a reduced time to market.

RFID offers smart route to medical safety

2008-02-02T02:30:00.000-08:00

Medical device safety testing technology incorporates significant benefits for test engineers, service firms and contractors involved in the electrical safety testing of electromedical equipment

New medical device safety testing technology developed by Rigel Medical, part of the Seaward Group, incorporates significant benefits for test engineers, service firms and contractors involved in the electrical safety testing of electromedical equipment in hospitals. The innovative new Braincell concept introduced by Rigel Medical uses smart RFID (radio frequency identification) data tags that remain attached to medical equipment to provide fast and efficient storage of test information.
When used with the Rigel 277 electromedical safety analyser, the new technology extends the concept of traditional bar code test systems for the automatic identification and testing of medical equipment.

While most barcodes primarily contain a single ID number, Braincell smart tags have a much larger data storage capacity.

As a result, all product information including asset ID, test class, site and location, previous test date, test engineer, applied part configuration and a four-line comment field can all be recorded and remain permanently with the item.
In this way, the Braincell contains all the required information to enable fast one-touch re-testing of medical equipment and can also be used as a means of automated asset tracking of equipment around a building.

Two-way communication between the Braincell and the Rigel 277 Plus using a simple read/write device facilitates automatic re-testing, with the smart tags having the ability to store test data transmitted back from the instrument.

As a result, service records are updated automatically after each test routine and remain with the equipment for its lifetime.

The Braincells are completely self-contained, strong and durable and do not require line of sight visibility for test data retrieval or transmission.

As a result, the RFID tag tag can be applied either internally or externally to a medical device thus making it less susceptible to theft or loss during cleaning.

The Braincells and the handheld read/write module are available as accessories to the multipurpose Rigel 277 Plus.

Specifically designed to test in accordance with all main industry standards, including IEC/EN60601-1, MDA DB9801 and IEC/EN61010, the Rigel 277 Plus can test electromedical equipment with multi type applied parts in a single test routine

GPS tests simulate real-life conditions

2008-01-31T23:33:00.000-08:00

The standards require test scenarios with six to eight simultaneous satellites, but Spirent ULTS is equipped with up to 12 satellite channels

Cetecom has added RF performance tests for A-GPS (assisted global positioning system) to its portfolio and has expanded its testing equipment by selecting Spirent Communications' UMTS Location Test System (ULTS). Users can test their devices according to the 3GPP Test Specification TS 34.171 (WCDMA RF minimum performance) and OMA Enabler Test Specification (ETS) SUPL V1.0.
For TS 34.171, ULTS supports all six test cases for the validated bands FDD I (GCF) and FDD II and V (PTCRB) as well as for the bands FDD IV and IX.

For OMA ETS SUPL V1.0, approximately 48 test cases are available (including 19 test cases validated by GCF and PTCRB).

Beyond these minimum performance test standards, Spirent ULTS enables RF performance testing under customised real-life conditions.

The complexity of the possible test scenarios exceeds the conformance standards.

The standards require test scenarios with six to eight simultaneous satellites, but Spirent ULTS is equipped with up to 12 satellite channels.

Electrical tester meets aircraft standards

2008-01-31T23:29:00.000-08:00

The EACS system is a combination of hardware and software designed to comply with the complex procedures established by industry leaders such as EADS and Boeing

TTi (Thurlby Thandar Instruments) has released Xantrex Elgar's Electrical Avionic Compliance System. Avionics electrical component manufacturers need to meet very exacting test standards to achieve approval by aircraft manufacturers, and the EACS system is a combination of hardware and software designed to comply with the complex procedures established by industry leaders such as EADS and Boeing.
Extended test libraries are currently available for Airbus ABD100 (Tables A-B-C-D/E), Airbus AMD24 (Tables SVF/SCF-TVF/TCF-LDC), Boeing Power Quality (Tables AC/DC Low - DC High), DO160, EN2282 and Eurocae custom tables.

The system platform software uses the Elgar SmartWave AC Source to provide the complex AC and DC power to run the tests, and the Yokogawa ScopeCorder multi-channel acquisition unit to record the results, check the compliance, print the data report and save all executed scenarios.

There are thousands of test sequences that will be setup, run and recorded automatically, bringing the quality assurance of an automatic system and saving months of engineering work.

Optional qualification and measurement system data reports and archive management, compatible with Elgar SW source and SWCS software, help engineers to compile detailed test records.

For customers already using Elgar AC sources, the EACS software and drivers can be purchased independently.

TTi is organising a seminar on the system at the Duxford Imperial War Museum, Cambridgeshire, on the 11th October 2007, featuring a presentation by Philippe Braule from MB Electronique in France.

The seminar will help engineers to understand the definition of the relevant standards and how the EACS system can help to save time and improve reporting while testing.

Electromagnetic testing agreement signed

2008-01-30T02:37:00.000-08:00

UL aims to streamline the product compliance process for its customers by combining RFI's EMC testing facilities with UL's product safety testing and certification services

RFI Global Services UK (RFI) has agreed to provide testing and other services relating to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC services) to UL UK. The objective of this partnership is to streamline the product compliance process of UL customers by combining RFI's EMC testing facilities with UL's product safety testing and certification services.
RFI is a UKAS-accredited laboratory (ISO/IEC 17025) that focuses on specialist testing, approvals and product development services across the wireless, cellular and smartcard technologies.

RFI services include EMC testing using facilities and test equipment in compliance with national and international standards such as the European EMC (2004/108/EC), the FCC regulations for the North American market and other worldwide product approval requirements.

Through the new partnership, UL will extend the scope of its testing capacities to better serve the UK market within the information technology, consumer electronics and telecommunications industries.

The co-operation with RFI is a response to customer needs for flexible service approaches that directly support speed and on-time delivery to put products in the global marketplace.

By means of the new agreement with RFI, UL will be able to provide a faster turnaround time to customers by using RFI facilities for EMC testing, which include eight screened chambers, three anechoic chambers, two open area test sites, six bench immunity test sites and an advanced electronic test file system.

Korea upgrades RoHS laws

2008-01-30T02:33:00.000-08:00

A new Korean law has merged the European RoHS, ELV and WEEE directives into one law

The Korean version of RoHS was passed in the Korean National Assembly on 27th April, 2007. The Act for Resource Recycling of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Vehicles will be enforced from 1st January, 2008 and its main feature is that it has merged the European RoHS, ELV and WEEE directives into one law.
The main household electronic products and OA equipment targeted by the RoHS legislation are TVs; refrigerators, household washing machines, air conditioners, personal computers, audio systems; mobile phones, printers, photocopiers and fax machines.

In these product categories the presence of the six hazardous substances covered also by EU RoHS and China RoHS will be banned.

All exemptions are also similar to those of the EU RoHS.

The major difference between China RoHS and Korea RoHS is that in Korea OEMs are not required to label their products as compliant.

The ELV bill bans four hazardous substances in all kinds of cars, vans and trucks under 3.5t.

All exceptions are similar to those of the EU ELV directive.

For WEEE, all manufacturers and importers have to provide recycling information about their electronics and vehicles and also place it on their homepages.

Until 31st December 2009 a vehicle's ratio of recyclable contents has to be over 85%.

After this date it must be over 95%.

R and D tester offers wide compatability

2008-01-28T05:42:00.001-08:00

Receiver suits worldwide radio

2008-01-28T05:32:00.000-08:00

The R and S PR100 can intercept short-term signals such as those emitted by short-haul radio modules or military radios using frequency-hopping techniques

The R and S PR100 from Rohde and Schwarz is the only portable receiver specifically tailored to worldwide requirements of mobile radio monitoring. Its frequency range from 9kHz to 7.5GHz makes it suitable for diverse applications such as radio reconnaissance, locating interference sources and frequency monitoring.
Despite its compact size, the PR100 offers high sensitivity and a scan speed of up to 2.0GHz per second.

This enables regulatory authorities, industry, or armed forces to capture even weak or short-term signals.

Featuring real-time bandwidth of up to 10MHz and powerful digital signal processing capabilities, the RandS PR100 can intercept short-term signals such as those emitted by short-haul radio modules or military radios using frequency-hopping techniques.

Because intercepted data is continuously buffered during scanning, no signals are lost during data processing.

Stored activities can be displayed with a waterfall diagram.
This means that even signals that are no longer being transmitted can be analysed while the operator optimises the receiver settings for the short-term signal being monitored.

The IF bandwidth of the PR100 ranges between 10kHz and the 10MHz maximum visible real-time bandwidth.

As a result, the receiver can be adapted to handle a variety of radio services such as air traffic control, shortwave, Tetra or UMTS.

IF bandwidth can be selected independent of demodulation bandwidth.

This allows the operator to demodulate an audio signal, store it and - at the same time - intercept signals across the set IF bandwidth.

As a result, no signals are lost during demodulation.

Moreover, the differential spectrum display lets the operator compare stored frequency occupancies with signal activities currently being received.

Any differences will be shown in the differential spectrum.

This feature makes it possible to track illegal transmitters such as bugs without a major analysis effort.

The R and S PR100 processes both analogue and digital signals.

Digitally modulated radio signals such as TETRA, packet radio or Pactor III can be demodulated in the baseband with an I/Q demodulation bandwidth of up to 500kHz and stored on an SD card in real-time.

After completing a mission, data stored on the SD card can be transferred to an external PC via USB or LAN or the SD card itself.

Recorded digital emissions such as Pactor III can then be analysed offline by means of the R and S GX430 analysis software.

The portable receiver may also be deployed for unmanned operation because it can be fully remote-controlled via its LAN interface - as part of a stationary radio monitoring system, for example.

This makes it possible to install a full-coverage monitoring network on a comparatively low budget.

Moreover, the PR100 can perform automatic functional tests quickly and easily because the receiver settings for a variety of signal and frequency scenarios can be directly stored on the SD card and recalled as needed.

Airport operators, police, government authorities and other security organisations can perform continuous checks to ensure the proper functioning of their radio systems.

Even better, the PR100 does not require a service technician on site in order to perform a functional test.

The receiver is first set to one of its predefined operating states and then a test sequence is played back in the radios to be tested.

Weighing only 3.5kg and boasting an operating time of approximately four hours, the RandS PR100 is suitable for locations that cannot be accessed with DF vehicles - in particular, inside buildings.

When used in conjunction with the R and S HE300 active directional antenna from Rohde and Schwarz, the portable receiver locates, for example, emergency transmitters or interfering pulses being emitted by defective electronic equipment that can impair the reception of regular radio signals.

The R and S PR100 has been optimised for radio monitoring tasks.

Conference looks at environmental issues

2008-01-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

SGS Germany and CandE Recycling Portal have organised the first China RoHS Conference

SGS Germany and CandE Recycling Portal have organised the first China RoHS Conference, to be held in Germany on 27th September 2007. The conference will take place in Osnabruck and will start at 9.30AM Speakers will include Liang Feng, Director Resources Comprehensive Utilisation, Division in the Department of Environment and Resources Conservation, and Wen Lei, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Economy System Reform and Economic Operation, in the Department of System Reform and Market of Ministry of Information Industry.

Software allows realistic wireless testing

2008-01-17T23:33:00.000-08:00

Test set chosen for WiMAX performance analysis

2008-01-17T23:30:00.000-08:00

Radiated performance test system includes the ETS AMS-8500 antenna measurement system, the Agilent EXA signal analyser and Agilent's E6651A Mobile WiMAX test set

AT4 wireless labs has chosen Agilent Technologies and ETS-Lindgren to provide WiMAX test equipment for use in radiated performance test (RPT). AT4 wireless is one of the first test labs to provide radiated performance testing for WiMAX. As the WiMAX Forum Lead Lab and first worldwide WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Laboratory, AT4 wireless is developing RPT capability in its US-based branch by adding the ETS-Lindgren RPT system.
This test system includes the ETS AMS-8500 antenna measurement system, the Agilent EXA signal analyser and Agilent's E6651A Mobile WiMAX test set.

This RPT solution will augment AT4's other test systems, which include its own wireless Mobile WiMAX test set.

'Given that RPT will be introduced as part of certification testing for Mobile WiMAX in 2008, AT4 wireless has been working hard with our partners to provide the WiMAX industry with the test facilities and test sets they need', says Fernando E Hardasmal, CEO of AT4 wireless in Herndon, Virginia.
We are thrilled to be creating the first WiMAX RPT facility in the world'.

The RPT testing solution, hosted at AT4 wireless laboratories in Spain and in the USA, can perform both 2D (polar) and 3D (spherical) antenna pattern measurement on transmit power and receiver sensitivity for notebooks, PCMCIA cards and other terminals employing WiMAX technology.

'Being chosen by AT4 wireless to provide the antenna measurement system for the first WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Laboratory in the USA is a significant endorsement of our RPT solution', says Bryan Sayler, ETS-Lindgren's Senior Vice President.

This RPT test set addresses the needs of WiMAX equipment manufacturers who must pass RPT requirements to attain WiMAX Forum certification.

The certification process is designed to assure that products using WiMAX specifications perform as expected and provide the end user with a reliable communication experience.

'We are delighted that AT4 wireless has selected the Agilent E6651A Mobile WiMAX test set for this landmark WiMAX RPT installation', said Niels Fache, Vice President and General Manager of Agilent's Mobile Broadband Division.

'RPT testing is another excellent example of how the E6651A's combined RF, protocol and functional test capabilities make it an indispensable tool which can be used across the entire R and D lifecycle'.

Mobile WiMAX tester sets laboratory standard

2008-01-10T00:14:00.000-08:00

Agilent's N6430A PCT solution delivers a comprehensive suite of test solutions for 802.16-2004/Cor2 D3 Mobile WiMAX PCT and development testing

AT4 wireless, the WiMAX Forum's accredited lead lab, is to use Agilent's N6430A WiMAX protocol conformance test (PCT) and development solution, based on the Agilent E6651A Mobile WiMAX test set for PCT testing of WiMAX devices. 'We are delighted that AT4 wireless will be using the Agilent N6430A as a PCT solution for their lead lab in Spain', says Niels Fache, Vice President and General Manager of Agilent's Mobile Broadband Division.
This demonstrates our strength in WiMAX protocol conformance testing, which is part of Agilent's E6651A portfolio of solutions across the entire R and D lifecycle'.

Agilent's N6430A PCT solution delivers a comprehensive suite of test solutions for 802.16-2004/Cor2 D3 Mobile WiMAX PCT and development testing with a scripting interface to a fully functional radio bearer.

The Agilent E6651A portfolio of solutions supports many R and D testing needs in addition to PCT, including basestation emulation, RF parametric measurements, and radiated performance testing (RPT).

