Industry News

CLEVELAND, OH, July 26, 2010

Bird Technologies Group (BTG), a supplier of radio frequency measurement and management technology, has acquired X-COM Systems, Reston, VA. X-COM, founded in 1994, manufactures RF test equipment, deployable RF signal sources, and military digital communications equipment, primarily sold to the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies.

BTG, markets products under the Bird Electronic and TX RX Systems brand names, produces RF signal measurement products ranging from spectrum analysis, power measurement, instruments, and custom systems. Through its RF signal management product lines consisting of combiners, signal boosters, tower top amplifiers and RF loads, BTG provides the physical infrastructure used by government agencies, public safety organizations, and the private sector. BTG products are used by those who design and maintain RF communications networks for broadcast, cellular, government, land mobile radio, medical, military, and semiconductor markets.

"Both organizations are built on a strong legacy of technology innovation and deep RF signal analysis expertise. By combining that expertise, we will be able to create and deploy exciting new advances in technology applications that will provide 'easy to use' measurement acquisition playback that are truly state-of-the-art tools for our existing and future customers," said Mark Johnson, president and CEO, BTG.

"X-COM is well known not only for our advanced digital waveform generation technology, but for our strong relationships with government and military decision makers," said David Erisman, CEO and founder of X-COM. "Joining forces with a company as deep and strong as BTG will allow us to penetrate new markets with our breakthrough RF measurement and analysis tools far more aggressively than if we were to continue as a separate company. As X-COM is the leading provider of wide bandwidth RF capture, analysis and playback systems, the alliance will accelerate X-COM's ability to develop new products and enhance the value proposition we can provide to our military and aerospace customers. In addition, Bird Technologies' global market presence and reputation for innovative high quality RF products provides X-COM with nearly unlimited opportunities for U.S. and international growth."

SANTA CLARA, CA, July 13, 2010

Advantest (TSE: 6857, NYSE: ATE), a supplier of semiconductor test equipment, announced delivery of its milestone 1,000^th T2000 SOC test system to Xilinx at its San Jose, CA, facility.

Advantest’s T2000 SOC Test Platform offers high levels of multisite and parallel testing capabilities to speed time-to-volume economics for a broad range of SOC devices. The T2000 is a next-generation SOC architecture featuring a loadboard user space more than five times larger than competing alternatives and an advanced control architecture for the fast test times.

About Advantest

Advantest is an ATE supplier to the semiconductor industry and a producer of electronic and optoelectronic instruments and systems. A global company, Advantest offers total ATE solutions and serves the industry in every component of semiconductor test: tester, handler, mechanical and electrical interfaces, and software. Serving the IDM, fables, and OSAT markets, its SOC and memory testers and device handlers are integrated into fabrication lines around the world. Founded in Tokyo in 1954, Advantest established its North American subsidiary in 1982. Advantest America and Advantest America R&D Center are based in Santa Clara, CA. www.advantest.com

NIWOT, CO, July 9, 2010

The VXIbus System Specification,VXI-1, Revision 4.0 is available now from the VXIbus Consortium at http://www.vxibus.org/?q=node/206. The key improvements are higher throughput, increased power, and better synchronization. The extension of the existing three-row connectors to five rows allows for more power supply lines and return grounds, the 2eSST protocol, and additional clock and synchronization signals. The extension of the existing bus with the P0 connector allows high-speed serial buses like PCI Express for module-to-module and computer-to-module communications in a VXIbus system.

System integrators now will have the greatest flexibility in designing and implementing test systems. The VXIbus System Specification, Revision 4.0 includes enhancements made to the VMEbus as well as the addition of serial fabric technology specified in the VITA 41 (VXS) specification. Revision 4.0 also maintains backwards compatibility with existing VXIbus modules. New Revision 4.0 module interconnections can be designed to take advantage of all new features, including high-speed serial. Older VXIbus modules can undergo relatively minor changes to take advantage of 2eSST faster block transfers and higher current. Shielded VXIbus 4.0-to-VME and VXIbus-to-PXI/PXIe adapters may now be built, which can add many new and high-performance modules currently available only for those standards.

