AXIe offers State-of-the-Art Modular Test and Measurement Platforms

By Leonard Dickstein, Gigatronics/AXIe Consortium

Modular test and measurement platforms have many advantages, including flexibility, lower size and weight, less cabling and interconnections, and often enhanced timing and synchronization. For complex systems including multi-channel applications, they offer much lower prices and lower total cost of ownership than stand-alone “box” instrumentation. The range of products and performance in modular instruments is truly amazing, from microwave frequencies to terabytes of storage to almost limitless channels of signal switching and data acquisition, all supported by powerful software and computing. A key benefit is the ability to combine signal switching and switch matrix functionality along with test and measurement instrumentation in a single chassis.

Many platforms are currently available, including VME, VXI, and PXI, all in use in many aerospace and defense applications as well as commercial test systems. These standards are the result of adding instrument specific structures (such as timing, triggers, and clocks) to a base industrial computer standard.

An application area driving growth in modular test systems is defense electronics maintenance and repair. Whenever a military communications or electronic warfare or weapons system must be deployed in a theater of operation, test equipment and test systems are part of the support logistics required. As the extent and sophistication of defense electronics increase, so do the support needs. The rapid deployment of un-manned surface and aerial vehicles loaded with complex electronic intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance equipment along with increased electronic countermeasures all lead to requirements for new or updated test systems and test capabilities. Modular test systems are the best solution. Small size and weight allow for portability with modularity providing an upgrade path and re-configurability meeting the requirements of long support life for systems that may be in use for decades. The modular standards also provide state-of-the-art performance in instrumentation, signal switching, and data connectivity to meet the most challenging test scenarios. Their open architecture allows best practices in Test Program Set (TPS) development and long term software support. The result is high performance, high throughput, and obsolescence resistance at a low overall life-cycle cost.

AXIe is a new modular platform based on PICMG’s AdvancedTCA standard.  AdvancedTCA is an open standard with many companies offering a variety of chassis sizes and blades. The AXIe platform’s claim to fame is its larger module size with more available power and cooling than VME, VXI, or PXI, and with a faster digital backplane for higher speed applications. Besides leveraging the advantages of the AdvancedTCA modular framework, AXIe draws from and works with other instrument standards including PXI, LXI, and IVI. It offers a flexible scalable platform with longevity, modularity, and high performance.

AXIe has attracted activity and investment from major players in test and measurement such as Aeroflex, Agilent, and Tyco Electronics. It offers the state-of-the-art in modular test platforms today and will surely evolve to provide the modular test solutions of tomorrow.

Leonard Dickstein is a Member of the AXIe Consortium and also a Marketing Manager at Giga-tronics. You can reach him at ldickstein@gigatronics.com.