'PCT is a critical part of the WiMAX Forum certification testing process', says Fernando E Hardasmal, Deputy General Manager, AT4 wireless.

'AT4 wireless has been working hard with our partners to provide the WiMAX industry with the test facilities and test systems they need'.

'We are thrilled to be starting Mobile WiMAX certification testing with Agilent equipment at our lead lab in Malaga'.

AT4 wireless was appointed as the first worldwide WiMAX Forum designated certification laboratory.

'Agilent's test system perfectly complements AT4 wireless labs' existing capabilities for WiMAX certification', says Jose de la Plaza, Wireless Laboratory Manager, AT4 wireless.

'It also helps us to reinforce our position as the WiMAX Forum lead lab'.

'The N6430A PCT system builds on the E6651A platform strengths developed with our partner Innowireless', says CJ Meurell, European Operations General Manager for Agilent's Mobile Broadband Division's WiMAX portfolio.

'We have worked hard to integrate and evaluate a very large number of WiMAX PCT test cases'.

EMC and telecomms lab makes the grade

2008-01-10T00:12:00.000-08:00

TUV Rheinland has received NVLAP accreditation for its EMC and telecomms testing laboratory in Rochester, New York

TUV Rheinland has received accreditation under the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Programme (NVLAP) for its EMC and telecomms testing laboratory in Rochester, New York. The lab is the only commercial and independent test facility in the area to receive NVLAP accreditation. Administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NVLAP confirms that a testing lab and its personnel have the technical qualifications and competency to perform specific EMC and telecommunications tests and/or calibrations.
The accreditation conforms to all requirements of the ISO/IEC17025:2005 standard.

Currently, TUV Rheinland's North American division operates a total of 15 EMC testing laboratories and two EMC mobile lab units throughout the USA.

Through this network of facilities, the company tests local clients' products to assure compliance with various global requirements, including the Federal Communications Commission and the European EMC Directive 2004/108/EC.

TUV Rheinland's Rochester office provides EMC, product safety, industrial machinery, and medical testing and certification services to product manufacturers throughout Northern and Western New York, the Ohio Valley and Pennsylvania.

Other clients come from the information technology, audio/video, home appliance, wireless network, laboratory, mining, military, wireless and telecommunications industries.

The Rochester office opened its doors in June 2007, after signing an agreement with Rochester-based Eastman Kodak Company to become its primary supplier of third-party testing and certification services.

Located in Building 5 of Rochester Technology Park, the facility is equipped with product safety and EMC test equipment, which has been upgraded to meet ever-evolving global standards.

Toolset meets WiMAX standards

2008-01-03T01:47:00.001-08:00

Anite's PCT allows WiMAX products to be tested to receive WiMAX Forum Certification, to determine that they will seamlessly interoperate with solutions from other companies

Anite's WiMAX Protocol Conformance Toolset (PCT) is the industry's first protocol test solution to be successfully validated by the WiMAX Forum for certifying the latest Fixed WiMAX devices designed for the Wave 2 specifications. Wave 2 is the latest update to the WiMAX technology that defines new features for the Fixed WiMAX (IEEE802.16-2004) standard, including quality of service (QoS) and enhanced security features.
Anite's PCT ensures that the latest WiMAX products can be tested to receive WiMAX Forum Certification, the industry-standard assurance that new WiMAX products will seamlessly interoperate with solutions from other companies.

With the introduction of a comprehensive automated test capability Anite has also reduced the cost and time required to achieve WiMAX Forum product certification.

All major WiMAX developers use Anite's suite of WiMAX protocol test and analysis solutions.
With the largest installed base of WiMAX protocol test systems, Anite's solutions are used by subscriber station and base station system vendors, chipset and stack developers, operators and test labs, enabling these parties to bring products to market faster by identifying problems earlier in the development cycle and ensuring compliance with emerging standards.

Anite partnered with AT4 wireless, an independent test laboratory for wireless telecommunications technologies and products, to validate Anite's PCT system.

'As the WiMAX Forum Lead Lab and first worldwide WiMAX Forum Designated Certification Laboratory, AT4 wireless understands the need to certify WiMAX devices quickly', according to Juan Carlos Mora, Technical Director of AT4 Wireless' Laboratory.

'Anite's PCT further extends our testing capability to offer protocol conformance testing to our customers to speed the certification process and time to market of their fixed WiMAX devices'.

'As WiMAX evolves to incorporate new features, it is vital for the testing industry to react rapidly to produce the test cases that allow developers of equipment to drive innovation within the safe framework that standards provide', said James Goodwin, Product Manager, Anite.

Wave 2's security enhancements build on WiMAX' existing security features by enabling the use of the Enhanced Encryption Standard (AES), a more robust form of encryption that has been adopted by the US government.

Mobile WiMAX tester sets laboratory standard

2008-01-03T01:46:00.001-08:00

Agilent's N6430A PCT solution delivers a comprehensive suite of test solutions for 802.16-2004/Cor2 D3 Mobile WiMAX PCT and development testing

AT4 wireless, the WiMAX Forum's accredited lead lab, is to use Agilent's N6430A WiMAX protocol conformance test (PCT) and development solution, based on the Agilent E6651A Mobile WiMAX test set for PCT testing of WiMAX devices. 'We are delighted that AT4 wireless will be using the Agilent N6430A as a PCT solution for their lead lab in Spain', says Niels Fache, Vice President and General Manager of Agilent's Mobile Broadband Division.
'This demonstrates our strength in WiMAX protocol conformance testing, which is part of Agilent's E6651A portfolio of solutions across the entire R and D lifecycle'.

Agilent's N6430A PCT solution delivers a comprehensive suite of test solutions for 802.16-2004/Cor2 D3 Mobile WiMAX PCT and development testing with a scripting interface to a fully functional radio bearer.

The Agilent E6651A portfolio of solutions supports many R and D testing needs in addition to PCT, including basestation emulation, RF parametric measurements, and radiated performance testing (RPT).

'PCT is a critical part of the WiMAX Forum certification testing process', says Fernando E Hardasmal, Deputy General Manager, AT4 wireless.

'AT4 wireless has been working hard with our partners to provide the WiMAX industry with the test facilities and test systems they need'.

'We are thrilled to be starting Mobile WiMAX certification testing with Agilent equipment at our lead lab in Malaga'.

AT4 wireless was appointed as the first worldwide WiMAX Forum designated certification laboratory.

'Agilent's test system perfectly complements AT4 wireless labs' existing capabilities for WiMAX certification', says Jose de la Plaza, Wireless Laboratory Manager, AT4 wireless.

'It also helps us to reinforce our position as the WiMAX Forum lead lab'.

'The N6430A PCT system builds on the E6651A platform strengths developed with our partner Innowireless', says CJ Meurell, European Operations General Manager for Agilent's Mobile Broadband Division's WiMAX portfolio.

'We have worked hard to integrate and evaluate a very large number of WiMAX PCT test cases'.

Compliance solutions for green energy suppliers

2008-01-03T00:43:00.000-08:00

Suppliers worldwide can benefit from Bureau Veritas' services for DC/AC inverters, solar panels/modules, fuel cells, wind turbines and even complete solar systems

Bureau Veritas Electrical and Electronic Product Services has spent the last year developing its range of compliance solutions for green energy suppliers. This investment is now ready to be realised and means suppliers worldwide can benefit from Bureau Veritas' services for DC/AC inverters, solar panels/modules, fuel cells, wind turbines and even complete solar systems.
Demand for green energy has grown substantially in the past few years driven mainly by rising conventional energy costs, increased realisation of environmental protection as well as political support.

An example of the growing importance placed by governments on Green Energy is highlighted by the European Union's recently publicised target of 20% of their energy to be produced from renewable fuels by 2020.

Although this growth is great news for the increasing numbers of solar, wind or fuel cell technology suppliers; they also face many and varied challenges.
What considerations need to be taken into account when designing a product that functions effectively with the various in-country climatic differences?.

How best to understand and comply with the many grid interconnection requirements?.

How can you develop products that meet and surpass your reliability requirements?.

How can you positively differentiate your product(s) and compete against global competitors?.

These concerns all need to be managed to warrant success in this competitive, yet blossoming market.

Horst Haug, General Manager of Bureau Veritas E and E Product Services says: 'As Germany plays a pivotal role in green energy adoption, we have been providing safety, EMC and grid protection testing and certification to solar, wind and fuel cell suppliers for many years now'.

'The obvious step was to offer these services worldwide with a knowledgeable and capable local support structure'.

'To prepare for this, we have researched our clients' needs, invested in our personnel and systems and as a result, we can now offer our services worldwide'.

'This is complemented by new services such as international approvals, failure analysis and environmental testing services, all helping to overcome the challenges faced by our clients such as reducing recalls, failures and complaints and providing competitive sales arguments'.

'Critically though, our Grid Protection testing against American, Asian and European requirements is offered worldwide with experts and facilities located in China, France, Taiwan and USA as well as our centre of competence in Germany'.

Forum membership helps shape WiMAX test kit

2007-12-27T01:39:00.001-08:00

Participation in the forum's activities will play a large role in ensuring Keithley's solutions are consistent with the very latest needs of the market

Keithley Instruments has become a member of the WiMAX Forum, the industry-led not-for-profit organisation responsible for promoting and certifying interoperable WiMAX products. 'Given our aggressive investments in expanding our RF measurement capabilities, our participation in this important industry forum is a natural extension of our commitment to the wireless communications test market', says Mark Hoersten, Vice President, Business Management.
Wireless test in general and WiMAX technologies in particular are fast-moving platforms that require the very latest test solutions, so our participation in the forum's activities will play a large role in ensuring our solutions are consistent with the very latest needs of the market'.

Keithley has introduced a variety of new RF instrument platforms and software in recent years.

Keithley's newest offering, the industry-leading 4X4 RF MIMO test system, consists of the Model 2920 vector signal generator with up to 80MHz of bandwidth and 100Msample of arbitrary waveform generator memory and the Model 2820 vector signal analyser with 40MHz signal bandwidth.

GPS testers update compliance

2007-12-27T01:38:00.000-08:00

Support for OMA SUPL 1.0 is fundamentally important to the development dynamics of A-GPS applications

Aeroflex is enhancing its 6103 and 6401 A-GPS conformance test systems for location-based services with support for the Open Mobile Alliance Secure User Plane (OMA SUPL) 1.0. The Aeroflex 6103 and 6401 provide A-GPS conformance test within GSM/E-GPRS and UMTS environments, respectively. The relevant test cases have completed development and are being progressively submitted for approval at both the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and the PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB), the globally recognised certification organisations whose aim is to ensure mobile equipment interoperability.
'Support for OMA SUPL 1.0 is fundamentally important to the development dynamics of A-GPS applications', says Phil Medd, Aeroflex's Product Manager responsible for its A-GPS test systems.

'OMA SUPL 1.0 is a way of implementing location services over an IP link'.

'Bearing in mind that most revenue sources for location services are typically coupled to the internet in some way or are about a server interacting visually with a mobile device using an IP link, it is quicker, easier and far more efficient for application developers to work within an IP environment (user plane) than at the modem layer (control plane) of a cellular radio network'.

The aim of the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) is to facilitate global user adoption of mobile data services by specifying market driven mobile service enablers that ensure service interoperability across devices, geographies, service providers, operators and networks, while allowing businesses to compete through innovation and differentiation.

Like other applications that sit above the modem layer such as MMS, PoC, BROWSER and SyncML, SUPL is considered an application enabler and has consequently been developed by the OMA.
SUPL has been made a work item/RFT at both the GCF and PTCRB.

The Aeroflex A-GPS location-based test systems provide a fully integrated environment for repeatable R and D and conformance verification testing.

The systems combine a 12-channel GPS simulator with Aeroflex's proven conformance test platforms that are already extensively used in the cellular industry.

The systems include test case packages for 3GPP and 3GPP2 wireless standards, network assistance data elements for flexible control over assistance data messaging and support for location services (LCS) message exchange, along with support for MS-based and MS-assisted positioning methods.

The new test systems also support control and user plane techniques using LCS protocols, real time logging/decoding of protocol signalling messages between mobile and network, and automatic report generation and analysis of results for the device under test.

Aeroflex's GSM/E-GPRS A-GPS System is based on the Aeroflex 6103 AIME/CT GSM conformance test system and includes a serving mobile location centre (SMLC) emulator for control over assistance data messaging as well as all the GPS signalling test cases as defined by 3GPP TS 51.010.

The system has been designed to be upgradeable to support the minimum performance test cases specified in 3GPP TS 51.010 Section 70.11.

Aeroflex's UMTS A-GPS system is based on the Aeroflex 6401 AIME/CT UMTS Conformance Test System.

It includes the same SMLC emulator as the GSM system along with the protocol signalling test cases as defined by 3GPP TS 34.123 and the RF performance test cases as defined by 3GPP TS 34.171.

Software keeps track of medical equipment tests

2007-12-27T01:37:00.000-08:00

High performance database program allows the user to easily manage the transfer of data to and from the Rigel 288 tester using Bluetooth connectivity

Rigel Medical has a powerful new software program dedicated to the efficient recording and management of electromedical equipment safety testing records. The new Med-eBase software has been developed for medical equipment companies and service firms to complement the recently introduced Rigel 288 advanced tester used to verify the status of electrical medical equipment in line with IEC60601-1 and the new IEC62353 in-service safety testing standard.
The high performance database program is designed around Microsoft Windows user interface and allows the user to easily manage the transfer of data to and from the Rigel 288 tester using Bluetooth connectivity.

As well as all conventional equipment and test data, Med-eBase also has the facility to print out test certificates, store functional and performance test data and incorporate additional comments to provide a comprehensive test database and asset management register for all medical equipment.

In this way, Med-eBase can be used to plan advance electrical maintenance schedules and retest information can also be uploaded from the PC-based program into the tester for fast preparation for retest sequences.

One-box tester is made for wireless manufacturers

2007-12-18T00:12:00.001-08:00

The R and S CMW500 one-box tester includes a powerful RF analyser and generator

The R and S CMW500 nonsignalling tester delivers high speed, accuracy and high scalability for manufacturers of wireless devices. Featuring a frequency range up to 6GHz and an IF bandwidth of 40/70MHz (analyser/generator), the production tester has been designed to anticipate future technological developments, reducing test costs and securing investment.
The R and S CMW500 one-box tester includes a powerful RF analyser and generator.

This combination plus a new test concept ensures maximum test performance, minimum space requirement and comparatively low power consumption.

