NI products expand PXI semiconductor test options

National Instruments has introduced 10 PXI products that expand the capabilities of PXI for mixed-signal semiconductor test.

The suite of software-defined products, which are optimised for use with NI Labview graphical system-design software, includes four high-speed digital I/O (HSDIO) instruments, two digital switches, two enhanced RF instruments, a high-precision source-measure unit (SMU) and specialised digital-vector file-importing software.

The NI PXI Semiconductor Suite incorporates 200MHz single-ended digital I/O, 10pA current resolution, rapid multiband RF measurements, DC/digital switching and Waveform Generation Language (WGL) and IEEE 1450 Standard Test Interface Language (STIL) file-importing capability.

The PXI Semiconductor Suite continues the enhancement of PXI capabilities for testing common semiconductor devices such as ADCs, DACs, power-management ICs, wireless ICs and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices.

The range includes four modules that offer single-ended clock rates up to 200MHz and data rates up to 400Mbps, making it possible for engineers to test high-speed chip designs and accommodate faster custom-communication protocols.

Advanced digital modules in this range include additional features such as bidirectional communication, real-time bit comparison, double data-rate capability, multiple timing delays for different I/O lines and the ability to select from 22 different voltage levels, from 1.2 to 3.3V, for increased digital I/O test flexibility.

These devices expand the NI PXI-654x, PXI-655x and PXI-656x series high-speed digital offerings to a total of 10 PXI instruments with single-ended and LVDS voltage capabilities up to 200MHz.

The NI PXI-4132 high-precision SMU delivers current sensitivity down to 10pA for high-resolution current measurements.

It features remote (four-wire) sensing and external guarding on a single output to provide up to +/-100V capability in a single PXI slot.

The SMU also offers an onboard hardware sequencing engine for hardware-timed, high-speed curve traces and the ability to trigger and synchronise multiple PXI-4132 SMUs over the PXI backplane.

The PXI-4132 complements the existing NI PXI-4130 power SMU, which provides a four-quadrant, 40W output (+/-20V, +/-2A) to deliver high-precision, high-power source-measure options for PXI.

The NI PXI-2515 and NI PXIe-2515 digital switches help engineers to multiplex precision DC instrumentation directly onto HSDIO lines connected to the chip under test.

The switches also provide improved signal connectivity for parametric measurements, while maintaining signal integrity on high-speed digital edges.

The NI PXIe-5663E and NI PXIe-5673E 6.6GHz RF PXI Express vector signal analyser and vector signal generator offer increased measurement speed through fast and deterministic changes in RF configurations using RF List Mode to reduce test time.

This makes it possible for engineers to download preconfigured instrument parameters to rapidly cycle through different RF configurations.

This is especially useful when testing power amplifiers and other RFICs that require verifying performance across multiple frequencies.

This added functionality can help RF engineers perform multiband RF measurements significantly faster than with traditional instruments.

The PXI Semiconductor Suite also introduces a solution for efficiently importing WGL and STIL digital vector formats to streamline design-to-test integration when using NI PXI high-speed digital products.

The result of collaboration between NI and Test Systems Strategies (TSSI), the TSSI TD-Scan for NI software makes it possible for semiconductor test engineers to import WGL and STIL simulation vectors into PXI systems.

An evaluation version of the WGL/STIL software tool, which supports all NI PXI-654x, PXI-655x and PXI-656x HSDIO series of products, is available.

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