Tabor Electronics, a well-respected veteran and leader in the Test and Measurement industry marks 40 years of constant product excellence and design ingenuity

The 40th anniversary celebrations will include unprecedented price discounts of up to 40% on selected models and many other special promotions and gifts for both Tabor’s customers and suppliers

August 2011 – Tabor Electronics recently announced its 40th anniversary. Having over 4 decades of innovation in its record Tabor continues to lead the signal source market with the two latest product launches that were announced recently, the new and improved WaveXciter series and the new additions to the Wave Standard series, both of which are considered to be the BEST in their market segment.

Tabor was established in 1971 as a spin-off of the first Israeli “Start-up”, Elron Corporation, taking on Zvi Glazer most innovative invention, the first automatic counter in the world. Since then, Tabor has evolved tremendously over the years from being a tier one designer and manufacturer of multi-meters, watt-meters, DMMs, digitizers and generators, in the 70s till the 90s, to a world leader in the signal source market, in the last two decades, all the while having its own branded products, and being a major source for leading brands in the industry. Among the list of prestigious OEM clients were Ballentine, Keithley, KONTRON, WaveTek, Pragmatic, TEGAM and LeCroy. Today, aside being a major player in the signal source market, Tabor develops and manufactures for leading companies such as EADS NA T&S (Racal Instruments), GeoTest, Fluke, Applied Materials, and Agilent Technologies. Throughout the years, Tabor earned many awards both under its own name and as an OEM for its best price performance ratio, product innovation, quality and durability for many years.

Ron Glazer, Tabor’s VP Marketing & Business Development, and the third generation in ownership commented “We are celebrating 40 years of industry leadership and excellence in performance and quality that are not only due to Tabor’s outstanding and highly skilled employees but also to its customers. As gratitude to all of our loyal customers in the past and future, we have come out with some amazing promotions that we are sure will not leave anyone disappointed”

About Tabor Electronics

Established in 1971, Tabor Electronics has become a world-leading provider of high-end signal sources, featuring: pulse, function and arbitrary waveform generators, high-voltage amplifiers, waveform and modulation creation software. Tabor has earned global recognition for its highly skilled workforce and innovative engineering capabilities. In addition to offering a full range of self-branded instruments, Tabor is also a world-class OEM that private-labels a variety of products for industry leaders. Technologically advanced, featuring the highest levels of performance, reliability, and most importantly, price-competitive, Tabor’s products are sought-after in a diverse array of applications.

Tabor Electronics Specials

USABC Awarded a $9.62 Million USD Battery Technology Development Contract to LG Chem Power Inc to develop a self-contained, thermally-managed, lithium-ion battery pack system for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) applications.

Southfield, Mich. – The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), an organization whose members are Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, announced the award of a $9.62 million advanced battery technology development contract to LG Chem Power Inc. (LGCPI) in Troy, Mich. on July 25th 2011.

The competitively bid contract award is co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and includes a 50 percent cost share by LGCPI. USABC awarded the contract to develop a self-contained, thermally-managed, lithium-ion battery pack system for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) applications.

The 24-month LGCPI program will utilize cells that incorporate advanced cathode materials and a thermal management system that incorporates refrigerant-based cooling, integrated heating and high efficiency insulation. The program aims to make significant strides toward achieving the USABC goals for PHEV 40-mile battery pack system performance requirements while driving down the cost to automakers toward the USABC goal of $3,400.

USABC is a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR). Enabled by a cooperative agreement with the DOE, USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles. As such, USABC has developed mid- and long-term goals to guide its projects and measure its progress.

“We are pleased to announce the award of this contract to LG Chem Power, Inc. as part of USABC’s broad battery technology research and development programs,” said Steve Zimmer, executive director of USCAR. “These programs are essential to advancing both near- and long-term goals that will enable a broad spectrum of vehicle electrification and make electrified vehicles increasingly affordable.”

The new contract is LG Chem Power’s fourth with USABC, which previously awarded the company, under its former name, Compact Power Inc., three contracts – one in 2008 for plug-in hybrid electric battery technology development, one in 2006 and one in 2004 to develop lithium-ion battery technology for hybrid electric vehicle applications.

The U.S. DOE’s overarching mission is to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States. DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Program works with industry, academia and national laboratories to develop advanced transportation technologies that reduce the nation’s use of imported oil and increase its energy security. Electrochemical energy storage has been identified as a critical enabling technology for advanced, fuel-efficient, light and heavy-duty vehicles.

Who is USCAR?

