Card suite speeds mixed-signal and MEMS IC development

Card suite speeds mixed-signal and MEMS IC development

Developed for testing ICs such as ADCs, DACs, power-management, wireless, and MEMS devices, the PXI Semiconductor Suite of software-defined card-module products includes two 100-MHz and two 200-MHz high-speed digital I/O (HSDIO) card-instruments, two digital switches, 6.6-GHz RF vector analyzer and generator cards, a high-precision source measure unit, and specialized digital vector file importing software. By taking advantage of the suite’s advanced functionality, users can achieve higher throughput, greater flexibility, and faster development time than with the box instruments and ATE traditionally used for IC characterization/validation and production test.

The card suite, which is optimized for use with LabVIEW, provides such features as 200-MHz single-ended digital I/O, 10-pA current resolution, rapid multiband RF measurements, dc/digital switching, and the ability to import Waveform Generation Language (WGL) and IEEE 1450 Standard Test Interface Language (STIL) files.

Highlights of the PXI/PXIe cards include: digital I/O modules that offer data rates up to 400 Mbits/s, real-time bit comparison, DDR capability, multiple timing delays for different I/O lines, and the ability to select from 22 voltage levels between 1.2 to 3.3V; a high-precision SMU with current sensitivity down to 10 pA, four-wire sensing, external guarding to ±100 V on a single output, and an onboard hardware sequencing engine; digital switches with improved connectivity for parametric measurements while maintaining signal integrity on high-speed digital edges; and RF vector signal modules with RF List Mode, a feature that reduces test time by downloading preconfigured instrument parameters to rapidly cycle through different RF configurations. (100 MHz I/O cards from $5,499; 200 MHz I/O cards from $6,999; SMU from $3,499; switches from $2,499, RF analyzer from $22,999, generator from $23,999 available now.)

National Instruments , Austin , TX
Sales 800-280-7645

http://www.ni.com/automatedtest/semiconductor/suite.htm