The higher throughput, increased power supply lines, and better synchronization provide military, aerospace, and commercial industries with new solutions for the VXIbus:

• High speed and high channel density data acquisition and control
• Synthetic instrument point to point communication for IF/RF acquisition and generation
• High speed digital and serial protocol testing
• Signal intelligence, electronic warfare, and RADAR

"VXIbus 4.0 will make VXI the world's most powerful instrumentation bus for many years to come. It is backwards compatible with existing VXI modules. There is transparent support for VITA-41 (VME), PXI, and PXI Express modules with no software changes. And it affords a high-end packaging solution for military/aerospace test, high-speed digital, RF, synthetic, and data acquisition applications," said Tom Sarfi, president of the VXIbus Consortium.

About the VXIbus Consortium
The VXIbus Consortium is a not-for-profit corporation made up of the leading companies in the test and measurement industry. The consortium's goals are to develop, support, and promote the VXIbus architecture. www.vxibus.org

MUNICH, GERMANY, July 5, 2010

After a career spanning 35 years with Rohde & Schwarz, including seven years on the Executive Board and five years as its chairman, Michael Vohrer, 62, has announced his retirement. An electrical engineer by profession, Vohrer played a key role in the company's success throughout the years. One of his major contributions was achieving market leadership in the field of mobile radio test and measurement when he headed that division.

The company's entry into the oscilloscope market, which is now underway, marks the end of his long and productive career. As of July 1, 2010, his colleague Manfred Fleischmann will serve as president and CEO. Gerhard Geier, previously head of the Radiomonitoring and Radiolocation Division, has been newly appointed to the Executive Board. Managing partner Christian Leicher remains on the Executive Board.

A proven T&M expert, Michael Vohrer mapped out important new paths for Rohde & Schwarz: He launched the R&S CMU200 universal radio communication tester, one of the company's all-time best-selling products. Vohrer is leaving the company for personal reasons: "Now that we have successfully guided the company through the economic crisis and I see that things are back on the right track, I would like to start enjoying my well-earned retirement."

At the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1, 2010, Manfred Fleischmann assumed the role of president and CEO. Fleischmann joined the company 25 years ago and has been a member of the Executive Board since 2005. In this capacity, he was responsible primarily for production, logistics, and materials management. Before that, Fleischmann, who is an engineer by profession, held various management positions in quality assurance.

"My goal is, together with my colleagues, to maintain the company's economic independence and growth," he said. “Driving us toward this goal are both the company's global positioning, for example, our expansion activities in Asia, and its innovative products, such as the newly launched oscilloscopes, which also will open up new markets."

Gerhard Geier now is on the Executive Board. Also an engineer, Geier has been with the company since 1968 and a member of corporate management for 16 years as head of the Radiomonitoring and Radiolocation Division. Under his leadership, this division advanced to take its place alongside test and measurement, broadcasting, and secure communications as one of the four main pillars of the company. With Geier in charge, Rohde & Schwarz most recently entered the field of satellite monitoring and established international R&D capacity in France and Singapore to complement the development activities in Germany.

Rohde & Schwarz

Rohde & Schwarz is an independent group of companies specializing in electronics. It is a leading supplier of solutions in the fields of test and measurement, broadcasting, radiomonitoring and radiolocation, and secure communications. Established more than 75 years ago, Rohde & Schwarz has a global presence and a dedicated service network in more than 70 countries. It has approximately 7,400 employees. Company headquarters are in Munich, Germany. www.rohde-schwarz.com

MUNICH, GERMANY, June 28, 2010

Rohde & Schwarz has launched two new product families that will position the company as an oscilloscope vendor in the global marketplace. With this move, the company is expanding its portfolio of test and measurement equipment.

“Our customers expect us to offer a complete line of products and that includes oscilloscopes,” said President and CEO Michael Vohrer. “To meet this demand, we are introducing a total of six new products.”

These products build on the expertise at Rohde & Schwarz, where analog and digital integration, software and hardware development, and production are all carried out in-house.  According to the company, the new oscilloscopes have the highest active signal acquisition rate on the market today, the first purely digital trigger system, and touch-screen operation for ease of use.