'Modern mobile phones are becoming more and more complex', says Anton Messmer, Director of the Mobile Radio Testers Subdivision.
The test effort increases with every new technology and every additional frequency band'.

'To curb the growth in test times and costs, completely new approaches are needed'.

'That's the reason Rohde and Schwarz developed the R and S Smart Alignment test concept for manufacturers of chipsets and wireless devices'.

'By applying this test concept, alignment times are up to ten times faster than with conventional methods'.

A prerequisite for minimum production costs is maximum first pass yield.

Yield depends on optimising the entire production process, where the measurement accuracy of the individual components involved is crucial.

For this reason, very high standards - especially with regard to absolute accuracy, repeatability and linearity - were set during the development of the R and S CMW500.

The R and S CMW500 supports GSM, GPRS, Edge, WCDMA, mobile WiMAX, CDMA2000 and TD-SCDMA as options, and further technologies will be added.

Rohde and Schwarz provides applications that allow extremely fast measurements.

With a frequency range of 3.3GHz, the base unit supports all important mobile radio bands used today.

As the range can be easily extended from 3.3 to 6GHz with software, the tester is well positioned for future developments.

Thanks to the high stability of the R and S CMW500 design, users can extend the calibration interval to two years, generating further cost savings.

DisplayPort compliance tests go automatic

2007-12-18T00:11:00.001-08:00

The addition of automated measurements for compliance and characterisation testing offers a clear advancement in the speed and ease of these tests

Agilent Technologies has extended its DisplayPort compliance test software for Infiniium DSO80000 Series oscilloscopes. Software version 1.5 adds more controlled compliance tests and additional validation tests for link-layer compliance testing to the extensive source and cable-end physical-layer tests provided in the original software.
The addition of automated measurements for compliance and characterisation testing offers a clear advancement in the speed and ease of these tests.

The Agilent U7232A compliance test software version 1.5 offers strict compliance testing according to the DisplayPort Compliance Test Specification (CTS).

The software offers three modes of physical-layer test.

In the first mode, engineers simply select the device capability and the number of tests (one, many or all tests); the tests then run only in the configuration (pre-emphasis, level, bit rate, lane) required by the CTS.

A second mode enables engineers to add or delete configurations.

The third mode allows characterisation testing of any specific configuration and allows for statistical evaluation or repeatability analysis on these results.

Version 1.5 also adds physical-layer validation for link-layer tests.

These tests require that the signal level, pre-emphasis or bit rate of the high-speed link be measured and noted for change in compliance to the link-layer commands.

'This software upgrade adds a significant step in compliance source testing, with expanded test process capability', said Jay Alexander, vice president and general manager of Agilent's oscilloscope business.

'It is an example of our ongoing commitment to the DisplayPort standard'.

'Our customers will find the new software simplifies their compliance testing and decreases their overall test time'.

Displays tested for development and compliance

2007-12-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

Expanded choice of DisplayPort test solutions help engineers to speed up the development cycle and time to market of new personal computer displays

Agilent Technologies has expanded its DisplayPort test solution with the most flexible, comprehensive solution for design, characterisation and debug, as well as compliance testing for source and sink. This allows engineers to speed up the development cycle and time to market of new personal computer displays.
Agilent offers a DisplayPort test solution for source and sink test, comprised of the DSO80804B Infiniium oscilloscope and the E4887A TMDS signal generator, and has submitted a method of implementation (MOI) to the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) for source and sink compliance tests as described by Compliance Test Specification (CTS).

DisplayPort is a new standard driven by VESA, an organisation comprised of leading companies in the High Definition Digital Display industry that are driving the development of this new digital interface.

As part of its standards compliance, VESA has established a comprehensive compliance test program for DisplayPort that includes product certification at independent third-party test houses for physical layer and link layer compliance testing.
Physical layer test is comprised of source, sink and cable (media) test detailed in the DisplayPort CTS.

'Agilent's DisplayPort source and sink test products provide the most flexible, comprehensive solution for design, characterisation and debug, as well as compliance testing', says Siegfried Gross, Vice President and General Manager of Agilent's Digital Test Division.

'It's important to provide not only the tools for DisplayPort compliance test, but the test capability to support the design engineer through the entire DisplayPort development cycle'.

Benefits of Agilent's DSO80804B Infiniium oscilloscope and E4887A TMDS signal generator DisplayPort source and sink test solution include: comprehensive source and sink design and characterisation test capability; investment protection of TDMS signal generator for both HDMI and DisplayPort testing; and easier, faster compliance testing with source and sink method of implementation.

Pricing for Agilent's DSO80804B Infiniium oscilloscope DisplayPort source test solution starts at US $93,000.

Signal analysis software for the next generation

2007-12-18T00:06:00.000-08:00

Software packages support the measurement of 3GPP LTE mobile terminals

Anritsu has developed a series of new software packages supporting the measurement of 3GPP LTE mobile terminals, demonstrating its continued commitment to the effective deployment of next-generation mobile phone systems. The three new packages, the MX269020A LTE Downlink Measurement Software, the MX269021A LTE Uplink Measurement Software, and the MX269908A LTE IQproducer are easily installed on Anritsu's MS269XA series signal analysers and combine to provide an extremely powerful tool to support fast and easy evaluation of the Rx and Tx characteristics of 3GPP LTE RF uplink and downlink signals.
The MX269020A and MX269021A software measures the Tx characteristics of 3GPP LTE FDD (frequency division duplex) compliant signals and when installed in either the MS2690A/2691A models or in the new MS2692A, supports quick and easy measurement of both downlink (basestation to mobile) and uplink (mobile to basestation) signals.

The MX269908A software generates 3GPP LTE compliant waveform patterns which can then be output as an RF signal from the optional signal generator installed in the MS269xA.

The signal can then be used to test RF Rx characteristics, as well as to perform Tx/Rx evaluations.

This greatly increases the efficiency of research and development of 3GPP LTE basestations, mobile terminals, and components.

This world-first 3GPP LTE analysis software is installed directly into the measuring instrument itself, eliminating any requirement for an external PC in the test setup, thereby reducing cost and time and increasing measurement efficiency.
The 3GPP LTE FDD specification is rapidly becoming the de-facto standard for next-generation mobile devices supporting high-speed, large-capacity, wide-area communications.

While the 3GPP Working Group is discussing various standardisation subjects, leading-edge makers are already moving forward with development of 3GPP-compliant modules, amplifiers, and components, and urgently require measuring instruments supporting 3GPP LTE standards.

The high-performance MS269XA signal analysers have excellent total level and modulation accuracy over a wide band from 50Hz to 6GHz.

They have a built-in vector signal analyser function for performing wideband FFT (fast Fourier transform) analysis, as well as a digitise function for capturing signal waveforms as digital data.

This provides efficient support for performance tests of basestations, both in R and D and manufacturing of advanced, next-generation wireless communications systems.

Three models cover frequency ranges of 50Hz to 6GHz (MS2690A), 50Hz to 13.5GHz (MS2691A), and 50Hz to 26.5GHz (MS2692A).

This allows users to match performance with measurement requirements.

Tester checks next-generation USB compliance

2007-12-18T00:05:00.000-08:00

Test generator and protocol analyser for tcompliance testing of USB systems includes the ability to handle the forthcoming USB 3.0 super-speed transfers at 5Gbit/s

Available in the UK from Computer Solutions, the Ellisys USB Explorer 260 (EX260) is a multifunction test generator and protocol analyser for the automated compliance testing of USB systems, which includes the ability to handle the forthcoming USB 3.0 super-speed transfers at 5Gbit/s. The EX260 can analyse any USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 connection, including OTG and IC-USB systems, emulate USB hosts and devices, inject predefined error patterns for stress and error-recovery testing, and automatically verify compliance to the USB specification.
The tester is available in three configurations: analyser, generator or duo.

The hardware unit is capable of acting either as a protocol analyser or packet generator, depending on the firmware configuration.

In the analyser configuration, the EX260 provides real-time monitoring, hard-disk data streaming, in-depth class decoding, comprehensive traffic statistics, and powerful triggering and filtering.

Analysis is based on the USB Explorer Pro software, which is well-proven for validating device enumeration, solving communication issues, detecting interoperability problems and optimising performance.

In the generator configuration, the EX260 complements protocol analysis by emulating USB devices and hosts, and by testing extreme situations such as corner cases and recovery mechanisms.
Reproducible traffic, timing and error scenarios can be created with a powerful scripting environment, and captured traffic can be replayed to test a particular situation.

The EX260 generator stimulates the device under test by sending packets, waiting for responses, and sending appropriate answers computed from the received responses.

This is achieved using a specialised processor that is able to react fast enough to match the very tight timings required by the enhanced USB 3.0 specification.

The generator supports the industry's first inline error injection feature, allowing the user to insert programmed errors between a host and device to determine the impact of transmission errors.

This setup is proficient at stress testing and verifying protocol behaviour under rare error conditions.

Also included with the generator is the Ellisys USB pre-compliance automated testing software, which controls the generator and an optional analyser to automatically verify the compliance of devices against the USB specification and other class specifications such as HID and Mass Storage.

Based on the same advanced test methodology developed by Ellisys for WiMedia Alliance compliance testing events, the USB precompliance testing software interacts with a device under test by executing a suite of tests to generate a compliance report.

Any detected issues can be easily debugged using the protocol analysis software.

In the duo configuration, the EX 260 becomes a flexible bundle of two full-featured units that can be used as one analyser and one generator, two protocol analysers or two packet generators depending, on the customer's testing requirements.

This configuration is more convenient than having both functions on the same unit, allowing better sharing of resources and more test flexibility in a multi-user environment.

The EX260 is based on a new hardware platform with 1Gbyte of memory and a high-performance specialised processor created by Ellisys.

Designed with USB 3.0 in mind, this powerful new hardware platform can process the full 5Gbit/s throughput of the new Super-Speed mode planned for the USB 3.0 specification.

Firmware upgrades to cope with the evolving 3.0 specification will be provided free of charge and a low-cost hardware upgrade module will be available as soon as the I/O specification is fixed.

Alliance smoothes route to Mobile WiMAX compliance

2007-12-18T00:02:00.000-08:00

Sequans and AT4 wireless will co-operate on Mobile WiMAX Wave 2 radio testing to accelerate delivery of their respective solutions

AT4 wireless is working with leading WiMAX chip supplier Sequans to deliver industry-leading WiMAX testing services and best-in-class WiMAX technology. The partnership calls for Sequans and AT4 wireless (through its Systems Division) to co-operate on Mobile WiMAX Wave 2 radio testing to accelerate delivery of their respective solutions.
Sequans will provide AT4 wireless with early access to its newest WiMAX semiconductor solutions and reference designs, which AT4 wireless will use for the ongoing verification of its MINT T2110 WiMAX radio test platform, a tester specifically designed to meet the requirements of the WiMAX MRCT test specification.

Radio conformance testing is mandatory when certifying Mobile WiMAX mobile stations and basestations and the MINT T2110 is the system designated by the WiMAX Forum for such testing.

The Sequans/AT4 wireless collaboration ensures that the AT4 wireless platform is one of the leading WiMAX test platforms and ensures that Sequans' products perform as required by the WiMAX specifications.

The MINT T2110 platform covers the official test cases for radio certification according to the WiMAX Mobile Radio Test Specification and supports the profiles defined by the WiMAX Forum at 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5GHz.

The MINT T2110 meets all the requirements of manufacturers, test houses and operators for conformance, precompliance and R and D radio testing.

'WiMAX product developers, when delivering products to market, are generally under a number of constraints, one of which is time to market', says Adrian Garcia, WiMAX Product Manager at AT4 wireless.

'We want to mitigate this constraint by partnering with our customers to give them early access to radio conformance testing services for better time to market'.

'We are happy to co-operate with Sequans, a demonstrated leader in WiMAX semiconductor solutions'.

Telecomms lab celebrates a quarter century

2007-12-05T03:43:00.000-08:00

ABT has grown and developed to become a globally recognised and respected assessment body offering a complete range of certification and regulatory services for the radio, telecomms and IT sectors
During the second quarter of 2007, BABT will celebrate its 25th anniversary. This milestone marks 25 years of growth, diversification, achievement and success. In 1982, British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT) was created to approve telecomms equipment against the recently privatised British Telecom (BT) technical guides and specifications for use on the UK telecomms network provided by BT alone.
n May 1992, BABT issued the very first GSM approval to Orbitel.

Today, BABT has grown and developed to become a globally recognised and respected assessment body offering a complete range of certification and regulatory services for the radio, telecomms and IT sectors.

BABT is committed to add certainty and value globally to equipment manufacturers and network operators through its comprehensive knowledge of laws and standards and its unrivalled portfolio of accreditations, appointments and services.
BABT has obtained numerous accreditations and appointments in its 25 year history including: Notified Body status under the EU R and TTE Directive; Telecommunications Certification Body offering access to the US market; Conformity Assessment Body under the EU-Australia, EU-New Zealand, and EU-Japan Mutual Recognition Agreements; IMEI Allocation Body; Approval Body under Ofcom's Metering and Billing Scheme.

The most recent addition to the list of appointments is as a Foreign Certification Body (FCB) through the EU-Canada MRA.

BABT is one of a very few organisations worldwide to be able to accept applications for Canada and process them through to approval.

Jean-Louis Evans, BABT Managing Director states: 'We have worked with key industry players consistently throughout our 25 year history to ensure that we have always been in touch with fast-developing technologies and ready to meet the needs of the industries we serve'.

'With our staff being our key asset, we have a unique wealth of knowledge within the organisation and are members of many working groups and sit on many influential committees'.

'I should like to take this opportunity to thank our customers and partners for their trust and loyalty, and most importantly our staff, past and present, for all their hard work and support throughout BABT's 25-year history'.

Safety beacons tested for compliance

2007-12-05T03:41:00.000-08:00

TUV Product Service is one of only five type-approved laboratories worldwide that are authorised by the Cospas-Sarsat Secretariatto test 406MHz beacons

In 2010, 30 satellites circling the earth at an altitude of around 24,000km will herald a new era in satellite navigation. Galileo, Europe's contribution to global navigation, will offer a hitherto unknown level of precision and reliability. But already today, distress beacons, which will use the Galileo system for global search and rescue in the future, are undergoing a stringent testing and certification process at TUV Product Service in the UK.
Galileo is a joint venture between the European Union and the European Space Agency and, once fully deployed, should revolutionise the way we use precise timing and location signals delivered from space.

It is the first satellite-based navigation system developed for the civil sector and has the infrastructure for a wide range of applications that go beyond simple positioning systems.

Integration with other technical systems, such as mobile phone networks, will facilitate completely new applications.

