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Board-test Innovations Front and Center at APEX

-- Test & Measurement World, 2/25/2005 - Board test was a key focus at this year’s APEX show, held February 22-24 in Anaheim, CA, as Agilent Technologies debuted its Medalist i5000 in-circuit test system, Goepel demonstrated its Scanflex next-generation boundary-scan hardware, DiagnoSYS introduced its S790 Series2 systems, Seica presented a new integrated software and hardware environment linking its board test equipment, and Digitaltest celebrated its twenty-fifth year in the board-test market.

Agilent’s Medalist i5000

Agilent’s Medalist i5000 in-circuit test (ICT) system for printed-circuit-board assemblies (PCBAs) is designed to be easy to operate and deploy, even for those with limited ICT experience. It employs new software and a new non-multiplexed tester-per-pin architecture and accelerates test and fixture development while simplifying the engineering-change-order process, according to the company. All tests are transportable, stable, and repeatable and can be moved from tester to tester, line to line, or site to site with no impact on the quality of test. The new system maintains the Asset-Intertech Scanworks boundary-scan support of the Agilent 3070 Series.

“Agilent’s time-to-money operating system greatly reduces test-program and fixture development time compared with traditional ICT systems,” said Jack Trautman, president of Agilent’s Automated Test Group. “The Medalist i5000 reduces typical bits-to-production cycle time to five to seven days for a medium-complexity PCBA, rather than the nine or 10 days required by competing testers.” He added that test developers can assign test resources without regard to resource location, so test fixtures can be built in parallel with test development.

The Agilent Medalist i5000 In-Circuit Test System is expected to be available in June 2005.

www.agilent.com
www.asset-intertech.com

Goepel demonstrates Scanflex

Goepel demonstrated its next-generation Scanflex boundary-scan platform-a modular system consisting of Scanflex modular controllers with external Scanflex TAP transceivers (dubbed SFX-Transceivers) and parallel Scanflex I/O modules (SFX-Modules). The SFX-Modules enable the addition of analog, digital, and mixed-signal channels at the DUT interface.

With Scanflex, Goepel introduces “a completely new standard with respect to flexibility, modularity, and performance for boundary-scan bench-top systems,” said Thomas Wenzel, managing director for boundary scan at Goepel.

Scanflex supports eight parallel independent, individually programmable TAPs as well as 32 I/O lines for event control plus eight auxiliary lines for analog and digital I/O. Scanflex is compatible with IEEE 1149.1, 1149.4, and 1149.6 as well as IEEE 1532 standards. A PCI-based controller; two-, four-, and eight-TAP transceivers; and various I/O modules will be available in the second quarter with additional configurations debuting throughout the year, according to Wenzel.

www.goepel.com

DiagnoSYS Updates S790

DiagnoSYS introduced the S790 Series2 multi-strategy board test system, a new version of the venerable S790 from Schlumberger, which exited the business. “Compatibility with the vast family of legacy test systems in the marketplace has been of paramount importance in the S790 Series2 development,” said business unit director Toby Blackmore. “The S790 Series2 is the next logical upgrade for S700 users. It’s a seamless migration from older testers since the S790 can utilize test fixtures and software routines with little or no reprogramming required.”

The new system employs its vendor’s Computer Aided Test Engineering (CATE) software for test-program development; it supports functional, in-circuit, boundary-scan, and mixed-signal test as well as bus-emulation capability. The company’s digital and analog multiple-instrument workbench facilities provide a graphical interface for creating, editing, simulating, and debugging test programs.

www.diagnosys.com

Seica Software/Hardware Architecture

Seica’s VIVA Integrated Platform combines hardware and software innovations to implement the multiple test strategies necessary to address the challenges of electronics testing from the new-product-introduction stage through field test and repair. The VIVA software organizes test-program development into a three-step prepare-verify-test process to guide the user through a series of automated operations in an intuitive self-explanatory environment, according to Dave Sigillo, GM for North American operations.