Founded in 1992, USCAR is the collaborative automotive technology company for Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. The goal of USCAR is to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative research and development. For more information, visit USCAR’s Web site at www.uscar.org

U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium’s Strategic Vision:

The USABC seeks to promote long-term R&D within the domestic electrochemical energy storage (EES) industry and to maintain a consortium that engages automobile manufacturers, EES manufacturers, the National Laboratories, universities, and other key stakeholders.

USABC Objectives:

For high-energy and high power energy storage technologies and models, the USABC shall continue its focus on understanding and addressing the following factors:

• Continue development of high-power battery technologies to reduce cost to $20/kW and extend life to 15 years.
• Develop battery technology to support electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.
• Develop ultra-capacitor technology for hybrid electric vehicle applications.
• Conduct benchmarking activities for both high power and high energy batteries and ultra-capacitors to validate technologies.
• Publish technical goals and associated test procedures to guide the development of electrochemical energy storage systems. (source www.uscar.org)

New Tabor test equipment is on sale! Tabor is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. As an authorized distributor Test Equipment Connection is happy to mark this event by offering very generous pricing to our USA customers, with discounts up to 40% on selected models.

Visit the Tabor Electronics Product Page Here

The 40 Year Anniversary Promotion prices are effective immediately and are valid until December 31st, 2011. We encourage our customers to take advantage of this very aggressive promotion while supplies last and before prices expire at the end of this year.

Contact sales@testequipmentconnection.com for More Details.

USABC Awarded a $9.62 Million USD Battery Technology Development Contract to LG Chem Power Inc to develop a self-contained, thermally-managed, lithium-ion battery pack system for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) applications.

Southfield, Mich. – The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), an organization whose members are Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, announced the award of a $9.62 million advanced battery technology development contract to LG Chem Power Inc. (LGCPI) in Troy, Mich. on July 25th 2011.

The competitively bid contract award is co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and includes a 50 percent cost share by LGCPI. USABC awarded the contract to develop a self-contained, thermally-managed, lithium-ion battery pack system for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) applications.

The 24-month LGCPI program will utilize cells that incorporate advanced cathode materials and a thermal management system that incorporates refrigerant-based cooling, integrated heating and high efficiency insulation. The program aims to make significant strides toward achieving the USABC goals for PHEV 40-mile battery pack system performance requirements while driving down the cost to automakers toward the USABC goal of $3,400.

USABC is a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR). Enabled by a cooperative agreement with the DOE, USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles. As such, USABC has developed mid- and long-term goals to guide its projects and measure its progress.

“We are pleased to announce the award of this contract to LG Chem Power, Inc. as part of USABC’s broad battery technology research and development programs,” said Steve Zimmer, executive director of USCAR. “These programs are essential to advancing both near- and long-term goals that will enable a broad spectrum of vehicle electrification and make electrified vehicles increasingly affordable.”

The new contract is LG Chem Power’s fourth with USABC, which previously awarded the company, under its former name, Compact Power Inc., three contracts – one in 2008 for plug-in hybrid electric battery technology development, one in 2006 and one in 2004 to develop lithium-ion battery technology for hybrid electric vehicle applications.

The U.S. DOE’s overarching mission is to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States. DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Program works with industry, academia and national laboratories to develop advanced transportation technologies that reduce the nation’s use of imported oil and increase its energy security. Electrochemical energy storage has been identified as a critical enabling technology for advanced, fuel-efficient, light and heavy-duty vehicles.

Who is USCAR?

Founded in 1992, USCAR is the collaborative automotive technology company for Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. The goal of USCAR is to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative research and development. For more information, visit USCAR’s Web site at www.uscar.org

U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium’s Strategic Vision:

The USABC seeks to promote long-term R&D within the domestic electrochemical energy storage (EES) industry and to maintain a consortium that engages automobile manufacturers, EES manufacturers, the National Laboratories, universities, and other key stakeholders.

USABC Objectives:

For high-energy and high power energy storage technologies and models, the USABC shall continue its focus on understanding and addressing the following factors:

• Continue development of high-power battery technologies to reduce cost to $20/kW and extend life to 15 years.
• Develop battery technology to support electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.
• Develop ultra-capacitor technology for hybrid electric vehicle applications.
• Conduct benchmarking activities for both high power and high energy batteries and ultra-capacitors to validate technologies.
• Publish technical goals and associated test procedures to guide the development of electrochemical energy storage systems. (source www.uscar.org)

LTE Deployments Challenge Test Equipment Vendors to Up their Game to Address the Complexity of the Technology

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Aug. 22, 2011 – The growth of the wireless communication market has a ripple effect on the wireless test equipment market, as increased mobility and Internet access through mobile phones are expected to raise the demand for wireless test equipment solutions. Long-term evolution (LTE), the next step in the evolution of mobile networks, delivers high data rates of up to 100Mbps. Such heavy data loads will challenge wireless operators to manage their networks effectively and ensure customer satisfaction, while still staying profitable.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.testandmeasurement.frost.com), World Wireless Test Equipment Market, finds that the market earned revenues of $2.79 billion in 2010 and estimates this to exceed $ 5.81 billion in 2017. In this research, Frost & Sullivan’s expert analysts thoroughly examine the following markets: mobile station testers, base station testers, drive testers, mobile backhaul test equipment, and wireless core test equipment.