One system which will undoubtedly use Galileo is Cospas-Sarsat.

The objective of the Cospas-Sarsat (Cosmicheskaya Systiema Poiska Avariynich Sudov - Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking) system is to support all organisations in the world with responsibility for Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, whether at sea, in the air, or on land.
The Cospas-Sarsat system is designed to provide distress, alert and location data to assist search and rescue operations, using spacecraft and ground facilities to detect and locate the signals of distress beacons operating on 406 or 121.5MHz.

(The 121.5MHz frequency will be discontinued in 2009.) The position of the distress and other related information is forwarded by the responsible mission control centre (MCC) to the appropriate national Search and Rescue authorities.

There are three main types of distress beacon currently in use, with a fourth (SSAS) being introduced.

These are: an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB), designed for use at sea by ships and craft in distress; an emergency locator transmitter (ELT), designed for use by aircraft in distress; a personal locator beacon (PLB), designed for use by individuals who may need to be rescued by the SAR authorities (eg mountain climbers, walkers, yachtsmen); and a ships security alert system (SSAS), designed for use by ships in danger of, for example, piracy on the high seas.

Galileo, the new European satellite navigation system, will offer an alternative to the GPS system currently in use in many Cospas-Sarsat beacons by offering much greater levels of accuracy.

The new system will allow positions to be pinpointed to a matter of metres and the degree of accuracy will increase to up to 10cm when used in combination with other terrestrial positioning systems.

Another benefit of Galileo is that it will work better in higher latitudes, such as Northern Europe, than the only existing service, the US GPS system, so that pinpointing of positions will be even more precise.

'As the equipment is designed to assist in life-threatening situations, it is important that it works first time, especially as it may well be sitting unused for long periods of time, sometimes in adverse weather conditions such as on the deck on a ship exposed to salt water', explains TUV SUD's Jean-Louis Evans.

TUV Product Service therefore performs a series of tests which check RF (radio frequency) parameters, including frequency stability, power output, antenna tests, battery life, satellite tests and the checking of the satellite navigation system.

These tests ensure that the beacon signals are compatible with the SAR system receiving and processing equipment, that the beacons to be deployed do not degrade the nominal system performance and that the beacon encoded position data is correct.

Other tests are necessary in order to meet national requirements.

TUV Product Service in the UK, part of the Germany-based TUV SUD group, is one of only five type-approved laboratories worldwide that are authorised by the Cospas-Sarsat Secretariat (based in Canada) to test 406MHz beacons as part of the beacon certification programme.

Only recently the regional initiative of the German Land of Lower Saxony, GAUSS, won the first EU-wide tender for the preparation of certification documentation for Galileo.

As one of the key partners in the initiative, TUV SUD will be involved in the preparation of a 'green book' and, within this scope, contribute comprehensive know-how and experience in system and equipment certification.

Additionally, NavCert - a joint venture of TUV SUD and Ocean - has applied for further projects within the scope of the Galileo system.

The demand for satellite navigation devices will increase dramatically in the near future.

Forecasts predict that there will be 2.5 billion Galileo users worldwide by the year 2020.

Test alliance expands to complex applications

2007-12-05T03:37:00.000-08:00

Anritsu and setcom have announced a continued business and engineering collaboration to support the rapid growth in demand for complex application testing

Anritsu and setcom have announced a continued business and engineering collaboration using Anritsu's MD8470A signalling tester and setcom's S-CAT 5030 UMA/GAN test solution to support the rapid growth in demand for complex application testing. The partnership between Anritsu and setcom is born out of both companies recognising the business critical requirements for mobile manufacturers and operators.
Anritsu and setcom have announced a continued business and engineering collaboration to support the rapid growth in demand for complex application testing

Anritsu and setcom have announced a continued business and engineering collaboration using Anritsu's MD8470A signalling tester and setcom's S-CAT 5030 UMA/GAN test solution to support the rapid growth in demand for complex application testing. The partnership between Anritsu and setcom is born out of both companies recognising the business critical requirements for mobile manufacturers and operators.

RFI cellular business now 10 years old

2007-11-21T03:16:00.001-08:00

RFI Global Services today announced that its cellular business is now in its 10th year

RFI Global Services's cellular business is now in its 10th year. From its base-station test roots in 1992, RFI entered the arena of mobile handset testing in 1997 and has stayed at the forefront of mobile handset development test ever since. Richard Jacklin commenting on RFI Cellular's growth and development says, 'Conformance testing has become even more important'.
The increased complexity of handsets now puts 2/2.5G testing time from typically around 110hr to between 700 and 800hr for full conformance testing'.

'This is very challenging in terms of managing the key issue of time to market and lowest cost for our customers'.

'A key aspect of our success can be attributed to our experience, knowledge and involvement in the development of standards together with our ability to respond to the changes faced by manufacturers particularly regarding the number of product variants introduced'.

'In the early days we would see less than 10 phones per year from a manufacturer, today that has increased to more than 40 for a Tier 1 manufacturer'.

'The industry has changed significantly migrating from European and Government regulation to industry driven schemes such as GCF and PTCRB'.

'RFI has been actively involved in developing the GCF and PTCRB test schemes'.

'We are always looking to the future'.

'This year are we already testing convergent products as the industry moves towards true mobile broadband and we expect to rollout automated testing very soon'.

The company still has its core team of experts including Colin Forrester who now heads up RFI Korea, Richard Jacklin head of the cellular business as a whole and Stuart Thomas, who heads up technology and service development.

BABT becomes Foreign Certification Body for Canada

2007-11-21T03:12:00.000-08:00

The British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT) has been appointed a Foreign Certification Body for Canada so that it can now certify radio equipment intended for the Canadian market

The British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT) has been appointed a Foreign Certification Body (FCB) for Canada meaning that it can now certify radio equipment intended for the Canadian market. European FCBs are recognised by Industry Canada through the EU-Canada MRA and can issue approval certificates in accordance with Canadian regulations.
BABT is one of a very few organisations worldwide to be able to accept applications for Canada and process them through to approval.

BABT has been operating as a FCC Telecommunications Certification Body (TCB) for several years, offering access to the US market.

Now, through its appointment as a FCB, BABT provides the opportunity for one-stop-shop access to both the US and Canadian markets, saving time and money by getting product to market fast and efficiently.
BABT has a wide scope of appointments that allows it to handle the approval or certification of virtually any type of radio equipment for both regions.

In addition, BABT is appointed as a Notified Body under the RandTTE Directive in the European Union, and as a Conformity Assessment Body under the EU-Australia, EU-New Zealand, and EU-Japan Mutual Recognition Agreements.

The definition of radio equipment, as far as Canadian regulatory and conformity assessment organisations are concerned, extends well beyond equipment which has radio transmission and reception as its primary function.

For example, some printers and garage-door-openers have embedded radio equipment for remote operation.

Although Canadian electromagnetic interference (EMI) requirements closely match those of the United States, the Canadian Government has recently adopted a new position on spectrum management.

Industry Canada is introducing a new Standard Radio System Plan standard, SRSP-512, which details the minimum technical requirements for land mobile and fixed systems operating in the band 220-222MHz.

Battery packs tested to IEEE1725

2007-11-21T03:10:00.000-08:00

TUV Product Service now offers a complete advisory, testing and certification service for batteries for cellular telephone manufacturers

TUV Product Service has been appointed as a Battery Certification Reviewing Organisation (BCRO) - the first outside North America - and is working with internationally recognised experts to offer a complete advisory, testing and certification service to cellular telephone manufacturers. The BCRO scheme officially came into force on 16th October 2006 and requires that battery packs, used in mobile devices intended for connection to wireless networks in the USA such as Verizon and Cingular, comply with the requirements of the recently published IEEE1725 'Standard for rechargeable batteries for cellular telephones'.
The standard covers requirements for the battery pack itself, the host device, AC/DC adapters, reliability, security and validation.

It is expected that this certification requirement will be mandatory from 2007 for all GSM mobile handsets in order to obtain PTCRB (PTS Type Certification Review Board) approval.

Richard Poate, TUV Product Service expert, explains that as an active participating member of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) Battery Ad-hoc Certification Programme Working Group, TUV PS is constantly up to date with the requirements and has access to the latest news and developments.

Wireless communication tester has China covered

2007-11-12T06:47:00.000-08:00

Test software option supports the TD-SCDMA third generation mobile telecommunications system now being considered for commercialisation in China

Yokogawa has added a test software option to its VC3300 wireless communication tester that supports the TD-SCDMA third generation (3G) mobile telecommunications system now being considered for commercialisation in China. Shipment of this software option will commence at the end of December. The VC3300 wireless communication tester tests mobile-phone basestation connections and wireless communication characteristics with high speed and high accuracy.
When test software supporting communication systems such as GSM and WCDMA are installed on the VC3300, it can test mobile phones that are based on both of these standards.

With installation of the newly developed TD-SCDMA test software option, the VC3300 can be used on production lines or at repair centres to test TD-SCDMA mobile phones.

Since the test function for this communication system is provided as a software option, no hardware modification is required.
WCDMA and other 3G wireless communications standards are rapidly entering commercial use, particularly in Japan, Europe and North America.

TD-SCDMA is one such standard, and it is being developed for use in China.

In preparation for the next year's Beijing Olympics, major cities around the country are planning to expand their test networks and start fully fledged commercial services.

TD-SCDMA mobile phones will also support GSM, which is a second-generation standard already used in China, and are planned to operate as dual-mode terminals.

In response to these needs in China, Yokogawa has added TD-SCDMA terminal testing functions to the VC3300 that support both GSM and TD-SCDMA.

The measurement function for each communication system is provided as a software option.

This means that the function for a new communication standard can be added by simply purchasing additional software, thus eliminating the need for hardware modification.

The test option enables the VC3300 to conduct transmitter and receiver characteristic tests as well as voice loopback tests in a call connected state.

The tuning of chipsets in a Tx/Rx mode noncall state is also supported.

In which the connection of mobile phones to the tester is established using a dedicated testing process, in place of an ordinary connection.

Automotive EMC seminars include Silverstone tour

2007-11-12T06:46:00.000-08:00

Seminars offer practical advice on the design and testing of electronic circuits for applications in the automotive environment such as engine management units, telematics, body controls etc

3C Test is organising a series of automotive EMC seminars that incorporate a tour of the Silverstone Circuit, covering the circuit, the paddock, pit lane, the winners podium and race control. Covering practical advice on the design and testing of electronic circuits for applications in the automotive environment such as engine management units, telematics, body controls etc, the day also examines the vehicle EMC environment and how to optimise design choices of component selection and layout to maximise probability of passing EMC tests.
Specific techniques for high field and ESD immunity required for the vehicle environment are covered, including the impact on power lines and databuses used in automotive applications The seminars are designed to appeal to electronic circuit designers, layout engineers, design managers and test engineers operating in the supply of design services and electronic products to vehicle makers and their suppliers.

Final sections look at the plethora of standards that exist worldwide, highlighting those that are the most difficult to meet.

Also featured are vehicle manufacturers' bespoke standards and test methods and how the above techniques will help meet these test requirements.

Acquisition expands environmental services

2007-11-01T23:50:00.002-07:00

Ageus Solutions is one of the leading global REACH, EU RoHS, EU WEEE, China RoHS and Japan Green service providers

Intertek Group has acquired Ageus Solutions, a company that provides global environmental compliance consulting, technology services and product stewardship to the electronics and other industries. Ageus helps clients facilitate corporate and product compliance with the myriad of global regulations related to the environment.
Ageus Solutions is one of the leading global REACH, EU RoHS, EU WEEE, China RoHS and Japan Green service providers.

Since its inception in 2004, Ageus Solutions has assisted over 150 companies complete RoHS conversion of thousands of products ranging from musical instruments to telecommunications devices to medical devices.

Intertek Executive Vice President, Mark Loughead, said: 'Ageus Solutions significantly expands and compliments existing Intertek expertise and value-added services in areas such as REACH and RoHS.

Our customers will greatly benefit from the addition of Ageus Solutions to our offering, on a global basis'.

Ageus Solutions President and Chief Executive Officer, Bruce Calder, said: 'Becoming part of the global Intertek network allows Ageus Solutions to reach many new potential clients'.

'Ageus Solutions' core strength lies in taking regulatory knowledge and applying it to a company's specific products and processes'.

'Ageus Solutions understands global environmental legislation from a macro-level to a micro-level to facilitate accurate interpretation of client obligations and effective implementation into their supply chains'.

Intertek and Ageus Solutions provide comprehensive REACH services to clients including on-call consulting services integrated to all levels and sises of business.

With the on-call consulting service, clients gain access to unlimited REACH support with Ageus Solutions' REACH experts.

Combined with Ageus Solutions' expertise, Intertek can now effectively manage client's REACH strategy, ensure their REACH requirements are properly applied and met, and educate employees on REACH policy.

Software tool tests EMI precompliance

2007-11-01T23:50:00.001-07:00

R and S ES-SCAN from Rohde and Schwarz allows EMI tests be performed early, doing away with costly reworking of the finished product

R and S ES-Scan from Rohde and Schwarz is a cost-effective Windows software tool for EMI precompliance measurements. Used in conjunction with the R and S ESPI3 and ESPI7 test receivers, it enables EMI tests on products starting at an early stage of development. Any design modifications that may be necessary can thus be performed early, doing away with costly reworking of the finished product.
The system's user-friendliness benefits users who only occasionally perform EMC tests, as well as EMC professionals in test labs.

The software performs EMI measurements in line with commercial EMC standards.

Preconfigured test setups make it easy to work with R and S ES-Scan.

The software automatically sets all parameters required for measurements in accordance with the EMC standard selected by the user.

Preconfigured setups include transducer factors for antennas and for other test equipment that may be used.

Users can also generate configurations of their own and store them conveniently on the controller.

The software presents all results in a straightforward graphical display.

The EMI peak values in frequency subranges can be determined automatically and threshold levels can be selected by the user.

These features combine to yield fast data analysis.

Using editable frequency lists, the user can run detailed measurements on detected interference frequencies largely automatically and repeat them as required.

This reduces overall measurement time and expense for EMI measurements during development.

An assistant provides information on each operating step.

In addition, online help texts explain all software functions, so that no operating manual is needed.

Leakage current tester meets standards

2007-11-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

The TOS3200 leakage current tester stores 51 test conditions and has seven built-in measurement networks for information technology equipment and household electrical appliances

The TOS3200 leakage current tester measures touch and protective conductor current on general electrical equipment in conformance to IEC60990 and other international standards. The memory function stores 51 test conditions and has seven built-in measurement networks for information technology equipment, household electrical appliances, audio and video electronic apparatus, motor-operated electric tools and measurement and control equipment, enabling standard tests to be conducted.
Other measurement functions include input voltage, current and power consumption of the EUT.

