Continuing that theme, Mark Cejer, the telecom test business manager at Keithley Instruments, said, Our Xlinx software package lets the first-time user begin logging data into Microsoft Excel in minutes. From that point, data can be manipulated, graphed, exported, and shared. More advanced users may go to LabVIEW, Agilent VEE, or TestPoint to create more sophisticated test and measurement programs. There is a broad level of cooperation between software and hardware suppliers to support these advanced users. Interestingly, the difference between the most basic and the most advanced implementations is not as great as it once was.
Some users move through the levels as their applications and skills evolve.
Interchangeability is becoming an important issue for many high-volume manufacturers, according to Mr. Basso of National Instruments. A real unknown for the test-system user is how much time must be spent revising software when a DMM is taken out of service for repair or calibration and replaced with an instrument of a different type, he said. This will make IVI-driven instruments interchangeable without software revisions and help users preserve their investment in setup programs, Mr. Basso concluded. It isn t likely. The heart of any DMM is its internal voltage reference, and better stability in these circuits has already helped improve the instrument.