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Custom DAKs and ITAs for SCOUT

Introduction


In addition to offering COTS PCB solutions, MAC Panel offers the option to build completely customized DAKs and ITAs to suite any number of ATE applications.

 

Custom DAK and ITA Development for MAC Panel’s SCOUT


  • DC to 1+ GS/s analog I/O
  • DC to 1 Gb/s digital I/O
  • High Speed PCB Simulation for impedance matching and cross-talk considerations
  • And More

Case Studies

 


 

LVDS Signals


A large international tier one manufacturer of defense systems was developing a new core ATE design based around the PXI modular instrument platform. In excess of 100 ATE’s were planned, many of which would be exported to end customers, so all aspects of the ATE design needed to be solid, stable and predictable. The chosen system interface was the MAC Panel SCOUT mass interconnect.

The new family of DUT’s to be tested on the ATE included the requirement for many LVDS measurements. LVDS signals, especially at the 400MHz levels required in this application, are notoriously vulnerable to signal degradation when passing through connectors. A typical mass interconnect will require a signal to pass through at least two connector contacts and often four; so a different approach was required.

In partnership with a outside test solutions provider and MAC Panel, a custom DAK design was created to ensure reliable and accurate measurements of LVDS signals. To avoid the inevitable signal distortions associated with LVDS connecting through a mass interconnect, the innovative approach involved converting the LVDS signals to TTL using custom hardware built into the DAK PCB. Once converted to TTL, the signals could easily pass through the mass interconnect and DUT connectors without signal loss or distortion. Once the signals returned from the DUT they were converted back to LVDS and sent on to the PXI measurement instrument. The process worked very well, and this custom DAK design was incorporated into all the customer ATE’s going forward.

In order maximise the flexibility of the DAK design, other general-purpose functions were added including some custom switching and signal conditioning.

More than 200 of these custom DAK’s have been incorporated into ATE to date.

4 X 128 Matrix Configuration


SCOUT is an innovative ATE mass interconnect solution from MAC Panel designed to maximise the performance potential of the PXI platform by eliminating cables harnesses from the test system.  SCOUT features DAK connectivity modules which enable system designers to connect to PXI instruments using PCB’s or a flex-circuit, overcoming the performance and space limitations of cable harnesses. The off the shelf support for DAK modules extends to over 650 PXI instruments from all the major instrument manufacturers. Utilising PCB connections opens up the possibility to incorporate custom circuitry to provide system or application specific capabilities.

 

One such DAK was designed to provide a specific function for a user of the National Instruments high density matrix switch module. The application required pull up/pull down on each channel with the instrument configured for a 4 X 128 matrix configuration.

 

A custom DAK was designed by MAC Panel that incorporated circuitry to establish the required matrix configuration; a standard requirement to meet the 4×128 matrix needs. Resistors were installed on each signal between the instrument and the mass interconnect connector to provide the pull up/pull down functions. The design also incorporated full support for the matrix Y axis expansion option which allows users to group multiple instruments together to provide expanded matrix capability.

FlexRIO


Challenge:
As a test system integrator, designer, and developer, our customer required deployment of 9 identical PXI-based test system which would deploy to their customer’s 3 unique production sites. The program also required the use of FlexRIO which combine large, user-programmable FPGAs and high-performance analog, digital, and RF I/O. Considering resource and budget limitations the customer also required the single solution to have the functionality of multiples of these adapter modules (passing through various signal types such as LVDS, LVTTL, RS-422, etc).

Solution:
The first challenge of delivering high performance signals through the interconnect among several cloned test systems, where the performance is identical for each test system, was met with the use of MAC Panel’s SCOUT. SCOUT, an advanced mass interconnect solution, minimizes obsolescence issues, eliminates error-prone custom cabling, and ensures signal integrity throughout the architecture of the test system(s). The interface solution encompasses the use of MAC Panel’s DAK technology which eliminated the need for traditional cabling between the PXi instrumentation by way of enclosed PCB and Flex circuit connections. The use of DAKs means that the performance of the PXI test system was repeatable with each cloned test system.

The second challenge of combining multiple FlexRIO custom adapter modules into one single solution meant seeking help from an outside vendor, Viewpoint Systems. Normally, COTS adapter modules provided by NI would have been used, but in this case, the customer sought the functionality of multiples of these adapter modules to be combined into one single module. Together, with MAC Panel, Viewpoint created a solution specific to this customer’s need.

Value Created:
The customer’s testing architecture based on SCOUT’s mechanical interconnect, along with the use of custom FlexRIO adapter modules, allowed the customer to design, build, and deploy 9 identical test systems with confidence. Each test system delivered was high performing and had repeatable performance results no matter which test system was in use. The custom FlexRIO adapter modules reduced the number of COTS instrument cards required per PXI chassis by combing the functions of those instrument cards into a single instrument. LVDS, LVTLL, RS422, optically isolated signals, and DMM signal types were able to be controlled by a single PXI instrument card. Use of this single “all-in-one” FlexRIO modules within the test set allowed for streamlining of the software programming by allowing one set of code to be written for multiple cards, regardless of the individual function they may serve in a given application.


Show me Viewpoint’s custom adapter module development for SCOUT

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