GPIB, RS232C, USB and signal I/O interfaces are included.

The TOS3200 leakage current tester conforms to IEC60990 and is designed to perform leakage current (touch current and protective conductor current) tests on general electrical equipment, but not medical electrical equipment.

Electrical certification expands to NSW

2007-10-12T04:52:00.001-07:00

The New South Wales Office of Fair Trading has confirmed that electrical goods certified by SGS can now be sold in NSW. In May 2004, the Joint Accreditation Service of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) accredited SGS Electrical Product Certification Services (EPCS) as a third party certification body to issue either a Certificate of Approval for prescribed electrical equipment that is proven to comply with the requirements of the applicable Australian Standard, or a Certificate of Compliance for nonprescribed electrical equipment that is proven to comply with the requirements of the applicable Australian Standard for which the application has been made.

Company tests new data transfer capabilities

2007-10-12T04:50:00.000-07:00

7 layers has integrated HSUPA test capabilities into its Rapid Response Network, making these test capabilities available from anywhere in the world

7 layers is the first third party telecommunications test laboratory worldwide offering HSUPA testing for both protocol and RF testing. The company supports its customers in receiving approvals to enter the global market with HSUPA products. In August one of the 7 layers' customers received the first ever FCC approval for a HSUPA data card.

HSUPA stands for high speed uplink packet access and describes the most efficient procedure for sending data via UMTS devices available today.

HSUPA is a 3G mobile telephony protocol belonging to the HSPA family.

HSUPA offers enhanced data rates, fast packet retransmission mechanisms, and reduced packet latencies.

The uplink data rate for HSUPA is increased up to a theoretical maximum of 5.76Mbit/s.

Characteristics of HSUPA are described by the 3GPP (third generation Partnership Project), Release 6.

Currently a number of HSUPA test cases are in the process of being validated and they will become mandatory over the next few months.

For FCC testing in the USA certain HSUPA tests are already a must.

Testing on conformance test equipment at this early stage will assure manufacturers that the basic HSUPA characteristics of their devices are functioning correctly, a big advantage compared to pure interoperability testing, which depends highly on the network the device is being tested in.

7 layers has integrated the HSUPA test capabilities into its Rapid Response Network, making these test capabilities available from anywhere in the world and allowing customers to watch the project progress via web access.

Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Requirements

2007-10-11T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been in force for some time now. Companies have acknowledged that it is not a one-off event, but is more in the nature of a process improvement activity enforceable by government regulations. A comparable process in the case of IT companies is the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model that governs organization processes in I T companies. The Act has already had a major impact on the financial, management and IT functions within public companies. It is, therefore, imperative that companies are fully aware of compliance requirements and institute implementation systems in their processes.

Implementation: Company managements have to be fully aware of the ramifications of the Act since compliance failure could lead to no end of trouble for company executives. A major issue with companies has been that the SOX, as the Act is frequently referred to, is ambiguous. The reality is that the SOX are here to stay and it would be in the interest of companies to have policies in place for mission-critical systems. Some aspects to be monitored are:

• The responsibilities and roles for compliance initiatives should be clearly defined, and there should be no ambiguity in this aspect.

• It pays to have a pro-active approach and not wait for a back-up log from their systems to indicate trouble. A continuous review of records and historical data will give a faster indication of trouble. Business processes should be automated on a continuous basis. Data administration issues like capacity management, storage requirements and retrievability assume significance.

• Have a foolproof e-mail policy in place. It will help in the long term, if all e-mails are saved. Good e-security policies are also essential. User access and intrusion detection infrastructure should be functional.

• Have a constant dialogue with the company’s auditors and institute the concept of continuous auditing. Accurate and reliable information about the company should always be accessible. There may be a need to review financially linked processes to ensure that adequate controls are in place.

• Contact terms with suppliers and vendors may have to be reviewed in the light of SOX requirements.

• Employees have to be educated and awareness created regarding the compliance and control issues, security standards and objectives. Employee training assumes greater significance in this environment.

• All systems and processes relating to compliance issues should be tested periodically to ensure their efficacy and reliability.

The basic premise of Sarbanes-Oxley is sound. Organizations should use the opportunity provided by the Act as a stimulant to review their operational and internal controls. The managerial processes have to be updated on a continuous basis. Besides meeting compliance requirements mandated by the Act, companies will be able to improve their operational efficiency in the long term.

Safety Engineering Schools

2007-10-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

Safety Engineering Schools provide programs of study in engineering for safety, a discipline that is subject to regulation and heavy use of technologies. Safety engineering is evolving continuously, with new legal and regulatory requirements being introduced by safety organizations and governmental agencies almost daily. Safety engineering requires interpretation of uses of new information and innovative technologies, adapting programs and policies, and implementing procedures and products to meet the social and industrial needs of changing business environments.

Safety Engineering Schools provide bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees, as well as certificates for specialization in various areas of safety engineering. At the bachelor level, studies will address subjects within the field of safety engineering that will include safety and health, probability, statistics, risk, management. Students will also study principles of science, computers, theory, and communications in order to develop technical skills for solving technical problems that relate to the safety engineering field.

At the master degree level, safety engineering students will take on responsibilities of a safety engineer that includes property loss control, safety program design and management, accident investigation, ergonomics, hygiene, and OSHA regulations and compliance.

Doctorate level safety engineering studies will involve research with consideration for applications to industry. Courses may include laws for safety and health, preparations that must be taken for emergency and disaster management, analytical safety, and engineering that factors in elements of dealing with humans.

Safety Engineering Schools teach students to design, test, oversee, and maintain, and determine qualities of success and causes of failure. Safety engineering requires extensive use of computers to aid in production, analysis, and testing of mechanical structures and system operations, and to monitor quality and control of environments and work processes.

Safety Engineering Schools teach engineers to be adept in using tools of many types for development of processes and procedures used in industry to develop and maintain safe products and safe environments.

If you are interested in learning more about Safety Engineering Schools and courses, please search our site for more information and resources.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Network analyser adds spectrum analysis

2007-10-10T03:37:00.000-07:00

All-purpose instrument offers the scope of network-analysis functions of the established R and S ZVB and R and S ZVA instrument families

Rohde and Schwarz reckons the R and S ZVL is the lightest and smallest vector network analyser on the market with optional spectrum analysis. The result is an all-purpose instrument that offers the scope of network-analysis functions of the established R and S ZVB and R and S ZVA instrument families.
The newcomer thus includes features that are otherwise only available in larger and more expensive instruments - wide frequency ranges from 9kHz to 3 or 6GHz, a large dynamic range of 123dB, and bidirectional two-port measurement architecture.

In future, it will also be possible to integrate the entire range of functions of the R and S FSL spectrum analyser via a software option.

The compact R and S ZVL from Rohde and Schwarz redefines network analysis.

The new network analyser's favourable price and scope of functions in combination with its excellent RF characteristics make it the ideal instrument for RF circuit development.

Its dynamic range of 123dB, bidirectional measurement capability, powerful analysis functions such as the multi-trace display, as well as extensive marker functions make it fit for measurement requirements of basestation duplex filters.
Moreover, due to its low weight of 7kg and battery operation, it is also suitable for mobile applications.

In production, the space-saving R and S ZVL provides high throughput.

For this purpose, the instrument includes a 100Base-T LAN interface for remote control, and a GPIB interface is available as an option.

In many applications, the R and S ZVL-K1 option will make it possible to do without an additional spectrum analyser, for example when producing amplifiers for mobile radio applications.

In this case, both reflection and spectral measurements such as adjacent-channel power or third-order intercept (TOI) can be performed.

In future, when equipped with the appropriate options for spectrum analysis, the R and S ZVL will even allow the measurement of EVM on UMTS, WLAN or WiMAX signals.

The R and S ZVL offers service technicians an RF analyser that is independent of the AC supply.

As the instrument makes it possible to perform network analysis measurements vectorially, users need not restrict themselves to scalar measurements for reasons of cost.

With the optional spectrum analysis and an R and S power sensor, which is directly controlled by the R and S ZVL (R and S FSL-K9 option), Rohde and Schwarz will provide a more cost-efficient and flexible solution, considering that otherwise three measuring instruments are necessary as basic equipment for service applications.

Compliance scheme if fit for distributor's waste

2007-10-10T03:35:00.000-07:00

In accordance with UK WEEE regulations, RS Components has joined the WeeeCare compliance scheme

The scheme, operated by WasteCare, has national coverage and will collect, recycle or dispose of, in an environmentally sound way, obligated WEEE. RS chose the WeeeCare scheme because of the proven track record of the operator, which has been a national waste management company for 25 years.
The company also has 10 years experience in recycling WEEE, operating its own fleet of vehicles with carriage systems to prevent damage to equipment in order to promote re-use.

Lee Kilminster, RS WEEE Project Manager states: 'It is important that we offer the very best solution and guidance for our customers'.

'We hope that our partnership with WeeeCare will give our customers confidence that as a producer we have selected the most environmentally friendly method to demonstrate compliance'.

Simon Perfect, National Sales Manager at WasteCare, added: 'We are delighted that RS Components have joined our scheme'.

'They are highly respected as leaders in their industry and as such we are very proud to be associated with them'.

'We look forward to being of service to RS and their customers'.

RS has also launched an online information centre to help customers understand more about the WEEE UK regulations.

As well as answering the most frequently asked questions, the site also offers advice on which products are affected.

It also has handy links to find out more about the WEEE UK regulations and how to comply with the disposal of products.

Principal status strengthens WiMAX test solutions

2007-10-04T03:56:00.000-07:00

Agilent has been actively involved in the WiMAX Forum since 2004, introducing test equipment to support WiMAX technology

Agilent Technologies has received principal member status with the WiMAX Forum. Agilent, a market leader in test equipment, has been actively involved in the forum since 2004, introducing test equipment to support WiMAX technology. Agilent was first to provide standard-compliant 802.16 design and test tools and solutions for fixed and mobile 802.16 applications, and first to enable RF and baseband engineers working at the 802.16-2004 PHY layer to create, analyse and troubleshoot signals.

Agilent's principal status will further strengthen its ability to deliver standards-based WiMAX test solutions, contributing to the delivery of cost-effective, high-quality products into the marketplace.

'Inclusion in the WiMAX Forum as a principal member is yet another opportunity for Agilent to continue to demonstrate leadership and ongoing commitment to enabling the emergence of WiMAX as a truly global technology', said Ron Nersesian, Vice President of Agilent's Wireless Business Unit.

'We have been actively engaged with the WiMAX Forum and have introduced innovative test solutions for this market, ensuring today's engineers have the tools they need to create the next generation of communication based on the WiMAX of tomorrow'.

As a world leader in test and measurement solutions, Agilent continues to be at the forefront of this emerging market, offering WiMAX design and test solutions that span the entire technology lifecycle - R and D, design verification and preconformance, conformance and manufacturing.

Thanks to their reliability, repeatability and consistency, these solutions provide engineers with a level of performance and functionality not currently available with competing solutions.

Test service checks China RoHS compliance

2007-09-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

A new test service offered by Soldertec Global has been established to help European exporters comply with China RoHS legislation

From 1st March 2007, all electronic products exported to China are required to comply with Chinese RoHS regulations. A new test service offered by Soldertec Global has been established to help European exporters comply with this latest legislation. Many products outside the current scope of the EU WEEE and RoHS Directive fall within the scope of the China-RoHS legislation.

In fact, virtually no exporter of electronic products to China will remain unaffected.

'Measures for administration of the pollution control of electronic information products', the full and official description for Chinese RoHS legislation, will initially affect the labelling of electronic products.

However if the product is listed in the key catalogue published by MII (Chinese Ministry of Information Industry), then hazardous materials will not be permitted to be present in the product above specified levels.

These regulations will have an immense impact on the future manufacturing of all parts in the electronics supply chain as it becomes mandatory for all electronic products to be tested and confirmed to be compliant with the China-RoHS requirements', comments Tom Perrett, Marketing Manager, Soldertec Global.

'Whilst some testing in our own laboratories can help European manufacturers, it is our partnership with CCC (Chinese Compulsory Certification) approved laboratories in China which is crucial'.

'Some testing can only be carried out by an authorised laboratory'.

Soldertec Global has set up three main services to help European exporters.

China-RoHS has a labelling requirement to indicate the presence (or lack of) restricted substances.

Product manuals will need to include a spreadsheet listing the location of all hazardous substances, in Chinese.

Soldertec Global can help find these materials and produce a spreadsheet in Chinese for inclusion in a product manual.

At a date to be confirmed the Chinese authorities will publish a catalogue which will list all electronic information products that are required to be free of all restricted substances.

Testing is mandatory and is required to be carried out in an authorised Chinese laboratory.

Soldertec Global is in a unique position to facilitate this testing through partnership agreements with approved Chinese laboratories.

Precertification testing is advisable before shipping to China for the mandatory testing.

Soldertec Global is experienced in testing for these restricted materials using an established EU-RoHS assurance test programme and can offer a precertification service.

TV analyser covers analogue and digital standards

2007-09-21T05:26:00.000-07:00

Universal multistandard platform for analysing TV signals combines the functionality of a TV test receiver and spectrum analyser in a single instrument

Available now from Rohde and Schwarz is an all-new universal multistandard platform for analysing TV signals. The R and S ETL combines the functionality of a TV test receiver and spectrum analyser in a single instrument while maintaining high measurement accuracy. An innovative instrument concept allows new TV standards to be implemented on a software and hardware basis.

Thus, digital TV standards such as DVB-T/H as well as analogue TV standards can be integrated in only one instrument.

Rohde and Schwarz will continue using real-time demodulation with the R and S ETL.

The TV analyser platform is especially suitable for commissioning, installing, and servicing TV transmitters as well as coverage measurements for terrestrial TV and measurements on CATV head stations.

With only a single unit, broadcast transmitters or CATV systems can be easily and accurately installed and cost-effectively maintained.

The platform's compact and robust design makes it ideal for mobile applications, greatly simplifying the measurement of network coverage.

Both the software- and hardware-based demodulators generally work in real time.

Thus, the R and S ETL is currently the only TV analyser in its class that consistently performs BER measurements in real-time and makes complete analyses.

Using real-time demodulators has the advantage that demodulated analogue video and audio signals as well as digital MPEG transport streams are available for further processing.

The frequency range of the analyser is from 500kHz to 3GHz.