Higher mobile data usage creates more traffic on the network, leading to increased demand to test for quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE). Educating service providers (SPs) about the importance of testing and monitoring and its impact on QoE and customer churn is crucial to improve the uptake of test equipment.

“Enhanced data usage also triggers transmission pipeline-related technology changes, such as conversion from copper to optical technologies,” says Frost & Sullivan Program Manager Olga Yashkova. “Such transition creates new opportunities for testing one gigabit (Gb) per second, 10Gb, 40Gb, and 100Gb pipelines.”

However, the surfeit of new technologies has thrown up numerous interoperability issues for SPs. As the number of devices supplied by different vendors increases, protocol management will become more complicated.

In the absence of a separate signaling or session framework, interoperability testing (IOT) has to be performed at every existing node when a new element or software load is placed in service. These activities are time- and resource-intensive, with costs increasing in proportion to the number of tests that have to be performed. To avoid these hurdles, SPs prefer to work with fewer vendors.

One of the possible solutions to service providers testing concerns is multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) technology, which is a significant component of air interface test equipment. As the industry shifts from 2X2 MIMO to 4X4 MIMO or 8X8 MIMO, testing will become increasingly tough.

Even though MIMO has several unique testing challenges due to its complexity, it presents numerous opportunities for wireless test equipment vendors.

“It will be a while before the market experiences optimal performance from MIMO implementation,” notes Yashkova. “Nevertheless, the demand for higher data and bandwidth will force the industry to find more spectrum, and that, in turn, will prompt the higher adoption of MIMO.”

If you are interested in more information on this study, please send an e-mail with your contact details to Sarah Saatzer, Corporate Communications, at sarah.saatzer@frost.com.

World Wireless Test Equipment Market is part of the Test & Measurement Growth Partnership Services program, which also includes research in the following markets: World Wireless Protocol Analyzers and Network Monitoring Systems Market, World Network Performance Monitoring and Management Market for Enterprises, World Communications Test Services Market, World Multiplay and Next Generation Services Test and Monitoring Equipment Market, World 40/100 Gigabit Ethernet Test Equipment Market, World Service Assurance Market, World Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Test Equipment Market, Market Opportunities for Test Vendors: WiMAX and LTE, World Wireless Test Equipment Market for I&M, World Wireless Test Equipment Market for R&D, and World Network Performance Monitoring and Management Solutions Market for Enterprises. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company’s Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO’s Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit www.frost.com

Need Wireless Testing Solutions?

Visit our Mobile Phone Testers Page for a vast array of New and Reconditioned Mobile Phone Testing Solutions

Visit our Wireless Communications Test Solutions Page for New and Refurbished Wireless Communications Test Sets

Offering Testing Solutions for mobile phone manufacturing, service and repair applications for the full range of 2, 2.5, 3, and 4G telecommunications as well as 802.x and Bluetooth wireless technologies. Including the current and next-generation 3GPP, 3GPP2, IEEE standards, GSM/GRPS, P/E/R-GSM, DCS, PCS, GSM850, CDMA, CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO, W-CDMA (Band I to VI), HSDPA, 802.11, and 802.16. Mobile phone testers perform a variety of automated and manual service tasks, from automated go/no-go verification testing to module level repair and calibration.

Lake Mary, FL USA – Test Equipment Connection Announces USA Distribution Agreement with Tabor Electronics Ltd.

August 22, 2011. Test Equipment Connection Corporation announced a non-exclusive USA distribution agreement to market select lines from Tabor Electronics’ portfolio.

“Tabor Electronics is an industry leader with exciting new products,” said President and COO Mike Novello. “One example is the Tabor WS8352, a 350MHz dual channel generator with multiple functionality. It’s a modulation, function, arbitrary and pulse/pattern generator, all bundled into one easy to use instrument. Tabor AFG’s, amplifiers and signal sources support a broad range of test applications and are reasonably priced with exceptional warranty terms.”

