National Technical Systems Selects Agilent

National Technical Systems, Inc., provider of engineering services, and Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that NTS has selected Agilent’s USB 3.0 test suite for the new Super Speed Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3.0 testing.

Among its many testing capabilities, NTS is an authorized USB-IF test lab and provides companies and government organizations worldwide with process and product compliance services, technical resources, design engineering services and program management support. NTS integrated engineering services include product testing and evaluation, design engineering and managed services.

"When developers are working on cutting-edge designs, having advance access to measurements helps them address potential issues early in the design cycle and get certified products to market faster," said Jim Choate, Agilent program manager for USB applications. "Agilent offers a complete solution for USB 2.0 and 3.0 electrical testing to help customers achieve USB-IF certification. We are excited to work with NTS as its USB test solution provider."

According to industry reports, the USB specification shipped in more than 3 billion devices in 2009, including the PC, PC peripheral, consumer electronics, communications, and automotive segments. By 2012, the number of wired USB-enabled devices shipped is expected to exceed 4 billion.

The first new super speed USB 3.0 devices, which can transfer data at speeds up to 5 Gbps with throughout put rates up to 10 times faster than High Speed USB (USB 2.0), were shipped in late 2009 and found in PCs and PC peripherals, such as external hard drives and flash drives. As more USB 3.0 products are developed they will include portable devices requiring increasing amounts of storage, including digital cameras, portable media players, and high-end mobile phones.

"Agilent’s USB 3.0 test suite is the most complete solution that fully automates receiver test calibration and execution with seamless integration of transmitter and receiver testing to meet the compliance requirements for Super Speed USB," said Raymond Chung, NTS program development manager. "Additionally, Agilent’s industry-first, fully automated USB 3.0 cable and connector test solution will save us valuable test time. Agilent’s industry-leading automation and equipment accuracy are critical requirements for us and for our customers."

Agilent’s Digital Test Equipment
Agilent’s equipment for USB 3.0 PHY electrical test includes the DSA91304A or DSAX91604A Infiniium oscilloscope, the U7243A USB 3.0 transmitter test application software, the J-BERT N4903B high-performance serial BERT, the U7242A USB 3.0 electrical test fixture, and the N5990A test automation software platform from Agilent’s partner BitifEye Digital Test Solutions. Agilent’s equipment for USB 3.0 cable and connector certification testing includes the E5071C TDR-TDT one-box solution for high-speed serial interconnect analysis.

Agilent’s Digital Test Standards Program
Agilent’s solutions for digital applications are driven and supported by Agilent experts who are involved in the various international standard committees. Agilent experts are active in the Joint Electronic Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC), PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG), Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA), Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO), USB-Implementers Forum (USB-IF), Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance, and many others. Agilent’s involvement in these standards groups and their related workshops, plugfests and seminars enables Agilent to bring the right solutions to the market when customers need them.