Evaluation Engineering - 10

PORTABLE INSTRUMENTATION

Oliver Rovini, technical director of
Spectrum Instrumentation GmbH: "We
see an ongoing trend to higher resolution
and higher sampling rates in the portable
instruments. The demand to acquire highfrequency signals in the range of MHz and
above has been increased over the last
years."
Maureen Lipps, test equipment product
manager at Newark: "Wireless technology-5G, IoT, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and automotive markets are driving portable wireless instrument development. Increased
specialization-Test instruments are
branching out beyond traditional roles
and responsibilities. Modularity and
specialized software are becoming inevitable features in portable testers.
Environmental testing-Environment
changes, safety concerns, and green engineering are driving demand for portable
environmental testing and the addition
of environmental testing features with
traditional test equipment."

Challenges
What key challenges are portable instrument vendors or their partners facing
today?

Pico Technology's PicoScope 9404-05
oscilloscope.

Smith, Pico Technology: "As component
technology is evolving so rapidly, customers expect that the investment they make
in a portable oscilloscope today will be
protected throughout the lifetime of the
instrument. Manufacturers need to provide headroom in their oscilloscope architectures to enable future performance
improvements and new capabilities.
Pico Technology deployS regular freeof-charge upgrades for PicoScopes that

10

EVALUATION ENGINEERING OCTOBER 2019

Sponsored by

include feature improvements to the PC
software, and FPGA code enhancements
deployed in the PicoScope hardware.
Customers who purchased a PicoScope
more than a decade ago are still getting
the benefits of new features, including the
latest serial protocol decoders, mask limit
testing, and alarms, that other manufacturers typically charge for."
Dunn, Keysight: "Challenges with marketing a portable combination analyzer
are educating the customers about measurement and performance capabilities.
The advancements in technology that
enable miniaturization also bring along
performance capabilities not previously
attainable in portable test equipment. A
broad understanding of measurement
applications that span across more than
20 different types of test equipment is a
must; as well as engagement with customers that work in the field to find new test
methodologies and applications using a
portable analyzer."
Walker, Copper Mountain Technologies:
"The lower cost of ownership has opened
up new markets and new opportunities. A
successful company must be able to keep
up with new applications and be able to
support new customers who might not
be familiar with the equipment."
Chonko, SIGLENT: "Portable instruments
generally have higher material and design
costs because the end product must be
easy to carry, have a very legible display
(even in direct sunlight), and be easy to
use in the field. The designers are trying
to balance this performance with battery
lifetime (if handheld) and performance at
a specific price point, which can prove
challenging."
Li, MEAN WELL: "The key challenges
manufacturers of portable instruments
are facing include battery capacity and
security. As the power consumption of
portable instruments increase, the battery is required to contain more juice.
Faster charging time and higher charging currents are also required, which results in a shift toward higher power for
external adaptors and chargers. Also, as

the portable instrument devices are integrated with more intelligent features, they
also become more susceptible to cyberattacks, so security is also a key challenge
and needs to be carefully considered."
Franz, Digilent: "With more companies
jumping into the portable instrument market, it's requiring everyone to continue to
update and innovate on those offerings. As
far as the hardware goes, there is only so
much variety and feature set that can be
provided, so the real differentiating factor
is becoming the software. It's about how
much functionality can you put into an
instrument while still providing an easyto-use and incredibly useful tool for the
customer. Engineers are no longer satisfied
with an instrument that does one thing
well-it's about how do you make an instrument that does many things well."
Rovini, Spectrum Instrumentation: "Size
always matters. With higher sampling
rates, more power is needed and more
heat needs to be disposed. This is in opposition to the customers' demands on
smaller instruments."
Lipps, Newark: "Global competition is
forcing manufacturers to cut costs while
increasing features and reliability from
portable instruments. Increased cost is
driving the need for compatibility between devices and additional features,
putting added demand from manufacturers on software development and
software-defined instrumentation."
Jamie Pederson, product marketing
manager at BK Precision: "Although
many manufacturers are implementing
touchscreen technology, not all are equal
in the usability. In many cases, the display
is too small and difficult to operate, or
the user interface is clumsy and not well
thought out. B&K Precision has met this
challenge by improving the user experience with interactive menus on our large
touchscreen for setup, waveform visualization, and analysis."

What are customers asking for?
What features or innovations are customers asking for in portable instruments?
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Evaluation Engineering

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