“We’re delighted to team up with Test Equipment Connection Corporation, a leading provider in the Test & measurement segment that will bring Tabor Electronics’ products even closer to the US customer base” said Shimon Katzav, Tabor’s International Sales Manager.

About Tabor Electronics Ltd.

WS8352

Established in 1971, Tabor Electronics has become a world-leading provider of high-end signal sources, featuring: pulse, function and arbitrary waveform generators, high-voltage amplifiers, waveform and modulation creation software. Tabor has earned global recognition for its highly skilled workforce and innovative engineering capabilities. Technologically advanced, featuring the highest levels of performance, reliability, and most importantly, price-competitive, Tabor’s products are sought-after in a diverse array of applications.

About Test Equipment Connection Corporation

Test Equipment Connection Corp., Test Equipment Connection Pte. Ltd., TE Connection Asia Limited, and Test Equipment Connection Europe S.P.R.L. are industry-leading suppliers of new, refurbished and second-hand electronic test and measurement (”T&M”) equipment. The companies sell, buy, lease, rent, trade, repair and calibrate over 400 manufacturers including Tabor, Anritsu, Rohde & Schwarz, Agilent, Tektronix, Advantest, LeCroy, Chroma, Ophir, AEMC and Fluke, with over 40,000 products available. The companies are a single source supplier with in-house calibration laboratories assuring that customers receive only the highest quality T&M equipment and support. Test Equipment Connection Corporation has over 250,000 customers, a 45,000 square foot warehouse and repair facility in the US, and 18 years of profitability and financial strength. Visit www.testequipmentconnection.com or Email sales@testequipmentconnection.com for more information.

Test Equipment Connection Corporation
30 Skyline Drive
Lake Mary, FL 32746 USA (800) 615-8378 x 141

Test Equipment Connection Pte. Ltd.
6 Battery Road
#31-00 Standard Chartered Bank Building
Singapore 049909

TE Connection Asia, Ltd.
Unit E4, 7/F., Phase I, Kaiser Estate,
No. 41 Man Yue Street
Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Test Equipment Connection Europe S.P.R.L.
Levels 20, Bastion Tower
5 Place du Champ de Mars
B-1050 Brussels
Belgium

Why are Backup Batteries Needed?

Batteries are used to ensure that critical electrical equipment is always on. There are so many places where batteries are used – it is nearly impossible to list them all.

Some of the applications for batteries include:

• Electric generating stations and substations for protection and control of switches and relays
• Telephone systems to support phone service, especially emergency services
• Industrial applications for protection and control
• Back up of computers, especially financial data and information
• “Less critical” business information systems

Without battery back-up hospitals would have to close their doors until power is restored. But even so, there are patients on life support systems that require absolute 100% electric power. For those patients, as it was once said, “failure is not an option.” Just look around to see how much electricity we use and then to see how important batteries have become in our everyday lives. The many blackouts of 2003 around the world show how critical electrical systems have become to sustain our basic needs. Batteries are used extensively and without them many of the services that we take for granted would fail and cause innumerable problems.

Why Test Battery Systems?

There are three main reasons to test battery systems:

• To insure the supported equipment is adequately backed-up
• To prevent unexpected failures by tracking the battery’s health
• To forewarn/predict death

And, there are three basic questions that battery users ask:

• What is the capacity and the condition of the battery now?
• When will it need to be replaced?
• What can be done to improve / not reduce its life?

Batteries are complex chemical mechanisms. They have numerous components from grids, active material, posts, jar and cover, etc. – any one of which can fail. As with all manufacturing processes, no matter how well they are made, there is still some amount of black art to batteries (and all chemical processes).

A battery is two dissimilar metallic materials in an electrolyte. In fact, you can put a penny and a nickel in half of a grapefruit and you now have a battery. Obviously, an industrial battery is more sophisticated than a grapefruit battery. Nonetheless, a battery, to work the way it is supposed to work must be maintained properly. A good battery maintenance program may prevent, or at least, reduce the costs and damage to critical equipment due to an AC mains outage.

Even thought there are many applications for batteries, standby batteries are installed for only two reasons:

• To protect and support critical equipment during an AC outage
• To protect revenue streams due to the loss of service

The following discussion about failure modes focuses on the mechanisms and types of failure and how it is possible to find weak cells. Below is a section containing a more detailed discussion about testing methods and their pros and cons.

Why do Batteries Fail?

