Electronics Test and Measurement

- for summaries, information, tutorials and data about electronics test and measurement techniques and electronic test and measurement equipment from ICT to boundary scan / JTAG and GPIB to instruments including automatic test equipment, spectrum analyzers, logic analyzers and oscilloscopes.

There is plenty of terminology associated with electronics test and measurement and automatic test. Our terminology glossary explains the most commonly used terms:

Glossary: [ A - D ] , [ E - H ] , [ I - P ] and [ Q - Z ]

Test methodologies
There are many ways in which electronic assemblies can be tested. Where they are forms of inspection to ensure that they have been built correctly, or functional tests that check the operation, each type of this form of electronics test and measurement has its own advantages and disadvantages.
- ATE automatic test equipment basics
- AOI - automatic optical inspection
- ICT - in circuit test tutorial
- Functional Test (FATE)
- Boundary Scan (JTAG / IEEE 1149) Tutorial
        - Boundary Scan Description Language, BSDL
        - Designing for boundary scan test
        - The JTAG specifications and the IEEE 1149 series of standards that define boundary scan
        - The JTAG, boundary scan interface
        - IEEE 1149.6 for AC signals
        - Comapct JTAG, cJTAG, IEEE 1149.7 standard

Electronics Test and Measurement strategies
In order to ensure that an assembly can be properly tested it is necessary to develop a proper test strategy. Only in this way can any product be tested effectively and for the minimum cost.
- Developing a successful test strategy for production test
- Design for test (DFT)
- The different types of test available for production testing
- Selecting an In Circuit Tester

Test equipment technologies
There are a number of standards and technologies that can be used for controlling test equipment. GPIB, VXI and now PXI are some of the main ones that are available today.
- GPIB basics tutorial
        - GPIB cables, connectors, and pin-outs
- VXIbus for high speed integrated test systems
- PXIbus - an overview of PXI technology
        - Technical Summary of the PXI System
        - PXI Express
- LXI test technology basics

EMC, Electro-Magnetic Compliance
In recent years, Electromagnetic Interference, EMI, and Electromagnetic Compatibility, EMC, have become very important topics. As a result, testing for compliance with the EMC directive and other standards has become more important. With EMC compliance now an essential requirement before products can be launched onto the market, EMC testing is of interest to all electronic equipment developers and manufacturers.
- Basics of EMC / EMI compliance test

Data acquisition
Techniques, equipment, and software used to acquire or collect data, process it, store and use it to provide essential data about processes and other conditions.
- Basics of data acquisition
- USB data acquisition
- Data acquisition measurements - the basics of the measurement techniques used and the precautions to be taken.
- Thermocouples for data acquisition - the basics of the measurement techniques used and the precautions to be taken.
- Strain gauges for data acquisition - the basics of the measurement techniques used and the precautions to be taken.
- Flow meters for process control and data acquisition - the basics of the measurement techniques used and the precautions to be taken.

Electronic test equipment summaries There is a wide variety of electronic test equipment that is used within radio and electronics today. There is a large variety of electronic test equipment that is used in production, development, field test and general fault finding. Digital multimeter, DMM       - Digital multimeter, DMM basics       - Understanding digital multimeter specifications Oscilloscope       - The different types of oscilloscope that are available       - Understanding oscilloscope specifications       - Points to note when buying an oscilloscope       - Key tips for using an oscilloscope       - Oscilloscope probes and points to note about them Spectrum Analyzer       - Using spectrum analyzers (analysers)       - The design of a spectrum analyzer and the way this reflects on its use       - Understanding spectrum analyzer specifications RF Network Analyzer       - RF network analyzer basics tutorial       - Vector network analyzer Frequency counter       - Frequency counter basics       - Frequency counter accuracy and resolution RF power meter       - RF power meter basics Logic analyzer       - Logic analyzer basics       - Key specifications for logic analyzers. Points to note when buying a logic analyzer. Signal generators       - Radio frequency signal generators       - Understanding RF signal generator specifications       - Function generator       - Arbitrary waveform generator Power supplies       - DC power supply specifications - Test equipment calibration - why and how test equipment is calibrated - Used test equipment - advantages and disadvantages of buying second user test equipment

Environmental stress screening
Techniques to ensure that high quality product is produced are essential in today's development and production environments. Environmental stress screening is widely used with highly accelerated life testing (HALT) in development and highly accelerated stress screening (HASS) in production as part of an electronics test and measurement strategy.
- Basics of environmental stress screening (ESS)
- Highly accelerated life test (HALT) and highly acccelerated stress screening (HASS)