While traditional rack-and-stack test systems built around benchtop instruments or instrument-specific modules with appropriate interconnect cabling and connectors between them continues to evolve, the need for reconfigurability, flexibility, modularity, and lower cost of ownership amongst others is driving many test engineers in the military and aerospace industries toward software-centric synthetic instruments (SI). SIs synthesize the stimulus and measurement capabilities found in traditional instruments through a combination of software algorithms, hardware modules and system-level calibration software based on core instrumentation functional building blocks.

Even though, to improve the knowledge base of test engineers, the flow of information on SI technologies has been steadily increasing in the last couple of years, the chances are that you have not seen any detailed evidence concerning what you can or cannot do differently using synthetic test environments as compared to conventional rack and stack instruments. Thus, to give RF Design readers an actual customer experience, Aeroflex Test Solution's chief technology officer Francesco Lupinetti describes a selection process that led a customer to choose a synthetic implementation for testing transmit/receive modules utilized in a phased array radar system. By applying a microwave synthetic test environment to a test application characterized by high-volume requirements as well as high measurement performance requirements, the article titled “Evaluating and selecting synthetic test environment,” examines the requirements, the expectations set, and the results obtained. It also compares the tester impact to historic test methods. As it focuses on the details of the measurements implemented and the technical results achieved, the author attempts to provide the nuts and bolts of implementing a synthetic mixed-signal microwave-intensive test environment solution.

Keeping diverse input, output and functional requirements of power supplies in mind, the second feature in this issue of Defense Electronics focuses on space-grade DC-DC converters deployed in high-performance low-power RF equipments on-board a spacecraft requiring power up to 15 W. International Rectifier's Tiva Bussarakons describes a multiple-output DC-DC converter design platform that offers high performance and cost benefits with established assembly outlines for most custom requirements. Besides very low output noise, it is capable of sequencing the outputs during power up and power down in an orderly manner. To accommodate most major satellite power buses and a wide range of output voltage and output current combinations while maintaining the same assembly outlines for most design applications, this space-grade power supply platform incorporates proprietary design topology. With its extensive design heritage, design qualification and established design analysis templates, it offers a truly cost-effective solution to minimize program risk and time to market for sensitive RF gear like receivers, transmitters, beacons, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), and up/down converters.

The third feature sheds light on a COTS component. In this case, a graphical processing unit or GPU. Embedded GPUs are quickly becoming the hardware backbone of military data visualization and data fusion applications. Driven by ever-increasing requirements for advanced 2-D and 3-D maps, sensor fusion, and voluminous netcentric data, graphics acceleration is increasingly a required capability for application deployment. In this article titled, “Employing software in safety critical embedded GPUs,” Mark Snyder of Quantum3D discusses software-defined GPU strategy to address embedded GPU problems like certification to DO-178B or other standards, obsolescence, and no standard way to interface.

With many varieties of computing architectures and GPUs, such as IP cores and software implementations, now coming on to the market to offer systems designers more choices, software standardization is a key that can allow applications to make best use of all forms of GPUs, the author concludes.

RSS    Save to Del.icio.us  Digg This