In order for us to understand why batteries fail, unfortunately a little bit of chemistry is needed. There are two main battery chemistries used today – lead-acid and nickel-cadmium. Other chemistries are coming, like lithium, which is prevalent in portable battery systems, but not stationary, yet. Volta invented the primary (non-rechargeable) battery in 1800. Planté invented the lead-acid battery in 1859 and in 1881 Faure first pasted lead-acid plates. With refinements over the decades, it has become a critically important back-up power source. The refinements include improved alloys, grid designs, jar and cover materials and improved jar-to-cover and post seals. Arguably, the most revolutionary development was the valve-regulated development. Many similar improvements in nickel-cadmium chemistry have been developed over the years. (source Megger.com)

Megger Battery Impedance Test Equipment

Determines condition of lead-acid and NiCd cells up to 7000 Ah

On-board Pass/Warning/Fail indications

Robust, repeatable instruments

On-line testing

The BITE 2 and BITE 2P Battery Impedance Test Equipment determine the condition of lead-acid and nickel-cadmium cells up to 7000 Ah. An advanced feature set has been developed that includes Pass/Warning/Fail calculations based on a user-entered baseline value, advanced printing functions and more. The case of the BITE 2P consists of both the transmitter and a carrying case for all of the standard accessories and some of the optional accessories, in an all-in-one unit. The BITE 2 and its accessories fit into a sturdy canvas case with a shoulder strap.

The instruments work by applying a test current across the battery string while on-line, then measuring the total current (ac ripple + test current) and the voltage drop of each cell/jar. It then calculates the impedance. They also measure dc voltage and interconnection (strap) resistance to help determine the overall condition of the entire battery string’s electrical path from terminal plate to terminal plate.

The BITE 2 and BITE 2P receiver stores the readings in its internal memory. These measurements, along with other maintenance data such as ambient and pilot cell temperatures and ac ripple current, assist in determining the overall condition of battery systems. Megger recommends that impedance measurements with the BITE 2 or BITE 2P be made part of a battery maintenance program with readings taken and recorded semiannually for flooded batteries and quarterly for VRLA.

Unlike load cycle testing that involves substantial downtime and repeated discharges, using the instruments require no battery discharge, nor do they stress the battery in any way compared to other techniques. With a test time of less than 20 seconds for each cell and intercell connector, one person can easily, quickly, and precisely measure internal cell impedance, dc terminal voltage and intercell connection resistance without taking the battery system off line.

Who is Tabor Electronics ?

Tabor Electronics

Established in 1971, Tabor Electronics has become a world leading source of high-end test and measurement equipment. With experience spanning over three decades, the Company has earned global recognition for its highly skilled workforce and innovative engineering capabilities. In addition to offering a full range of self-branded instruments, Tabor is also a world-class OEM that private-labels a variety of products for industry leaders. Many companies have allied with Tabor for its unique in-house design and development capabilities, and unwavering commitment to excellence. Together, we are developing the next generation of advanced test and measurement solutions.

Tabor Electronics New WS8352 350MHz Dual-Channel Arbitrary / Function / Pulse Generator

The Company’s extensive product portfolio includes universal counters/timers, synthesizers, pulse, function and arbitrary waveform generators, waveform creation software and more, in various platforms, interfaces and frequency ranges. Technologically advanced, featuring the highest levels of performance, reliability, and most of all, price-competitive, they are sought-after in a diverse array of applications. Over the past decade Tabor has extended its global reach, maintaining direct sales and support offices throughout the United States and Israel, and a worldwide distribution network. Tabor’s uncompromising commitment to excellence begins with the engineering and design process and continues throughout the manufacturing cycle to post installation service and support. Product designs are thoroughly evaluated on a continuing basis to ensure that the equipment delivered meets or even exceeds the published specifications. Tabor’s quality programs have been audited and certified to comply with ISO-9001:2000, EN 61010-1, ISO/IEC 17025, SI-936, IPC-A-610C and EN 60051-3/A1.

Tabor Electronics is a member of:

• Israel’s SII – The Standards Institute of Israel
• IPC – The Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits
• Global IQNet – The International Certification Network
• WEEE/RoH

Tabor Electronics WS8352

Look at All These Features on the Tabor Electronics New WS8352 350MHz Dual-Channel Arbitrary / Function / Pulse Generator

Standard Waveforms
The WS8352 has 10 built-in functions for quick and easy waveform generation. Front panel operations allows for easy selection and editing of all waveform parameters. All the standard waveforms can reach up to 125MHz with Sine and Square going as high as 350MHz and 250MHz respectively.

User Defined Waveforms
For more advanced users the WS8352 with its 14-bit vertical resolution offers a standard 512Kpoint memory depth and a 2GS/s sample clock for designing waveforms. With the ability to control and edit the value of each and every point any wave is possible. The Memory can be divided into segments for storing all of the user defined waveforms.