Frequencies in the L and S band, which are becoming more and more important, are thus also covered in addition to the conventional broadcasting frequencies, considerably expanding the range of applications of the R and S ETL.

At the time of market launch, the R and S ETL TV analyser was already configured to analyse internationally common analogue TV standards as well as the digital standards DVB-T/H and DVB-C, and for the first time, also the Chinese DMB-T standard (GB20600-2006).

For measuring digital TV signals, the R and S ETL offers a wide range of applications.

For the first time, the constellation diagrams are displayed in extremely great detail and at very high speed.

As an alternative to the constellation diagram, the signal parameters can also be displayed together with the results of the signal analysis in concise tables.

In analogue measurements, the TV analyser provides as standard comprehensive functions for measuring analogue vision and sound carriers.

The standard video scope function provides further analyses within user-selectable video lines as well.

Functions such as C/N, CSO and CTB are specially implemented for the CATV measurement.

The R and S ETL can be optionally equipped with a preselection including an additional 75ohm input.

The wide-ranging of TV-specific measurements offered by the R and S ETL are complemented by measurements in the spectrum, which until now have only been possible on spectrum analysers.

Measurements such as shoulder distance in accordance with ETSI TR 101 290, channel und adjacent channel power can thus be performed using one and the same instrument.

Special functions such as frequency counter, noise und phase noise markers round out the measurement functions and make the R and S ETL TV analyser a jack-of-all-trades.

Without having to open the instrument, users can modularly upgrade the analyser at a later time to meet their specific requirements.

Compliance testing for measuring instruments

2007-09-20T04:01:00.000-07:00

SGS United Kingdom has extended its Notified Body approval to include most of the range of products covered by the Measuring Instruments Directive (MID) 2004/22/EC

Introduced on 30th October 2006, the MID sets out the generic compliance requirements for all measuring instruments intended for the European market. It has two key objectives: to remove barriers to trade in measuring instruments and harmonisation of metrological regulation; and to provide confidence in measurement.

As the Ofgem approved laboratory, SGS already provides a variety of metrology services specific to the electricity and gas industries both in the field and in at its purpose built, UKAS accredited, calibration and testing facilities.

These services are provided in conformance with the requirements of the Gas Act and Electricity Act.

Now, as a notified body under 2004/22/EC, SGS provides approval for all the instruments included in the MID to CE mark the product.

This list of instruments includes: water meters; gas meters and volume conversion devices; active electricity meters; heat meters; measuring systems for the continuous and dynamic measurement of quantities other than water; automatic weighing machines; material measures; and dimensional measuring instruments.

SGS handles a great deal of CE marking certification work under various EC Directives such as Medical Devices, Machinery, EMC, R and TTE, PPE, NAWI etc.

SGS uses a world wide network of approved auditors whilst retaining the technical review and certification decision in the UK.

In particular with more and more companies outsourcing their manufacturing to the Far East, where the actual manufacture and calibration of instruments gets done, increasing numbers of products coming in to Europe from there will require certification.

What's more, SGS already has a significant presence in the Far East and carries out auditing work for various certifications including EC Directives, BRC standards and ISO 9001, just as in the UK and throughout Europe.

There is a great deal of synergy in the auditing of ISO and MID.

By combining the two audits, manufacturers can achieve certification to both standards and integrate them more effectively into their existing quality management systems.

WiMAX technologies explained

2007-09-20T03:59:00.002-07:00

Wall poster is a reference tool to help engineers understand the evolving communication standard by describing detail and contrasting fixed and mobile WiMAX technologies

Agilent has produced a wall poster designed as a reference tool to help engineers understand the evolving communication standard by describing detail and contrasting fixed and mobile WiMAX technologies. An additional eight-page full-colour brochure describes Agilent's portfolio of design and test solutions for WiMAX covering the entire lifecycle from R and D, design verification and preconformance, conformance, manufacturing and installation and maintenance.

WiMAX technologies explained

2007-09-20T03:59:00.001-07:00

WiMAX technologies explained

2007-09-20T03:59:00.000-07:00

Wireless microcontrollers gain regulatory approval

2007-09-20T03:57:00.000-07:00

Modules based on the JN5139 wireless microcontroller family now comply with FCC and ETSI regulations in the USA and Europe, following certification from both regulatory authorities

Jennic has announced that its modules based on the JN5139 wireless microcontroller family have now received regulatory approval from authorities in both the USA and Europe. The significance is that system manufacturers implementing Jennic's modules in their IEEE802.15.4 and ZigBee applications can save weeks of time and costs in performing the RF regulatory testing, resulting in products being commissioned quicker.

Jennic's modules were designed to meet FCC and ETSI regulations at the time of launch earlier this year, and now the products have received full certification.

In the USA, this means a modular approvals certificate is available, stating that an end product which incorporates an approved module does not need to perform RF tests again to receive FCC certification for the end product.

In Europe, a test report is available stating that the modules comply with ETSI standard ETS 300 328, which can then be used as part of the technical construction file to demonstrate compliance with the radio sections of European EMC regulations.

All of Jennic's modules also comply with RoHS regulations.

The JN5139 module product range is based on the JN5139 wireless microcontroller and includes versions with in-built ceramic antenna, SMA connector for evaluation purposes, and the space saving uFl connector for high volume production.

The JN5139 is a low-power, low-cost wireless microcontroller designed for battery-powered applications in wireless sensor networks based on IEEE802.15.4 and ZigBee standards, integrating a 32bit RISC processor, with a fully compliant 2.4GHz IEEE802.15.4 transceiver, 192Kbyte of ROM, a selection of RAM sizes from 8Kbyte to 96Kbyte, plus analogue and digital peripherals.

The integrated memory stores system software, including protocol stacks, routing tables and application code/data, and each device integrates hardware MAC and AES encryption accelerators, power saving and timed sleep modes, and mechanisms for security key and program code encryption.

New HQ unites military and commercial testing

2007-09-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

TRL Compliance has moved its headquarters to Malvern in Worcestershire

TRL Compliance has moved its headquarters to Malvern in Worcestershire, allowing it to bring its military and commercial testing facilities together on to one site and create a centre of excellence at the heart of its network of UK laboratories. TRL spent six months and GBP 500,000 refurbishing and refitting the ex-MOD site in Malvern, prior to relocating from two sites in Gloucestershire.

The new facilities include eight semianechoic chambers of various sises, including one capable of taking exceptionally large equipment and 'tank-sised' vehicles for testing.

'We are delighted to have been able to enhance our facilities with this move', says Mark Heaven, MD of TRL Compliance: 'and we have organised a special seminar on 7th June to allow anyone interested to see the new facilities, learn about changes in a variety of test and compliance legislation (relating to CE marking, LVD, Machinery, EMC, ATEX, military and aerospace) and discuss any issues with our team of experts'.

TRL offers its customers tailored solutions for equipment testing, regulatory approvals and certifications to enable them to sell their products as quickly and cost-effectively as possible into their chosen markets around the world.

Switches and routers checked for compliance

2007-09-18T03:19:00.000-07:00

Multiservices test solution is expanded to cover compliance of Carrier Ethernet equipment

Agilent Technologies has integrated Net-O2's Attest Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) protocol conformance test suite into its N2X multiservices test solution. Network equipment manufacturers and service providers can use N2X to ensure their Carrier Ethernet switches and routers implementing the CFM mechanisms conform to the relevant IEEE and ITU-T standards, enabling the reliability of voice, video and data services over a robust and proven Ethernet infrastructure.

Defined currently in IEEE802.1ag draft 8.0, CFM provides end-to-end Carrier Ethernet diagnostic capabilities that allow service providers to rapidly detect and locate faults, ensuring the reliable delivery of delay-sensitive triple play services.

The IEEE CFM mechanisms are very similar to those in the ITU-T Y.1731 standard.

The tight alignment between these two influential standards bodies attests to the relevance of CFM to the industry.

The Agilent N2X CFM test suite provides the industry's first solution for validating CFM standards compliance.

'Conformance testing early in the switch-and-router product development cycle is a prerequisite to successful interoperability in multivendor networks', said Rod Unverich, Business Manager of Agilent's Data Networks Operation Division.

Every vendor constantly 'tweaks' their protocol implementations, either as the standards evolve or simply as bugs are discovered and fixed over time'.

'Therefore, ongoing regression testing for each release is mandatory to claim auditable and traceable compliance to their service-provider customers'.

'The sooner we see industry-leading test vendors offering conformance test suites on key enabling technologies like CFM, the more confident service providers will be to deploy these technologies', said Carrier Ethernet industry luminary Bob Mandeville, CEO of Iometrix, the appointed Certification Test Laboratory for the Metro Ethernet Forum.

'Lack of end-to-end OAM for Ethernet was one of the final barriers to the wide-scale adoption of Carrier Ethernet'.

'Consequently, CFM-capable test equipment utilised to verify vendor protocol compliance will certainly increase operator confidence levels in the crucial equipment selection process and will also ensure that the aggressive industry analyst predictions for Carrier Ethernet are indeed realised'.

'Attest CFM conformance suite is currently undergoing beta trials at Net-O2's customer labs', said Manikantan Srinivasan, VP Systems Engineering of Net-O2 Technologies.

'Attest CFM provides around 150 test cases designed to verify the CFM protocols and the management support requirements in service provider networking devices as well as in customer edge devices'.

'Early adapters of CFM can ensure seamless interoperability once they comply with the emerging 802.1ag standard'.

The N2X CFM conformance suite leverages the longstanding collaboration between Agilent and Net-O2 by combining the robustness and completeness of the Attest CFM protocol test suite with the productivity benefits of the N2X conformance test manager.

The CFM conformance suite is the latest in the comprehensive range of Carrier Ethernet conformance suites offered on N2X, which include STP, RSTP, MSTP, LACP, VLAN, 802.1x, MEF 9 and MEF 14.

To help vendors and service providers anticipate Carrier Ethernet challenges, Agilent will host a free online educational seminar: 'Ensuring Carrier Ethernet robustness for IPTV and business services', on 7th June 2007.

Delegates will discover how testing at all stages of the development and deployment cycle can reduce the risks and costs of rolling out Carrier Ethernet services and infrastructure.

The Agilent N2X multiservices test solution is available at a starting price of US $28,000.

Handheld meter checks fields for safety

2007-09-18T03:18:00.000-07:00

Handheld broadband meter is designed for measuring electromagnetic fields around transmitters and industrial equipment

Now available from RF and microwave specialist Link Microtek is a new handheld broadband meter designed for measuring electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of transmitters and industrial equipment. With a choice of calibrated interchangeable probes, a GPS option and a wide range of storage and documentation features, the new NBM-550 instrument sets new standards in ease of operation and result management.

Manufactured by Narda Safety Test Solutions, the meter can be operated with one hand by anyone - left-handed or right-handed - and its large backlit monochrome LCD graphic display can be easily read in darkness or sunlight.

The instrument includes a hold button to freeze measurement results for easy readout, a keypad lock to prevent inadvertent operation of control keys, and a fully automatic zeroing function to eliminate the effects of temperature on the results.

The NBM-550 can hold up to 5000 results, with each measurement automatically timestamped, and an optional GPS receiver adds the ability to store position data for each measurement.

Also available is an optional facility for recording voice comments, which are stored with the corresponding measured values.

All data can be transferred to a PC and managed using the PC software supplied with the instrument, thereby making measurement reports very easy to generate.

Covering the frequency range 100kHz to 60GHz, the NBM-550 can be supplied with a choice of isotropic probes to suit each individual application.

Particularly useful is a probe with a shaped frequency response, which is designed to produce results as a percentage of a given safety guideline.

An intelligent probe interface in the NBM-550 automatically retrieves calibration data from an EPROM in the chosen NBM probe, and this enables the instrument to achieve its full calibrated accuracy without the user having to make any adjustments at all.

Waveform generator tests serial data receivers

2007-09-13T04:44:00.000-07:00

The Tektronix AWG7000 arbitrary waveform generator has been approved for direct synthesis testing of Serial ATA data receivers

Tektronix has made significant advances in the application of direct synthesis (DS) for high speed serial receiver compliance testing. Direct synthesis is a flexible and repeatable method for creating ideal or impaired waveforms that are then directly synthesised by the Tektronix AWG7000 arbitrary waveform generator.

This enables precise and uniform testing of high speed serial data receivers, yielding higher quality computing and consumer electronic devices.

Direct synthesis with the AWG7000 was approved as a normative test technique for the SATA Interop Workshops (IW) and applied to products seeking SATA IW certification during the recent SATA-IO Interop Workshop in Milpitas, California.

As datarates continue to increase, the reduction in timing margins has forced the industry to adopt much more rigorous and comprehensive test methods.

One of the last areas of test coverage has been in the field of receiver testing.

The complexity of this testing has been a principal challenge, and the problems with obtaining consistent settings between high speed NRZ generators with the needed levels of specification mandated impairments by standards organisations are real and substantial impediments to the successful deployment of these test practices.

Use of external, intersymbol interference generating hardware in conjunction with microwave mixing of sinusoidal terms leads to laboratory setups that are challenging to reproduce with any level of certainty.

Direct synthesis with the AWG7000 enables repeatable serial data measurements with an unprecedented degree of simplicity, flexibility and speed for high speed serial data receiver compliance testing.

'Designers have had to rely almost exclusively on digital data generators to produce the binary signals for their serial tests', said Jit Lim, Manager, Technology Solutions Group, Tektronix.

'These solutions are complicated, expensive, and can produce inconsistent results'.

'New entries in the signal source realm such as the Tektronix AWG7000 with direct synthesis capabilities are changing that'.

'The DS capabilities of the AWG7000 allow engineers to easily create signals that embody the effects of propagation through a transmission line'.

'Rise times, pulse shapes, delays, and aberrations all can be controlled'.

'This is exactly what needs to be done for rigorous serial bus testing'.

Tektronix has pioneered the development and deployment of a fully direct synthesis technique for high speed serial data testing.

Engineers are able to simply recall a setup file that encapsulates all of the relevant standard, mandated jitter terms and signal impairments, without the need for any additional external components or mixing required.

AWG setup file deployment can be managed through electronic circulation of files, enabling systems worldwide to be synchronised to a common and consistent level of generation properties with no external hardware dependencies.

'Direct synthesis with the AWG7000 offers the ultimate in flexibility of waveform creation, with very competitive cost of test, and greater measurement repeatability than other solutions that use complex collections of signal generation boxes and modules', said Bob Buxton, Marketing Manager, Signal Source Product Line, Tektronix.

'Direct synthesis can be used to emulate all forms of channel impairments and even provides the capability to pre-compensate for losses in the overall test setup and cabling, something no digital signal generation product can do'.

