Trends and Product Directions for
Automated Test
John Hanks
Vice President of Product Marketing, National Instruments
Trends in Automated Test
• Software-defined instrumentation
• Concurrent computing
• Wireless everywhere
• “Protocol Aware” test
Hardware Product Directions
• PXI update
• Instrument product directions
2
Trends in Automated Test
• Software-defined instrumentation
• Concurrent computing
• Wireless everywhere
• “Protocol Aware” test
3
Trend Toward Software-Based Systems
“Software is the core of a [Synthetic Instrumentation] test system…, it
is the task of the software to define and control the hardware…”
Frost and Sullivan 2006 World Synthetic Instrumentation Test Equipment Report
4
Trends in Automated Test
• Software-defined instrumentation
• Concurrent computing
• Wireless everywhere
• “Protocol Aware” test
5
Parallel Architectures Drive Performance
Faster processors Multicore processors
Clock Speed (kHz) Transistor Count
CPU Speed
Intel QX6700 Quad-Core
Processor
• 2.66 GHz CPU speed
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
“To fully exploit the power of processors working in parallel ... new
software must deal with the problem of concurrency.” – Bill Gates
System Architecture for Concurrent Test
Concurrent Data Transfer Concurrent Test and Parallel Program Execution
(PXI Express) (Multithreaded Software)
NI LabVIEW
Concurrent
Processing
(Multicore)
Concurrent
Test of UUT
7
Harris Decreases Test Cost by 74 Percent
• Falcon III radios – high quality, increasing volume
• Parallel testing for 4X throughput increase
• Maximize resource use with COTS tools
• Standardized on LabVIEW, NI TestStand, and PXI
8
Trends in Automated Test
• Software-defined instrumentation
• Concurrent computing
• Wireless everywhere
• “Protocol Aware” test
9
Wireless Everywhere
10
Software-based RF Test System
GSM Tester Radio Tester
WLAN Tester Power Meter
Spectrum
RFID Tester
Analyzer
Multi-
Protocol
UUT
11
Trends in Automated Test
• Software-defined instrumentation
• Concurrent computing
• Wireless everywhere
• “Protocol Aware” test
12
Integration from Chip to System
Chip SOC SIP Board System
Chip ATE System Functional Test
Photo courtesy of Verigy
13
NI FlexRIO
High Performance LV FPGA Target
• Open, FPGA platform for custom I/O
• Highest speed LabVIEW FPGA target
• Key Applications – Audio/Video test, custom serial
protocols, communications analysis
14
PXI Update
Industry Acceptance of PXI
PXI Systems Sales Forecast
25% growth forecast for 2007
Number of Systems Per Year
30.000
PXI Systems – 2012
20.000 Source: World VXI & PXI Test Equipment Markets, Frost &
Sullivan, April 2005
10.000
0
200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011
Available PXI Products
1600
More than 1,500 PXI Products
1400
1200
1000
from 60 vendors 800
600
400
Source: PXI Systems Alliance 200
0
199819992000 200120022003 200420052006 2007
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Major PXI Vendors
Aeroflex
• PXI RF modules and PXI-based in-circuit tester (ICT)
Agilent
• PXI digitizers, generators, and optical test equipment
Keithley
• PXI data acquisition
National Instruments
• PXI modular instruments, DAQ, vision, motion, chassis, and controllers
Rohde & Schwarz
• PXI-based automotive tester
Phase Matrix
• 26.5 GHz Downconverter
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PXI Provides Long-term Compatibility with
PCI and PCI Express Technology
PXI Express provides:
• High data throughput (>4.0 GB/s)
• Backwards compatibility
§ Complete software compatibility
§ Hybrid slot supports either PCI or PCI Express
signaling in a single slot
• Solutions to new applications
§ High bandwidth communications
§ High-speed digital signaling
§ High-speed imaging
• Long sustainable life (>20 years)
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HW Product Directions
NEW 6.6 GHz RF Instruments
PXIe-5663 VSA PXIe-5673 VSG
• Single stage heterodyne downconverter • Direct (homodyne) RF upconversion
• 10 MHz to 6.6 GHz • 85 MHz to 6.6 GHz
• 50 MHz Instantaneous BW (3 dB) • >100 MHz Instantaneous BW
• -112 dBc phase noise (10 kHz) at 1 GHz • -112 dBc phase noise (10 kHz) at 1 GHz
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RF Investment Direction
• Baseband and IF
§ PXIe IF RIO (Q2), FlexRIO IF/Baseband modules
• RF Front ends
§ 1.1, 3.3 GHz VSAs, VSGs (Q1)
• Software:
§ Standard-specific LabVIEW toolkits
• Accessories
§ Programmable preamp, Programmable attenuator
21
NEW - PXI-5153/4
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Digitizers Investment Direction
• Time-Domain
§ 2 GS/s Digitizer with built-in averaging modes
§ 8-bit, multi-GS/s, multi-GHz
• Low-Cost
§ 8/12-bit, <100 MS/s USB
§ PCIe digitizer
23
HSDIO and Precision DC Investments
• HSDIO
§ Higher speed (200 MHz)
§ FPGA-based digital test and interfacing (FlexRIO)
• Precision DC
§ Higher-voltage (100V+), lower current SMUs
§ Multi-channel SMUs/PMUs
• Switching
§ Fault insertion modules
§ Very high density switching system
24
NEW - PXI-8108
2.53 GHz Dual Core Embedded Controller
•25% Faster than PXI-8106
•2X Faster than PXI-8196
25
NEW - PXIe-1075
18-Slot PXI Express Chassis
• All PXI Express Chassis
§ 8 hybrid slots
§ 1 PXIe system timing slot
• High Performance
§ Up to 1 GB/s per-slot dedicated bandwidth
§ Up to 4 GB/s system bandwidth
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PXI and VXI Chassis and Controllers
Investment Directions
• PXI and VXI Multicore controllers:
§ Embedded: Dual-> Quad
§ Rack Mount: Quad-> Octal
• Larger Solid-State drives
• 4 slot embedded PXIe RAID
• Larger external RAID systems (12 TB)
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Question and Answer