Common or Separate Clocks
Need a dual channel unit, a single channel unit… why choose? With the new WS8352 you can have it both ways. The WS8352 has two differential output channels, which operate either independently, or synchronized. As two separate channels, one has the advantage of having two separate instruments in one box, each having the ability to be programmed to output different function shapes, frequency, amplitude levels and even in different run modes. Alternatively, the advantage of having two synchronized channels with less than 10ps skew and skew control is very significant in applications that require an accurate and controlled phase between the two channels.

Pulse / Pattern Creation
Generating complex pulse trains has never been easier. The Pulse Composer is a powerful built-in tool that converts the WS8352 to a very sophisticated Pulse/Pattern Generator, allowing to create literally any complex pulse train / pattern, whether it’s a single pulse, multi-level, linear-points, initialization or preamble pattern definition, arbitrary bit design, user-defined or even standard random patterns with programmable resolution, so it doesn’t matter if your application is radar communications, nanotechnology or serial bus testing, the pulse/pattern composer is the right tool for your application. Moreover, all the WS8352 advanced trigger modes are applicable, hence one can choose to use the “step” mode to advance every bit independently or the “once” mode to advance a complete data block in one trigger event, enabling even more applications, such as trigger, clock and data protocols.

Multi-Level and PAM(n) Signals
The WS8352’s pulse composer enables up to 350Mbit/s data rate generation, utilizing either NRZ and RZ modes (minimum transition times) which is ideal especially for multi level and PAM(n) applications such as, LED (light-emitting diodes), CAN, QPHY, FlexRay or simulating and testing Ethernet environment, whether it’s 100Mbit/s (100BASE-T), the later gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T) or even the latest 802.3an standard (10GBASE-T), which utilizes PAM-16.

Modulated Waveforms
Agility and modulation capabilities open the door to diverse applications. In addition to the capability of generating any shape and style of waveform with the arbitrary waveform generation power, the WS8352 can also do standard modulation schemes such as AM, FM, FSK, PSK, sweep and chirp without sacrificing the power of the instrument control and output run modes.

Accuracy and Stability
As standard, the instrument is equipped with an internal frequency reference that has 1ppm accuracy and stability over a period of 1 year. An external frequency reference is provided on the rear panel for applications requiring greater accuracy or stability, supported by the instrument’s 14 digits resolution.

Easy to Use
Large and user-friendly 4” backlit color LCD display facilitates browsing though menus, updating parameters and displaying detailed and critical information for your waveform output. Combined with numeric keypad, cursor position control and a dial, the front panel controls simplifies the often complex operation of an arbitrary function generator.

Remote Control
Model WS8352 comes standard with a variety of interfaces: Ethernet, USB and GPIB allowing the user to freely select the interface best suited to his individual requirements. The included ArbConnection software is a powerful editorial tool for designing waveforms and provides the user with full control of instrument functions, modes and features.

Multiple Environments to Write Your Code
In addition to the included ArbConnection software, the WS8352 comes with a complete set of drivers, allowing you to write your application in various environments such as: Labview, CVI, C++, VB, MATLAB. You may also link the supplied dll to other Windows based API’s or, use low level SCPI commands (Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments) to program the instrument, regardless if your application is written for Windows, Linux or Macintosh operating systems.

Automated External Calibration
Leading-edge technology is implemented to allow calibration from any interface, USB, GPIB or LAN and calibration factors are stored in a flash memory thus eliminating the need to open instrument covers.

A National Program to Build the New, More Efficient Cars and Trucks of the Future

WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama traveled to Holland, Michigan to tour the Johnson Controls Inc. advanced battery facility. While at Johnson Controls Inc., the President highlighted the key role innovative technologies will play in helping automakers achieve the historic fuel economy standards, establishing U.S. leadership in advanced vehicle manufacturing, spurring economic growth, and creating high-quality domestic jobs in cutting edge industries across America. Johnson Controls Inc. is a prime example of the kind of facility that is helping America lead the way in a growing new industry that is creating jobs across the country.

The trip builds on the President’s recent announcement of historic fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks which will bring fuel-efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 and which, combined with steps already taken by this administration, will save American families $1.7 trillion at the pump and reduce oil consumption by 12 billion barrels by 2025. It also builds on this week’s announcement of first of their kind fuel-efficiency standards for work trucks, buses and other heavy-duty vehicles, which will save American businesses who operate and own these commercial vehicles approximately $50 billion in fuel costs over the life of the program.

