Archive : 4 November 2014 год

Teledyne LeCroy has launched the LabMaster 10-100Zi, a 100GHz oscilloscope said to demonstrate its long running commitment to leadership in the high end oscilloscope market. 

First demonstrated in public in July 2013, the technology has found its way to market in the LabMaster 10-100Zi, which can handle 240Gsample/s. According to the company, the device is key to analysing and understanding the fastest phenomena found in R&D labs. 

"As we research new ways to expand the amount of data that future optical communications networks will be expected to carry, we demonstrated a record 160Gbaud QPSK system prototype," said Dr Peter Winzer of Bell Labs, the industrial research arm of Alcatel-Lucent. "The 100GHz bandwidth and 240Gsample/s rate were key in building this system. Oscilloscope bandwidth is no longer the limiting factor in our research; it currently exceeds the bandwidth of the transmitter and optical to electrical converter in the receiver." 

The LabMaster 10-100Zi is the latest acquisition module in the LabMaster 10 Zi series, which allows users to build oscilloscopes with high channel counts. Up to 20 acquisition modules can be connected, allowing oscilloscopes to be created with up to 80 channels at 36GHz, 20 channels at 100GHz or anything in between, says the company.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Lithium sulphur battery specialist Oxis Energy has developed its largest cell yet, said to have an energy density of 300Whr/kg. The company addds that is also increased cell capacity to 25Ahr, which it describes as 'a world first'. 

According to Oxis' CEO Huw Hampson-Jones: "Oxis is set to remain at the forefront of the world's leading battery technology with these significant improvement gains. They are being made in partnerships with British and European academic and research institutions, such as LEITAT of Spain, TNO of the Netherlands and the Foundation for Research and Technology in Greece. OXIS is on schedule to release commercial cells for use in applications in the US and Europe in 2015." 

The cell capacity of 25Ahr is said to represent a twelve fold improvement in 18 months and Oxis believes it will be able to make a 33Ahr cell by the middle of 2015 and an energy density of 400Whr/kg by the end of 2016. 

The company notes that vehicle manufacturers are reviewing and evaluating the cell technology.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Digi-Key and Mentor Graphics have collaborated to launch professional level EDA/CAD tools available on an annual subscription basis. The tools – Designer Schematic and Designer Layout – can be downloaded immediately from Digi-Key's website. 

Randall Restle, pictured, Digi-Key's director of applications engineering, said: "Growing companies have to spend a lot of money for design tools. By working with Mentor, we can offer a professional toolset at an attractive price. It's a market segment which we believe hasn't been addressed in the past." 

The move confirms Digi-Key president Mark Larson's comment in July 2014, when he told New Electronics: "We are continuing to develop our strength on the web and this includes work to bring some sophisticated design tools to engineers." 

Designer Schematic and Designer Layout – based on Mentor's PADS software – come with free access to Mentor's PartQuest website, which converts Digi-Key part numbers into symbols and footprints. Jim Martens, product marketing manager with Mentor, explained how it will work. "There will be a part number, allowing users to go online a buy a seat. Whatever they find in Partquest can be parked in Dropbox and imported into the tools. Access to the Digi-Key site will enable parametric search." 

However, users will face some constraints. For example, there will be a limit of 1500 connections per design for both tools, although a premium product that removes this restriction will be available. Boards can be up to six layers thick and up to 50sq in in area. 

Martens noted: "There are tens of thousands of individuals and small companies that need to create electronics. It's a win-win for both of us." 
For 90 days, both tools will be available at a 30% discount: Designer Schematic pricing starts at $199, whilst Designer Layout starts at $449. Both are available on a free 15 day trial.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Test and measurement specialist Tektronix has introduced what it calls a new class of affordable spectrum analysers based on a USB architecture. The RSA306 range, which is claimed to set a new price/performance threshold for spectrum analyzers, covers frequencies ranging from 9kHz to 6.2GHz and boasts a real time bandwidth of 40MHz. 

Dean Miles, EMEA technical marketing manager, said: "While the overall spectrum analyser sector hasn't grown by more than 2% a year in the recent past, demand for devices costing less than $18,000 is growing more quickly. People want low cost spectrum analysers to support their needs; they don't want to pay $100,000 to look at signals and Tektronix asked how it could address this demand." 

The RSA306, Tektronix' first USB spectrum analyser, will be followed by similar devices that take advantage of desktop computers and laptops with USB 3.0 interfaces and sufficient processing power to handle complex test and measurement analysis. 

Miles added: "The RSA306 can process up to 10,000 spectra per second, compared to the 500 or 1000 processed by competitive devices." 

The device is supplied with SignalVu Essential, a stripped down version of the software which runs on the company's other spectrum analysers and oscilloscopes. This runs on the host PC and can be upgraded to offer additional functionality. 

Miles believes the device will disrupt the low cost spectrum analyser market. "Users will get more performance for the same price as competitive devices," he said. 

Target markets include: budget conscious RF design and development; mobile radio network installation and maintenance; interference hunters; and education.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

A new 'pre-collision assist' system has been unveiled by Ford, which it says could reduce the severity of and, in some cases, even eliminate fatal collisions on our roads.

The system takes advantage of data from radar and cameras to actively detect pedestrians and automatically apply the brakes. 

A windshield-mounted camera and radar located near the bumper scan the road in front and provide warnings to the driver if a collision risk is detected. 

If the driver fails to respond in time, the system can automatically apply the brakes and stop the car if necessary. 

Ford engineers tested the system on closed test tracks using rigs fitted with manikins to replicate pedestrians. 

They then spent months refining the technology on roads around the world to test system reliability. 

"This real world testing was an important part of the development, because pedestrians in an urban setting can present a wide range of potential situations," said Scott Lindstrom, Ford manager, Driver Assist Technologies. "We covered more than 300,000 miles on three continents that included a wide range of settings and situations." 

The system will make its debut in the2015 Ford Mondeo later this year before being rolled out to other models. 

Author
Laura Hopperton

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk