Enhancing Automotive Electronic Test with LXI
Steve Stetler Business Development Manager, Agilent Technologies steve_stetler@agilent.com The automotive industry’s highly competitive nature puts intense pressure on electronic manufacturers to boost quality while lowering costs. Activities such as electronic functional test are often viewed as necessary evils that must provide a high return on investment.
Many of these systems are created with VXI- or PXIbased hardware and controlled with either an embedded PC or standalone PC connected through an interface card and cable. LXI solves four key problems developers would typically face under these methods: • Interface: Rather than an MXI or GPIB interface, LXI uses Ethernet, eliminating the need to install an additional interface card in the PC. In addition, there are no proprietary cables or software.
3. Cost Minimizing the overall cost of test requires fast, reliable testing at as low a price as possible. Some trade publications have suggested that functional test adds no value: At this late stage, most manufacturers have inspected incoming parts, performed X-ray inspection and completed in-circuit test.
. Longevity 6. Flexibility Figure 3 provides a comparison of various interfaces over the past 30-plus years. Most noteworthy is the continuous improvement in LAN performance while maintaining backward compatibility, suggesting that it will continue as a dominant force in the computer industry for a long time to come. Cardcage-based solutions limit the optimal instrumentation placement in a test rack.
7. Rack space An LXI-based functional test system could be assembled in a rack as small as 750 mm tall (Figure 5). This space efficiency is due in part to LXI-based devices such as an eight-slot switch/measure unit with a built-in DMM (second position in rack) and a 1U modular power system (lowest position in rack). To achieve maximum density, system developers often use cardcage-based instrumentation.
The ability to put the stimulus and measurement instruments where they are needed — with minimal or no cabling back to the core of the system — is a feature unique to LXI. Modules such as the Agilent L4400A series are designed for this type of remote or distributed application (Figure 6). Another factor that favors LXI is remote debugging and troubleshooting. Service technicians with remote access privileges can diagnose a test system from practically anywhere using a Web browser.
Remove all doubt www.agilent.com/find/emailupdates Get the latest information on the products and applications you select. www.agilent.com/find/agilentdirect Quickly choose and use your test equipment solutions with confidence. www.agilent.com/find/open Agilent Open simplifies the process of connecting and programming test systems to help engineers design, validate and manufacture electronic products.