Proposed MY 2017 – MY 2025 standard will provide certainty to investors in job-creating advanced vehicle technologies

Providing a single national cars program through 2025 provides the certainty required for companies to invest in new technologies in the U.S. that will make it possible to build more efficient cars and trucks. This, in turn, will stimulate the creation of good-paying jobs across the U.S to design and build advanced vehicles and all their component parts.

The auto industry employs 700,000 people in manufacturing vehicles and vehicle parts and many thousands more providing materials like steel, rubber, plastic, and aluminum that go into the vehicles we drive. This represents the single largest manufacturing industry in the United States. Since July of 2009, the automotive sector has added approximately 113,000 jobs, its strongest period of job growth since the late 1990s, much of this growth coming from manufacturers of vehicle parts.

Proposed MY 2017-2025 standards will include incentives for game-changing technologies

Achieving the aggressive fuel economy goals set through MY 2025 will encourage automakers’ use of advanced technologies. As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) develop the new standards, they are considering a number of specific incentive programs to encourage early adoption and introduction into the marketplace of advanced technologies that represent “game changing” performance improvements, helping to improve fuel economy through MY 2025 and beyond.

These incentives include:

• Incentives for electric drive vehicles: By providing incentives for electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the new standards will build on the Administration’s efforts to foster innovation, bring down costs, expand the U.S. share of the advanced battery market, and put a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
• Incentives for advanced technology packages for large pickups, such as hybridization and other performance-based strategies.
• Off-Cycle Innovative Technology Credits: These credits reward the use of innovative technologies that reduce vehicle carbon emissions and/or fuel consumption, but whose reduction benefits are not captured over the two-cycle test procedure used to determine compliance with the fleet average standards (i.e., “off-cycle”). EPA and DOT intend to expandand streamline the existing off-cycle credit provisions, which would benefit a variety of off-cycle innovations like “Start-Stop” technology, in which the engine shuts off as the driver stops in traffic or at a red light – rather than consuming fuel while idling. Start-stop systems rely on energy from the battery, not the engine, to provide electrical power to the car.

Manufacturing cutting edge batteries and creating jobs at Johnson Controls Inc.

In August 2009, President Obama announced $2.4 billion in Recovery Act grants for advanced vehicle battery technology. Johnson Controls Inc. was selected to receive $300 million to build domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. So far, this investment has created or saved about 150 jobs. It is also leveraging additional investment, representing only about half of Johnson Controls Inc.’s total planned investment of $600 million in domestic advanced battery manufacturing capacity.

Today, this grant has enabled Johnson Controls Inc. to open its first domestic lithium-ion plant in Holland, Michigan. The company is also taking additional steps to develop and deploy advanced technology – including implementing a recently-announced plan to retrofit an existing battery plant outside of Toledo, Ohio to focus on manufacturing batteries used to support Start-Stop technology. The company estimates the conversion will create 50 jobs.

Investments in facilities like the Johnson Controls Inc. plant in Holland are already transforming the advanced vehicle batteries industry in the United States. In 2009, the U.S. had only two factories manufacturing advanced vehicle batteries and produced less than two percent of the world’s advanced batteries. But over the next few years, the United States will be able to produce enough batteries and components to support 1 million plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles, thanks to strategic Recovery Act investments and the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program. Building manufacturing capacity will reduce cost through economies of scale, and so will research and development. Federally-funded research and development has made tremendous progress already, reducing the cost of lithium-ion batteries from $1,300 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2007 to $650/kWh today, dramatically faster than expected only two years ago, and well on track to meet our goal of $300/kWh.

Helping Accelerate Advanced Vehicle Technologies

In conjunction with President Obama’s visit to Holland, Michigan, the Department of Energy yesterday announced support for 40 projects in 15 states totaling more than $175 million to quicken the development and deployment of innovative and advanced vehicle technologies, which will help create jobs and ensure that the U.S. stays competitive in the automotive industry for decades to come.

The selections focus on a variety of innovative approaches to improve advanced vehicle efficiency, including: advanced fuels and lubricants, light-weight materials, advanced cells and design technology for electric drive batteries, advanced motor technology, improved engine efficiency technology, fleet efficiency, and advanced testing and evaluation. (source www.whitehouse.gov)

President Barack Obama’s tour of the new Johnson-Controls Meadowbrook advanced battery center in Holland, Mich. on Aug. 11, 2011, led to praise for the facility and Johnson Controls’ leadership in the advanced battery industry.