The versatility and breadth of coverage of a single AWG7000 based system allows easy design and conformance testing to a multitude of technologies or standards with the press of a button.

With 10bit vertical precision and 20Gsample/s sample rate, the AWG7102 is extremely versatile for any form of complex signal generation.

From complex equalisation schemes, multi level signalling and pre-emphasis to being able to sweep ISI with a continuity from zero, to multiple UIs of jitter with digital precision, the AWG7102 offers users am unprecedented level of testing flexibility.

The AWG7000 is the only AWG fast enough for high speed serial data test with up to 20Gsample/s and the ability to generate data streams including imperfections such as noise and jitter for datarates up to 10Gbit/s.

With two analogue channels and four marker outputs, the AWG7000 is capable of generating mixed-signal waveforms to provide for analogue signals and digital control channels.

For serial data, the high sample rate of the AWG7000 enables developers to create pre- and de-emphasis or multilevel signals such as four PAM (pulse amplitude modulation) without having to work with cumbersome external components and without wasting multiple output channels.

Nortel signs for the three Rs of WEEE

2007-09-13T04:43:00.000-07:00

Telecomms giant Nortel has appointed Sims Recycling Solutions as its strategic European partner for the recovery, redeployment and recycling of end-of-life electronic equipment

Sims Recycling Solutions has been appointed as Nortel's strategic European partner for the recovery, redeployment and recycling (RRR) of Nortel end-of-life electronic equipment. Under the agreement, customers in all countries across Europe can now simply contact Nortel via dedicated telephone hotlines or email, and arrange for the appropriate disposal of their waste electrical and electronic equipment.

The organisation has been working with Sims since the start of 2006, with this new agreement being put in force in December of last year to help Nortel achieve and exceed targets set by the WEEE Directive.

'We are delighted that Nortel has chosen to use our services and believe that together, we are helping to improve the environment through the expansion and advancement of recycling and safe disposal activities', said Rene Kik, European Business Development Director, Sims Recycling Solutions.

All Nortel products have been WEEE marked since August 2005 and customers are provided with disassembly documentation for their equipment.

In the UK, Nortel has operated an investment recovery centre for over 10 years, which is responsible for recovering Nortel equipment from customers and redeploying it elsewhere.

In 2006, Nortel's UK facility, located in Oakdale, has recovered over 720 tonnes (98.5%) of material via Sims Recycling Solutions, with only 1.5% being sent to landfill.

'Nortel is focused on the three Rs of recovery, redeployment and recycling', said David Huculak, Nortel Global Investment Recovery Leader.

'We're committed to recycling and taking responsibility for Nortel products, from design and manufacture through to end of life'.

'Working with Sims Recycling Solutions we're also able to simplify the process of e- waste disposal for our customers'.

'It's good for the environment and it's good for business'.

Spanish lab joins CB Scheme

2007-09-13T04:41:00.000-07:00

SGS Tecnos in Spain has been recently accepted by the IEC into the IECEE CB Scheme

The company can now operate as a CB testing laboratory and can carry out testing within the CB Scheme covering the following product categories and their subsequent standards: household and similar equipment; measuring instruments; electrical equipment for medical use; and IT and office equipment.

SGS Tecnos received the certificate of acceptance to the CB Scheme as a consequence of its full compliance with the requirements of ISO/IEC17025:2005-05, the basic rules and rules of procedure of IECEE.

Nortel signs for the three Rs of WEEE

2007-09-10T04:13:00.000-07:00

Telecomms giant Nortel has appointed Sims Recycling Solutions as its strategic European partner for the recovery, redeployment and recycling of end-of-life electronic equipment

Sims Recycling Solutions has been appointed as Nortel's strategic European partner for the recovery, redeployment and recycling (RRR) of Nortel end-of-life electronic equipment. Under the agreement, customers in all countries across Europe can now simply contact Nortel via dedicated telephone hotlines or email, and arrange for the appropriate disposal of their waste electrical and electronic equipment.

The organisation has been working with Sims since the start of 2006, with this new agreement being put in force in December of last year to help Nortel achieve and exceed targets set by the WEEE Directive.

We are delighted that Nortel has chosen to use our services and believe that together, we are helping to improve the environment through the expansion and advancement of recycling and safe disposal activities', said Rene Kik, European Business Development Director, Sims Recycling Solutions.

All Nortel products have been WEEE marked since August 2005 and customers are provided with disassembly documentation for their equipment.

In the UK, Nortel has operated an investment recovery centre for over 10 years, which is responsible for recovering Nortel equipment from customers and redeploying it elsewhere.

In 2006, Nortel's UK facility, located in Oakdale, has recovered over 720 tonnes (98.5%) of material via Sims Recycling Solutions, with only 1.5% being sent to landfill.

'Nortel is focused on the three Rs of recovery, redeployment and recycling', said David Huculak, Nortel Global Investment Recovery Leader.

'We're committed to recycling and taking responsibility for Nortel products, from design and manufacture through to end of life'.

'Working with Sims Recycling Solutions we're also able to simplify the process of e- waste disposal for our customers'.

'It's good for the environment and it's good for business'.

IT recycler is approved for WEEE

2007-09-10T04:12:00.000-07:00

AMI is the first recycling business in the UK to be granted approval to operate as an Approved Authorised Treatment Facility under the WEEE Regulations

Northern Ireland IT disposal company AMI has become the first recycling business in the UK to be granted approval to operate as an Approved Authorised Treatment Facility (AATF) under the new WEEE Regulations. The new regulations authorise fully licensed UK treatment facilities that accept waste electrical and electronic equipment to issue WEEE Evidence Notes to the new Producer Compliance Schemes when the legislation takes full effect on 1st July 2007.

AMI, based at Mallusk, near Belfast in Northern Ireland has now received approval from the Environment and Heritage Service (NI) to operate an AATF and also as an Approved Exporter of WEEE.

AMI has been providing a secure environmental solution to the problem of discarded electronic equipment since 2001.

The company also provides a specialist data destruction and equipment disposal service to Government and commercial clients in Northern Ireland, ensuring that sensitive computer hard drive information is fully wiped to an accredited UK Government standard.

AMI already works in close partnership with TechRec Ireland, a division of One51 in Dublin.

TechRec operate a fully licensed and automated WEEE recycling plant in Dublin, capable of handling 30,000 tonnes of WEEE per annum.

One51 also owns the only licensed ODS fridge recycling plant on the island in Dungannon, Northern Ireland.

Interestingly, AMI also has a transfrontier shipment licence already in place to permit the movement of WEEE from Northern Ireland in the UK to the Republic of Ireland, across the UK's only land border with the rest of Europe.

Re-use of equipment is also a key objective of the WEEE Directive.

AMI is also proud to be Northern Ireland's first ever Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher (MAR), which enables the efficient re-use of discarded computers and other IT equipment by charitable and educational organisations.

AMI has recently invested in additional staff, logistics and facilities to enable it to work closely with the UK Producer Compliance Schemes in providing both B2C and B2B recycling services.

Evidence notes can only be issued for WEEE that passes though an AATF or authorised exporter route.

AMI and TechRec expect both their businesses to grow even further in the year ahead as the compliance schemes will be keen to contract with professional recycling organisations that already hold AATF or AE approvals.

Spanish lab joins CB Scheme

2007-09-10T04:05:00.000-07:00

Comms tester takes on high-speed datalinks

2007-09-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

First one-box tester to combine a 7.2Mbit/s HSDPA and 2Mbit/s HSUPA IP data connection with real-time 3GPP network emulation and HSPA/W-CDMA/GGE RF measurements

Agilent Technologies has added 7.2/2Mbit/s HSPA IP data connection and HSUPA RF measurement capabilities for its wireless communications test set running the special high datarate W-CDMA/HSDPA lab application. This one-box benchtop test solution supports parametric through functional test of wireless UMTS user equipment, and is available via subscription release to Agilent 8960 customers with E6720A annual contracts.

These new HSPA capabilities build on the 8960 lab application's value of providing the broadest, most cost-effective benchtop solution for meeting a wide variety of user equipment (UE) design needs, including functional test and RF measurements for device validation, integration and regression testing.

It is the first one-box tester to combine a 7.2Mbit/s HSDPA and 2Mbit/s HSUPA IP data connection with real-time 3GPP network emulation and HSPA/W-CDMA/GGE RF measurements.

As a result, the 8960 enables today's cellular designers to effectively evaluate, on the bench, a device's ability to process HSPA IP data flowing at rates of 7.2Mbit/s down and 2Mbit/s up.

It is also the only one-box tester to provide all of the HSUPA functions - RB test mode, PS data and power, ACLR, spectrum emissions mask, and code domain measurements - with real-time connection status reporting and HSPA IP data.

Agilent's new HSPA IP data connection capability helps to ensure UE design will meet the most stringent network conditions by testing the impact of datarates on UE hardware components and analysing RF parametric performance of the UE transmitter and receiver.

It allows cellular designers to further stress their design by testing data throughput while emulating a real HSPA network with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), fading, and inter-RAT voice and data handover.

'Agilent continues to be a leading provider of HSPA test solutions, ranging from Advanced Design System software and signal generation to spectrum analysis and network emulation', says Niels Fache, Vice President and General Manager of Agilent's Mobile Broadband Division.

'The addition of HSUPA test capabilities to the 8960 further extends this leadership role and reaffirms our continued commitment to deliver cost-effective, innovative and value-added solutions to manufacturing and R and D activities in support of new and emerging communication technologies like HSPA'.

The Agilent E6703T special high datarate lab application works with Agilent's 8960 wireless communications test set to create a cost-effective desktop network in a box with RF measurement performance to meet the needs of today's UE design environment.

With its high accuracy and repeatability, this integrated solution expedites the chip, module, application and wireless-device development process.

The new 7.2Mbit/s plus 2Mbit/s HSPA IP data connection and HSUPA RF measurement capabilities can be ordered via the E6720A lab application annual contract.

This contract not only offers all new official releases that will come out during the year, but also gives customers access to subscription releases, which are early releases of leading-edge test capabilities added to UMTS lab applications.

Tester is ready for LTE basestations

2007-09-07T04:58:00.000-07:00

The Sorbas LTE Test-UE (user equipment) enables basestation developers to test their designs at an early design stage in which the 3GPP-LTE standard is not finalised yet

Signalion has acquired processor technology and knowhow from Dresden Silicon to enable its Test-UE solution for 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) wireless infrastructure testing. Signalion's Sorbas platform is billed as the first test solution for LTE basestations. The Sorbas LTE Test-UE (user equipment) enables basestation developers to test their designs at an early design stage in which the 3GPP-LTE standard is not finalised yet.

One key feature of this test solution is the ability to simulate the behaviour of multiple independent users with a single test system.

Such multiple-UE functionality is needed for very important load and stress tests of wireless infrastructure for 3GPP-LTE.

By enabling scalable, efficient, and flexible signal processing solutions, Dresden Silicon's technology will further strengthen Signalion's ability to support highly complex multiple-UE test scenarios with the Sorbas test-UE solution.

'LTE test systems with multi-UE functionality pose new challenges on scalability and reliability'.

'Our flexible multiprocessor technology, along with the team's solid know-how, gives Signalion exclusive access to a unique methodology for the design of compute-intense software and systems', says Patrick Herhold, CEO of Dresden Silicon.

'Beside traditional functional tests, load and stress tests are very important for the basestation development'.

'The requirements set by the 3GPP-LTE standard on the respective test solutions call for new approaches to the flexible partitioning and sharing of the processing load between multiple processors'.

'The acquisition of Dresden Silicon's multiprocessor technology by Signalion enables a uniquely flexible and cost efficient multi-UE functionality for our basestation test products', says Tim Hentschel, CEO of Signalion.

Both Signalion and Dresden Silicon are located in Dresden, a city that uniquely combines an 800-year historic, baroque background with the pulsing high-tech multi-billion-Euro semiconductor businesses that have turned the region into Europe's number one silicon site.

Link checks FlexRay for EMC

2007-09-07T04:53:00.000-07:00

The TTX-Optical Link is a compact device for electrical decoupling of FlexRay bus signals for EMC testing

Available now from TTTech Automotive, TTX-Optical Link enables bidirectional optical transmission of FlexRay signals while ensuring minimum influence on the FlexRay signals bit timing. It is a new high-performance system for EMC testing of FlexRay networks. It converts FlexRay-signals to optical signals via fibre cable and vice versa.

With its shielded housing and built-in accumulator it fulfils all the requirements to run EMC tests for FlexRay based systems.

Therefore it allows full access to the FlexRay signals using common FlexRay analysis tools.

The EMC validation department of Robert Bosch in Vienna is highly pleased with the new device: 'Due to its robust design and optimal EMC features TTX-Optical Link is perfectly suitable for use in our EMC labs'.

'This first-class test tool contributes significantly to achieving the EMC objectives of our FlexRay development projects'.

The optimal architecture of TTX-Optical Link makes it ideal as a decoupling device for monitoring of systems.

Signals can be transferred over long distances without effects on the existing networks.

Thanks to its bidirectional character it supports both sending and receiving of data.

TTX-Optical Link features an accumulator for 24-hour continuous use and fulfils the requirements of the ISO11452-2 and CISPR25 standards.

Company tests new data transfer capabilities

2007-09-06T23:56:00.001-07:00

7 layers has integrated HSUPA test capabilities into its Rapid Response Network, making these test capabilities available from anywhere in the world
7 layers is the first third party telecommunications test laboratory worldwide offering HSUPA testing for both protocol and RF testing. The company supports its customers in receiving approvals to enter the global market with HSUPA products. In August one of the 7 layers' customers received the first ever FCC approval for a HSUPA data card.

HSUPA stands for high speed uplink packet access and describes the most efficient procedure for sending data via UMTS devices available today.

HSUPA is a 3G mobile telephony protocol belonging to the HSPA family.

HSUPA offers enhanced data rates, fast packet retransmission mechanisms, and reduced packet latencies.

The uplink data rate for HSUPA is increased up to a theoretical maximum of 5.76Mbit/s.

Characteristics of HSUPA are described by the 3GPP (third generation Partnership Project), Release 6.

Currently a number of HSUPA test cases are in the process of being validated and they will become mandatory over the next few months.

For FCC testing in the USA certain HSUPA tests are already a must.

Testing on conformance test equipment at this early stage will assure manufacturers that the basic HSUPA characteristics of their devices are functioning correctly, a big advantage compared to pure interoperability testing, which depends highly on the network the device is being tested in.

