Tektronix: Power analyzer eases precision test of real-world signals

For today’s designs, power is a major issue. Energy efficiency and new power sources are taking center stage in designs, so engineers are looking for advanced power analysis tools that can keep up with consumer demand, changing technologies, government regulations…and the added workload they present. To meet the demands, the tools must provide a stable, linear response over a wide range of input current levels, ambient temperatures, crest factors, and other variables.

Last year, Tektronix enter this realm for the first time, and did so with an instrument that sets new measurement standards. The PA4000 multiphase power analyzer lets designers perform precise current measurements from input to output, even on the highly distorted power waveforms common in many of today’s applications. It is able to check conformance not only to current regulatory standards but is geared for future ones as well, even those with highly modulated waveforms and crest factors as high as 10. The instruments unique, built-in Spiral Shunt design provides two shunts on each module: one for precise low-current measurements up to 1 A, and another for higher-current measurements up to 30 A. Combined with unique, high-speed DSP algorithms, this allows the PA4000 to track power cycles accurately, even in the presence of transients and noise, with measurements up to the 100th harmonic.