“At a time when Americans are rightly focused on our economy, when Americans are asking about what’s our path forward, all of you here at Johnson Controls are providing a powerful answer,” President Obama said to the crowd of nearly 400 dignitaries and Johnson Controls employees.

“This is one of the most advanced factories in the world. You’re helping America lead in a growing new industry. You’re showing us how we can come back from the worst recession that we’ve had in generations and start making things here in America that are sold all around the world.”

The new Meadowbrook facility will be the first in the United States to produce complete lithium-ion battery cells and systems for hybrid and electric vehicles, producing battery systems for U.S. based automakers, such as Ford’s Transit Connect.

President Obama “Look at this factory. Look what’s happening in Holland, Michigan. Every day, hundreds of people are going to work on the technologies that are helping us to fight our way out of this recession. Every day, you’re building high-tech batteries so that we lead the world in manufacturing the best cars and the best trucks,” President Obama said.

Johnson Controls Chairman and CEO Steve Roell greeted President Obama upon his mid-afternoon arrival, as did Dennis Archer, Johnson Controls Board of Directors member and Chairman Emeritus, Dickinson Wright PLLC; Alex Molinaroli, president, Power Solutions; Jacqueline Strayer, vice president, Corporate Communications; and Mary Ann Wright, vice president, Global Technology and Innovation for Power Solutions. Elizabeth Rolinski, vice president, Operations, Advanced Battery, Johnson Controls Power Solutions, led President Obama on the tour of the facility.

In remarks made before the president spoke, Roell highlighted Johnson Controls’ commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency in each of the company’s businesses. He noted Building Efficiency has saved customers more than $19 billion in energy costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 16 million metric tons in office buildings, hospitals, schools, universities, and local, state and federal buildings. He also pointed to Automotive Experience’s work to reduce CO2 emissions through the lightweighting of interior components and a growing use of sustainable materials. Roell noted Power Solutions is at the forefront in providing fuel-efficient solutions for a full spectrum of vehicles from internal combustion engines to Start-Stop, hybrid and electric vehicles.

“Through innovation and investment in technology and people, Johnson Controls is a leader in the energy storage industry. We are investing more than $460 million in our advanced battery business for manufacturing and technical facilities here in Michigan and the U.S.,” Roell said.

The Meadowbrook facility, which was supported by an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) matching grant and incentives from the state of Michigan, is a great example of a public-private partnership that uses innovation and technology to produce products that reduce fuel consumption and create jobs.

”We are grateful for the outstanding support we have received from the White House, the U.S. Department of Energy, the state of Michigan and the city of Holland for their vision in building an advanced battery industry for vehicles in the U.S. and for the financial incentives they have provided,” Roell said. Roell closed his remarks by thanking President Obama for his leadership on improving the energy efficiency of buildings and his support of the auto industry. (source www.johnsoncontrols.com)

President Obama at Johnson Control’s Battery Plant

Columbia Engineers Control Light Propagation in Photonic Chips — Major Breakthrough in Telecommunications Field

New York, NY – Researchers at Columbia Engineering School have built optical nanostructures that enable them to engineer the index of refraction and fully control light dispersion. They have shown that it is possible for light (electromagnetic waves) to propagate from point A to point B without accumulating any phase, spreading through the artificial medium as if the medium is completely missing in space. This is the first time simultaneous phase and zero-index observations have been made on the chip-scale and at the infrared wavelength.

The study was led by Chee Wei Wong, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Serdar Kocaman, electrical engineering PhD candidate, both at Columbia Engineering, in collaboration with scientists at the University College of London, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Institute of Microelectronics of Singapore.

“We’re very excited about this. We’ve engineered and observed a metamaterial with zero refractive index,” said Kocaman. “What we’ve seen is that the light disperses through the material as if the entire space is missing. The oscillatory phase of the electromagnetic wave doesn’t even advance such as in a vacuum — this is what we term a zero-phase delay.”

This exact control of optical phase is based on a unique combination of negative and positive refractive indices. All natural known materials have a positive refractive index. By sculpturing these artificial subwavelength nanostructures, the researchers were able to control the light dispersion so that a negative refractive index appeared in the medium. They then cascaded the negative index medium with a positive refractive index medium so that the complete nanostructure behaved as one with an index of refraction of zero.

“Phase control of photons is really important,” said Wong. “This is a big step forward in figuring out how to carry information on photonic chips without losing control of the phase of the light.”

“We can now control the flow of light, the fastest thing known to us,” he continued. “This can enable self-focusing light beams, highly directive antennas, and even potentially an approach to cloak or hide objects, at least in the small-scale or a narrow band of frequencies currently.”

This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (source engineering.columbia.edu)