7 layers has integrated the HSUPA test capabilities into its Rapid Response Network, making these test capabilities available from anywhere in the world and allowing customers to watch the project progress via web access.

Test application improves reliability

2007-09-06T23:47:00.000-07:00

The Agilent U7231A DDR3 application automatically configures the oscilloscope for each test and generates an HTML report at the end of the test
Agilent Technologies has released the industry's first oscilloscope-based DDR3 compliance test application. This tool is ideal for engineers working in the computer, data storage, electronic data processing and consumer electronics industries. The Agilent U7231A DDR3 test application, which runs on Infiniium 54850 and 80000 series oscilloscopes, provides DDR3 compliance measurements based on the Joint Electronic Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) JESD79-3 DDR3 SDRAM specifications
It covers clock, electrical and timing parameters.

This application also features an Advanced Debug mode, which provides critical measurements such as eye-diagram analysis, mask tests, ringing measurements and other tests that are not covered in the JEDEC specifications.

Each of these tests helps engineers find the root causes of problems in their designs.

DDR3 devices will feature higher bandwidths and smaller chip footprints and will consume less power and generate less heat.

DDR3 achieves this with modern fine ball-grid array packaging, enhanced on-die termination, self calibration and automatic self-refresh for improved control of signal integrity.

'With the huge benefits of DDR3 memory, we expect system OEMs and system integrators to embrace the technology rapidly in the near future', said Jay Alexander, Vice President and General Manager of Agilent's design validation Division.

'We are ready with the tools that will help engineers validate their designs quickly and easily'.

The Agilent U7231A DDR3 application automatically configures the oscilloscope for each test and generates an HTML report at the end of the test.

It compares the results with the specification test limit and indicates how closely the device passes or fails each test.

The complex analysis runs seamlessly within the scope, which saves users' time and effort compared to making and analysing measurements manually.

When a problem is encountered during the test, engineers can use the Advanced Debug feature to analyse the cause.

The application sets up the scope to separate read and write signals so engineers can debug signal integrity issues.

Infiniium oscilloscopes also feature the InfiniiScan tool for finding signal problems.

With the DDR3 clock rate approaching microwave speeds, signal integrity performance of the measurement tools becomes increasingly critical to achieve accurate and consistent measurements.

Electrical certification expands to NSW

2007-09-06T23:45:00.000-07:00

SGS can now certify electrical goods for sale anywhere in Australia
The New South Wales Office of Fair Trading has confirmed that electrical goods certified by SGS can now be sold in NSW. In May 2004, the Joint Accreditation Service of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) accredited SGS Electrical Product Certification Services (EPCS) as a third party certification body to issue either a Certificate of Approval for prescribed electrical equipment that is proven to comply with the requirements of the applicable Australian Standard, or a Certificate of Compliance for nonprescribed electrical equipment that is proven to comply with the requirements of the applicable Australian Standard for which the application has been made.

Energy Safe Victoria approved the EPCS service in November 2005.

Global group unifies compliance

2007-07-10T23:05:00.000-07:00

Extended range of compliance services is available from group of leading specialist test laboratories
TRL Compliance can now offer an extended range of services as part of TRAC Global, a group of leading specialist test laboratories. TRAC (Testing, Regulatory and Compliance) Global is set to become a major force in the worldwide test and regulatory compliance marketplace. 'This is good news for us and for our customers', says Mark Heaven, MD of TRL Compliance.

'It enables us to offer an enhanced range of services, delivered seamlessly to customers, who can now access a complete approval process capable of delivering fast and efficient compliance with regulations in force around the world'.

TRL's clients can now have direct access to engineers who are qualified in commercial, military/aerospace, EMC, telecomms, wireless, radio, environmental, finite element analysis, safety, ATEX and machinery inspection services.

Investment in TRAC Global during 2006 was high.

The group acquired new automated EMC chambers, high power EMC amplifiers, telecomms protocol analysers, environmental altitude chambers and indirect lightning-strike test equipment.

Thanks to a number of premises moves, the group now has well equipped centres of excellence at Malvern, Hull and Warwick, together with additional highly competent regional laboratories in the south at Ringwood, in the north at Wigan and within the M25 at Watford.

Power source upgrades for harmonic compliance

2007-07-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

Low-distortion power source is designed for use with power, harmonics and flicker analyser
Thurlby Thandar Instruments has produced an improved version of its AC1000 low-distortion power source to integrate with its latest power, harmonics and flicker analyser, the HA1600A. The new unit, designated AC1000A, is a 1kW power source which removes distortions from the AC mains waveform to provide a pure sinusoidal mains power source
European standards covering electromagnetic compatibility now include EN61000-3-2, which specifies limits on harmonic current, and EN61000-3-3, which specifies limits on voltage flicker.

When combined with the AC1000A, the HA1600A provides a low-cost solution for compliance quality harmonic current measurements to EN61000-3-2.

The unit also includes a flicker meter, enabling compliance quality measurements to EN61000-3-3.

The HA1600A has a 16A current capability and uses a shunt resistance of 3mohm as defined by the standard.

The large backlit LCD provides both graphical and numeric displays.

It has RS232 and USB interfaces built-in as well as isolated monitor outputs which provide reconstructed voltage and current signals.

The instrument provides numerical and graphical analysis of mains harmonics from the first to the 40th to very high accuracy.

Harmonics can be displayed as lists or as histograms with the compliance limits automatically calculated and displayed.

Simple pass/fail analysis can be done or detailed failure information can be rapidly extracted.

The fast update rate allows real-time monitoring of circuit changes.

The HA1600A is capable of continuous real-time analysis of both voltage and current.

As a general-purpose mains analyser it can measure watts, volt-amperes, RMS voltage, peak voltage, RMS current, peak current, crest factors, THD, power factor, frequency and inrush current with a rating of 16A RMS continuous.

As a fluctuation and flicker meter it can perform simultaneous full analysis of voltage variations, including the calculation of the maximum value dmax, the difference between steady states DC, and the change characteristic d(t) as required by EN61000-3-3 and EN61000-4-15.

The instrument is supplied with HA-PC Link Plus software for Windows.

This is intended to assist users in taking routine compliance measurements and archiving the results.

Harmonics can be displayed on the PC as tabular reports or as graphical histograms.

The performance of the PC does not affect the accuracy of the measurement results, so there is no need for either the PC or its software to be covered by a calibration certificate.

The AC1000A and HA1600A together cost GBP 1950 (plus VAT) in the UK.

Tester checks bidirectional forwarding detection

2007-07-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

Network equipment manufacturers can use the Agilent N2X multiservices test solution to ensure routers conform to the new IETF BFD recommendations
Available now from Agilent Technologies is the industry's first single-platform solution for protocol emulation and conformance testing of bidirectional forwarding detection (BFD). Network equipment manufacturers and service providers can use the Agilent N2X multiservices test solution to ensure their routers conform to the new IETF BFD recommendations and confidently meet scalability requirements.

BFD deployment significantly reduces fault durations, allowing carriers to offer robust triple-play services over converged IP networks.

Defined in four IETF draft recommendations, BFD is a new protocol that provides rapid detection of device and link faults in IP/MPLS networks, enabling faster fault recovery and service restoration.

This is particularly important in Ethernet networks, which have no intrinsic fault-recovery mechanism and consequently could suffer from longer outages.

BFD is therefore essential for reliable delivery of delay-sensitive triple-play services.

The industry-first Agilent N2X BFD emulation software permits testing of an IP/MPLS device's BFD implementation against many thousands of similar emulated devices, enabling robustness and recovery performance validation in carrier-scale networks without a costly test-bed of thousands of real devices
The software is complemented by a new BFD conformance test suite that validates device compliance to industry standards.

By releasing both products on a single platform, Agilent's N2X delivers the world's first test tool to measure the performance as well as ensure the interoperability of BFD-enabled devices in very large, multivendor networks.

'BFD was recently co-invented by Juniper Networks and submitted to the IETF as a draft recommendation, and it is encouraging to see our industry leadership mirrored via a test vendor simultaneously offering emulation and conformance on this Ethernet resiliency-enabling technology', says Jeff Nai, Scaling and Performance Engineer at Juniper Networks, based in Sunnyvale, California.

'Conformance testing is a prerequisite to regression-test each software release'.

'In addition, scalability and performance testing via protocol emulation independently and efficiently proves to our customers that our routers and switches meet their needs'.

'The two test approaches fit together like a lock and key'.

'The new BFD emulation and conformance tools complement our existing N2X graceful restart and MPLS fast reroute capabilities, strengthening Agilent as the market leader in high-availability test', said Rod Unverrich, Business Manager of Agilent's Data Networks Operation.

'Combining BFD with the many other N2X protocol emulations allows customers to rapidly create the most realistic and scaled test scenarios to characterise network recovery in today's complex, multi-protocol networks'.

The Agilent N2X test solution includes: industry-first products for testing Carrier Ethernet protocols, including LACP, CFM, MEF 9 and MEF 14; emulations for all carrier routing, MPLS signalling and OAM, and access protocols; layer-2 and layer-3 conformance test suites providing the fastest time-to-insight; and productivity applications for high availability and IPTV.

Instruments set HDMI compliance mark

2007-07-04T06:08:00.000-07:00

Several Agilent instruments have been selected as recommended test equipment in the HDMI Compliance Test Specification
Agilent Technologies has shipped its HDMI 1.3b compliance solution to five HDMI authorised test centres worldwide. In addition, Agilent leads HDMI 1.3 with volume shipments of its complete HDMI compliance solution to customers with a typical delivery of six weeks. The revised HDMI specification, 1.3, more than doubles the previous datarates to a composite 10.2Gbit/s rate, which significantly improves performance for high-definition devices such as DVD players, high-definition (HD) televisions, and the newest gaming devices by introducing new features such as 'deep colour' support.

It defines the latest HD video and audio technology.

Several Agilent instruments, including the E4887A TMDS signal generator and the DSO80804B Infiniium oscilloscope, have been selected as recommended test equipment in the HDMI Compliance Test Specification (CTS) version 1.3b.

This designation is the HDMI.org's highest endorsement for test equipment - recommended for compliance test labs as well as recognised for delivering the highest confidence for all HDMI product development.

The Agilent HDMI solution provides, among other benefits: fast calibration time and test throughput, which increase productivity up to 50%; in-depth characterisation of HDMI source devices; the most complete HDMI receiver characterisation, with unique, fully integrated and instant-use jitter-injection capabilities on TMDS clock and data lanes; and the highest bandwidth available on the market, allowing users to measure the true performance of their products by overcoming the limitations of existing solutions.

The complete Agilent test solution for HDMI CTS 1.3b includes high-performance hardware and complementary software for design and test engineers in consumer electronics, semiconductor and cable manufacturers
Key elements incorporated into the solution include: the DSO 80000B real-time oscilloscope with a new version of N5399A HDMI compliance test software; the E4887A TMDS signal generator with cable emulators; the 86100C digital communications analyser; N1080A TPAs (test point access assemblies or fixtures); the N5990A test automation software platform; and the N5998A protocol, audio, video analyser and generator.

'Agilent has worked closely with the HDMI founders since the start of the discussions of CTS 1.3', says Brian Fetz, Applications Product Manager for Video Technologies at Agilent's design validation Division.

'After a continuous and thorough qualification process, the CTS 1.3 release recommended Agilent's solution for the compliance testing process'.

'The authorised test centres confirmed their acceptance of Agilent's solution because of its completeness as a solution for HDMI compliance tests, its performance, and its dedication in offering industry-leading serial data generation and analysis test capabilities to speed up HDMI 1.3 tests'.

'To guarantee the conformity with the HDMI CTS 1.3b and ultimately the development of successful products that implement the HDMI 1.3 specification, high-quality tests and accurate instruments and solutions are essential', said Leslie Chard, President of HDMI Licensing.

Instruments set HDMI compliance mark

2007-06-18T23:13:00.000-07:00

Several Agilent instruments have been selected as recommended test equipment in the HDMI Compliance Test Specification

Agilent Technologies has shipped its HDMI 1.3b compliance solution to five HDMI authorised test centres worldwide. In addition, Agilent leads HDMI 1.3 with volume shipments of its complete HDMI compliance solution to customers with a typical delivery of six weeks. The revised HDMI specification, 1.3, more than doubles the previous datarates to a composite 10.2Gbit/s rate, which significantly improves performance for high-definition devices such as DVD players, high-definition (HD) televisions, and the newest gaming devices by introducing new features such as 'deep colour' support.
It defines the latest HD video and audio technology.

Several Agilent instruments, including the E4887A TMDS signal generator and the DSO80804B Infiniium oscilloscope, have been selected as recommended test equipment in the HDMI Compliance Test Specification (CTS) version 1.3b.

This designation is the HDMI.org's highest endorsement for test equipment - recommended for compliance test labs as well as recognised for delivering the highest confidence for all HDMI product development.

The Agilent HDMI solution provides, among other benefits: fast calibration time and test throughput, which increase productivity up to 50%; in-depth characterisation of HDMI source devices; the most complete HDMI receiver characterisation, with unique, fully integrated and instant-use jitter-injection capabilities on TMDS clock and data lanes; and the highest bandwidth available on the market, allowing users to measure the true performance of their products by overcoming the limitations of existing solutions.

The complete Agilent test solution for HDMI CTS 1.3b includes high-performance hardware and complementary software for design and test engineers in consumer electronics, semiconductor and cable manufacturers.
Key elements incorporated into the solution include: the DSO 80000B real-time oscilloscope with a new version of N5399A HDMI compliance test software; the E4887A TMDS signal generator with cable emulators; the 86100C digital communications analyser; N1080A TPAs (test point access assemblies or fixtures); the N5990A test automation software platform; and the N5998A protocol, audio, video analyser and generator.

'Agilent has worked closely with the HDMI founders since the start of the discussions of CTS 1.3', says Brian Fetz, Applications Product Manager for Video Technologies at Agilent's design validation Division.

'After a continuous and thorough qualification process, the CTS 1.3 release recommended Agilent's solution for the compliance testing process'.

'The authorised test centres confirmed their acceptance of Agilent's solution because of its completeness as a solution for HDMI compliance tests, its performance, and its dedication in offering industry-leading serial data generation and analysis test capabilities to speed up HDMI 1.3 tests'.

'To guarantee the conformity with the HDMI CTS 1.3b and ultimately the development of successful products that implement the HDMI 1.3 specification, high-quality tests and accurate instruments and solutions are essential', said Leslie Chard, President of HDMI Licensing.

'Throughout the CTS 1.3 discussion and qualification process with its test solutions, Agilent has confirmed its value to HDMI adopters'.