The new Seica platform relies on VIVA software combined with enhanced digital-signal processing and synthetic-instrument technology to optimize test-program development time, test time, and fault coverage. The VIVA Integrated Platform, or VIP, provides a common software architecture across all Seica products to support multiple test strategies throughout a product’s life cycle. For example, a flying prober technique can be adapted to a bed-of-nails approach, a bed-of-nails approach can be modified to include functional test techniques, of a functional test platform can be augmented with in-circuit test enhancements.

www.seica.com

Digitaltest Celebrates 25th Anniversary

And finally, Digitaltest celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary by exhibiting its current lineup of test products, including its MTS 30 test system with NI LabView and TestStand software support. According to founder and president Dr. Grant Boctor, “We are proud of our accomplishments over the past 25 years. Since 1980, we have worked closely with our customers to be certain we developed advanced-technology products that improved product quality and reduced time to market.”

www.digitaltest.net

Answer the Phone: Your Identity is on the Line

Beverly Hills, CA -- (ArriveNet - May 06, 2005) -- There hasn't been much good news in the battle against identity theft lately, with fraudsters staying one step ahead of the game. But don't panic, our old friend the telephone has come to the rescue.

We're all aware of the problem of identity theft, but did you know that your local pizza chain has had a solution for years? You recognize it as the system that prevents little Johnny from having twenty pizzas delivered to your door at midnight: the pizza chain calls you immediately after the order is placed to verify the validity of the order. Because little Johnny is afraid to be caught, he'll think twice about causing this pizza-related havoc.

TeleSign's patent-pending verification system has transferred this pizza concept to the high-tech world. It works like this: after filling out a form on a website, the user is prompted to enter his phone number. A robotic system then places a call to that number and speaks aloud a unique three digit code. Once that code is entered into the website, the authentication is complete. This system can be implemented at any point on a website: at registration, purchase, a specific time interval, or at the request of a user.

Email verification is the current standard for user authentication, but email may end up filtered, junked, bulked, or trashed. Because of spam, viruses, and phishing, email filtering has become so aggressive that even legitimate emails don't reach the inbox. But a telephone call cannot be stopped, making this the perfect time for the introduction of TeleSign’s solution.

The future of ecommerce is threatened by rampant fraud and lack of trust. TeleSign will force anonymous users to expose their faces by revealing their working phone numbers.

To try an interactive demo, visit (http://www.telesign.com/demo2/demo.asp) and have your phone ready.

For more information about TeleSign’s products and services, visit (http://www.telesign.com/demo2/) or email press2@telesign.com.

About TeleSign Corp.
TeleSign is a leader in innovative internet security solutions and provider of intelligent telephone-based verification solutions for any entity conducting business online where trust is essential and where fraud is a concern. TeleSign’s patent-pending Verification System provides a critical layer of security for the e-commerce world and is a proven deterrent against ill-intentioned web users. The company’s first product, the TeleSign Verification System, blends the latest internet, security and telephony technologies into a powerful new tool to combat fraud and enhance trust in e-business.

TeleSign Corp. seeks to provide simplified solutions for any company conducting business online where trust is essential and where fraud is a concern. TeleSign’s patent-pending Verification System provides a critical layer of security for the e-commerce world and is a proven deterrent against ill-intentioned web users. TeleSign’s Verification System is able to legitimize a web user’s claimed identification at a miniscule cost and with little inconvenience to all parties involved.

TeleSign’s Verification System is based upon the premise that ill-intentioned web users hesitate to disclose their working phone numbers. By placing a computer-generated telephone call coupled with a unique security code, we insist that a web user provide a legitimate telephone number or be rooted out. The company’s first product, the TeleSign Verification System, blends the latest internet, security and telephony technologies into a powerful new tool to combat fraud in e-commerce.

Visit http://www.telesign.com/demo2/ or call 310-276-5900 for more information.

TeleSign Corporation
Contact: Sam Gonen
Telephone: (310) 276-7843
Email: press2@telesign.com

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