The oscilloscope market has been stable for decades and is continuously growing. “Oscilloscopes are needed throughout the electronics industry,” explained Mr. Vohrer. “We are looking at a global market volume of around one billion dollars. This is why Rohde & Schwarz is focusing strategically not just on its existing customer base in areas such as wireless communications or aerospace and defense, but also on new customers, particularly those in the wide-base electronics market. The company has more than 75 years of experience in its traditional fields of business.  “In response to our customers’ wishes, we are rounding out our portfolio and moving into an interesting, yet highly competitive market,” stated Mr. Vohrer.

To optimally address customer requirements, Rohde & Schwarz is starting out with two new product families and a total of six instruments. The R&S RTO family, comprising oscilloscopes with bandwidths of 1 GHz and 2 GHz, is aimed at the high-performance segment.

“Our focus here is on high speed and optimum signal fidelity, two important factors in real-life applications,” explained Josef Wolf, director of the Oscilloscopes Subdivision. “These characteristics, combined with our touch-screen interface for ease of use, enable users to accomplish even complex test and measurement tasks in a minimum of time.”

The R&S RTM family is intended for universal applications wherever electrical signals need to be measured. “In research, schools, or hobbyist labs, everyone needs oscilloscopes,” said Mr. Wolf. “This is why Rohde & Schwarz is offering scopes with solid features at an outstanding price/performance ratio in the midrange segment up to 500 MHz.”

When it comes to more basic oscilloscopes for bandwidths up to 350 MHz, Rohde & Schwarz subsidiary Hameg Instruments, a vendor with more than 20 years of experience in the field of budget oscilloscopes and measuring equipment, covers the needs of this market. Rohde & Schwarz acquired the company in 2005 with the aim of targeting new customers in the lower price segment. In early 2008, Hameg successfully expanded its product portfolio, introducing digital oscilloscopes in the frequency range up to 350 MHz

For more information visit www.scope-of-the-art.com.

AR has created a new catalog that combines product information from six different brochures for all of AR RF/Microwave Instrumentation. The result is the Complete Catalog for RF and EMC Testing.

EMC By Your Design: An EMC Practical Applications Seminar and Workshop will be held Oct. 26 to Oct. 28 in Northbrook, IL. The three-day program will include a lecture, discussion, and hands-on workshop; two textbooks and a large workbook of slides used in class; take-home proprietary EMC design software; a free optional design evaluation of your product; and instructors with more than 75 years combined engineering experience.

For registration information, contact Carol G. at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or  D.L.S. Electronic Systems, 1250 Peterson Dr., Wheeling, IL 60090, 847-537-6400, www.dlsemc.com.

BEAVERTON, OR, and EVERETT, WA, June 16, 2010

Tektronix and Fluke today announced that they have donated $100,000 to DeVry University for a five-year scholarship program.  In the program, $20,000 will be awarded each year in $1,000 scholarships to 20 students in the name of Tektronix and Fluke.

“We are very pleased to be able to create this scholarship fund for DeVry University on behalf of Tektronix and Fluke,” said Amir Aghdaei, president of Tektronix.  “Our companies share a common passion for supporting opportunities for the next generation of engineers, and DeVry University provided an ideal platform for a program like this.”

DeVry University will select students to be awarded scholarships based on a combination of need, merit, and aptitude.

“We are honored to be the recipient of such a generous donation that will ultimately benefit 100 of our deserving students,” said David Pauldine, president of DeVry University.  “We share a common desire to strengthen the engineering and technology industries, and I feel that we are doing exactly that through this partnership.  I applaud Tektronix and Fluke for their long-term commitment to help ensure that we continue down this path together.”

“Tektronix and Fluke have been working with DeVry University in an effort to upgrade their tools to match industry standards and prepare students for their real-world experience,” said Barbara Hulit, president of Fluke.  “We look forward to extending our relationship with DeVry through this program.”

About Tektronix

For more than 60 years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement, and monitoring solutions. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test instrumentation for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, OR, Tektronix serves customers worldwide. www.tektronix.com

About Fluke

Fluke is a global leader in professional electronic test tools and precision calibration standards. Fluke customers are technicians, engineers, electricians, metrologists, and building diagnostic professionals who install, troubleshoot, and manage electrical and electronic equipment and calibration processes for quality control as well as conducting building restoration and remediation services.