Latest testing and diagnostics products - Industry Trend or Event

Communications News, Sept, 2000

1,500 kHz tester

MEASURE LEVEL, FREQUENCY AND NOISE TO 1,500 KHZ with a new tester from American Reliance. The 1586T(E) Wideband Transmission Test Set is a wideband transmission tester, full function metallic tester and a telephone handset. The unit includes a DTMF receiver and five save-recall registers, and features complete RS-232 control. The 1586T allows all the tests needed to properly qualify two-wire and four-wire, leased or dial-up circuits for use with POTS, pair-gain, ISDN-BRI, xDSL or DDS equipment. Measurement options include level and frequency, noise, noise-with-tone, noise-to-ground, signal-to-noise ratio, VF and wideband 3-level impulse noise, and VF and RF crosstalk and return loss. Additionally, the unit provides the functions of a digital multimeter for metallic testing, including DC and AC voltage and current, loop resistance and capacitance. --American Reliance

www.amrel.com

Circle 301 for more information

Serial monitoring

DIAGNOSE SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEMS without an expensive data line analyzer. Visual BreakOut for Windows is a software solution to provide the ability to track serial communications signal changes, data and time stamps as they occur in real time. It allows personnel to capture, view and analyze the captured information in communications event files. Each COM port is used to monitor one direction of traffic. Using two ports to monitor traffic in both directions helps resolve difficult-to-reproduce communications issues. The software runs on Windows 98, Windows NT or Windows 2000, and includes monitoring cables. --Advanced Firmware Development

www.advfirmware.com

Circle 305 for more information

Test amplifiers

APPLICATION SPECIFIC, SOLID-STATE POWER AMPLIFIERS are optimized in specific frequency ranges for EMC and general-purpose test applications. The new CBA Series Class A amplifiers come in frequencies from 100 kHz to 1 GHz and can be used in EMC susceptibility testing, including immunity to conducted and radiated RF interference. The linear power output is ideal for safety testing, harmonics measurement, and research and design work. The amplifiers will tolerate loads of infinity: 1, short or open circuit, and are powered by a switched-mode power supply. The units are air cooled by an integral fan and are protected against faulty cooling by an excess-temperature sensing device with a front panel warning indicator. The CBA amplifiers can be rackmounted or used on a bench with either front or rear connectors. --Schaffner EMC

www.schaffner.com

Circle 303 for more information

Fiber-optic analyzer

PORTABLE FIBER-OPTIC ANALYZER meets international network monitoring and diagnostic requirements. The NIC 2.5G Network Information Computer is capable of tracking and analyzing synchronous digital hierarchy, plesiosynchronous digital hierarchy international standards, as well as asynchronous transfer mode networks. The NIC 2.5G can simultaneously and independently test protocols from E1 to STM-16, including ATM, in a portable unit weighing under 15 lbs. An easy-to-use, touch-sensitive graphical user interface allows technicians with varying levels of expertise to effectively use the device to test networks. The NIC 2.5G can be utilized to perform functional real-time testing on digital cross connects, add/drop multiplexers, ATM switches, digital switches, SDH and PDH line repeaters, and network elements. It supports sub-rate mappings into STM-16, allowing SDH and PDH traffic to be mapped into and analyzed in an STM-16 signal. The NIC 2.5G can be upgraded to suit changing network requirements. It can also be used remotely, using either Ethernet or dial-up modem connections. --Digital Lightwave

www.lightwave.com

Circle 304 for more information

Portable analyzer

GET ACCURATE ERROR ANALYSIS of switches, multiplexers, repeaters and other network elements. The MP1570A is a portable analyzer that supports DA1 to OC-192c in a single mainframe. The analyzer can measure SONET, SDH, PDH and ATM systems with signal bit rates from 1.5 Mbps to 10 Gbps, and features wavelength tuning capability. It has built-in functions for concatenation mapping from OC-3c to OC-192c, BERT functions, as well as CID pattern and tandem connection monitoring. The MP1570A has a powerful through-mode and a mixed payload feature. Jitter tolerance and jitter transfer characteristics can be checked for standards conformance. Separate plug-in units allow the analyzer to be configured for specific test requirements, including the ability to capture data for editing and analysis for up to 64 frames, and the ability to generate and measure wander signals. --Anritsu

www.us.anritsu.com

Circle 302 for more information

Diagnostic tool

ENSURE THE RELIABILITY of telecommunications products implemented on SS7-based PSTNs and wireless networks. A new version of the Sentinel network monitoring and diagnostics system offers additional features to discover and diagnose protocol problems. A new transport adapter layer interface (TALI) feature allows the examination and maintenance of signaling links between a signal transfer point and a signaling control point. Sentinel can check and decode database queries and responses, and can trace calls using the TALI link and SS7 data. Graphical enhancements add a geographic map interface to the alarm management system to display alarm status and allow the ability to move from a high-level map to individual network elements to isolate the alarm. A new protocol analysis form has predefined filters and traces to provide GSM call trace ability. --Tekelec