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Pickering News
Designed with high-quality instrumentation grade reed relays for maximum performance
Pickering Interfaces, a leading provider of modular signal switching and simulation for electronic test and verification, is pleased to announce the expansion of their range of 1-pole High-Density PXI Matrix Modules.
Pickering Interfaces Introduces New High-Density PXI Matrix Range (40-520 family)These new PXI Matrix Modules (40-520 family) are high-density matrices with 22 different configurations and up to 256 crosspoints to suit a large variety of user requirements. The choice of six bus widths (x16, x12, x8, x6, x4 and x2) enables competitively priced solutions using Pickering Electronics’ instrumentation quality reed relays. These relays offer very long life with good low-level switching performance and excellent contact resistance stability.
The introduction of the 40-520 family builds on Pickering Interfaces’ long history of PXI Matrix module development by including robust 1Amp 150Vdc switching, simple single PCB construction with easy reed relay maintenance. The range comes with Pickering’s Built-in Relay Self-Test (BIRST) and is also supported by their eBIRST Switching System Test Tools. These tools provide a quick and simple way of finding relay failures within the modules.
Typical applications include signal routing in automatic test equipment (ATE) and data acquisition (DAQ) systems.
Meinberg News
Meinberg manufacturer of the most powerful time and frequency synchronization solutions, is proud to announce the availability of Meinberg´s new network time sync module generation, which provides a future-proof platform for your IEEE 1588 / SyncE / Carrier Grade NTP infrastructure.
The HPS-100 offers the ability to support up to 2048 PTP-Clients in Unicast Mode (at 128 Sync and Delay Requests per second), as well as more than 250.000 Delay Requests per second in Multicast or Hybrid mode due to a powerful FPGA-based Packet Generator engine. The card is equipped with a 1GE interface as an RJ45/SFP combo port and 2 SMA outputs for configurable pulse outputs like 1-PPS, 10 MHz and 2.048 MHz.The HPS-100 can be configured to run in Master or Slave mode. It supports all major PTP profiles: Default, Power, Telecom (Frequency and Phase profiles), SMPTE, AES67/RAVENNA or IEEE 802.1AS profile. This makes it the most flexible and interoperable PTP solution on the market, suitable for a wide range of applications.
The module additionally also offers an NTP Server mode with 10 ns accurate time stamps due to a hardware time stamping NTP engine.
For providing a cost effective solution, a flexible license model is available to select the Client capacity power that is needed for a certain application.
A lot of IEEE 1588 slave devices or NTP clients from different market segments can be synchronized, for example eNodeBs for LTE base stations, Linux servers with hardware-assisted time stamping support for high-frequency trading applications, IEEE 1588 compatible IEDs in Smart Grid environments or IP-interconnected Audio / Video devices in broadcast studios. The Synchronous Ethernet function provides a highly stable frequency transport over Ethernet networks. The card supports to either use an incoming SyncE signal from the network as a source or generate SyncE as a Master.
The HPS-100 module is compatible with Meinberg´s Intelligent Modular Synchronization (IMS) platform, which is famous for it´s high level of scalability, flexibility, versatility and reliability. The modular design of Meinberg´s IMS systems allows features like field-replacement and hot-swap capabilities for I/O and power supply modules. This concept ensures future-proofness and expandability by allowing to add or replace modules when new technologies or interfaces are required.
Pickering News
A programmable resistor is designed to emulate the use of resistive sensors and variable resistors in systems when testing devices such as engine controllers.
In their simplest form, Pickering´s programmable resistors consist of a basic chain of resistance values switched in or out of circuit with reed relays, electro-mechanical relays or solid state switches. We also offer multi-channel programmable resistors with very fine value adjustment and high accuracy including programmable resistive bridges for strain gauge simulation.
Applications for Programmable Resistors
Programmable resistors have many applications in automated test, verification and simulation systems:
Strain Gauge Simulation:
Used in mechanical systems to measure the tension or compression of structural components. Simulation requires extremely fine setting resolution with high accuracy and temperature stability.
Temperature Sensor Simulation:
Simulation of resistance based temperature sensors such as positive or negative temperature coefficient thermistors.
Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTDs) can be wire-wound or thin film. Both PT100 and PT1000 types can be simulated, requiring fine setting resolution.
Pressure Sensor Simulation:
For the simulation of pressure senders in mechanical systems or barometric pressure sensors in applications such as altimeters in the aerospace industry.
Select on Test Resistance:
A programmable resistor can be used in a test environment where a component´s value is optimized at the production test stage.
Load Resistor:
Where a circuit under test requires the connection of an external load.
Position Sensor Simulation:
Rotary or linear position sensors in mechanical systems usually take the form of potentiometers and are used in applications such as throttle position senders in automotive systems.
Switch Simulation:
Can be used to simulate the contacts of a worn or contaminated switch for automotive ECU (Engine Control Unit) testing.
Fault Insertion:
Can be used for injecting fault conditions when testing the fault tolerance of aircraft or automotive control systems.
Selecting a Programmable Resistor
Pickering offers a variety of PXI programmable resistor modules and PCI programmable resistor cards for use in medical, automotive and aerospace applications. We offer different features for use in different applications, these include:
Platform:
Solutions in both the PXI and PCI formats
Ethernet control of any of our PXI modules when installed in our LXI Chassis
Number of Channels:
Between 1 and 18 channels
Range:
Many resistance ranges are available with values from a short circuit to millions of Ohms
Modules and cards are available with a narrow setting range and very fine resolution for simulating sensors and strain gauges
Resolution:
Resistance setting resolutions are available from 10Ω to 2mΩ for a wide range of applications
Power Handling:
Generally 100mW for precision programmable resistors and up to 1W for standard programmable resistors
We also offer a PXI programmable load module with up to 15W power handling (model 40-292)
Minimum Resistance Value:
The lower the minimum resistance value required the greater the errors caused by relay contact resistance and copper trace losses.
Generally, modules and cards with a low minimum resistance do not have as wide a range of resistance values as those with higher minimum resistances.
Accuracy:
High accuracy requires careful design to ensure low loss paths, management of thermoelectric EMF and the use of higher stability resistors
Calibration Port:
A calibration port allows the user to check the resistor channel without having to disconnect the front panel connector. It can be used to connect any of the resistor channels to a DMM to perform an accurate four terminal measurement.
Custom Programmable Resistors:
If the desired accuracy, precision, range, number of channel, power handling, etc is not available, we are often able to configure custom builds or even design a new version of a PXI/PCI model.
Our entire range use real resistors, they do not use current loads or other electronic means to control the resistance value. Therefore they behave in exactly the same way as an actual resistor.
We carry over 130 PXI modules and over 120 PCI cards featuring:
Up to 18 channels in a single PXI/PCI slot
Resistance ranges from 1Ω to 22MΩ
Resolutions down to 2mΩ with accuracies down to 0.03%
PXI modules can be supported in our LXI Chassis
Supported by a full range of connector and cabling solutions
New products by Pickering
New products by Pickering :
1)High-Density 2 Amp PXI Relay Module (model 40-100)
2)High-Density PXI Matrix Range (40-520 Family).
High-Density 2 Amp PXI Relay Module (model 40-100):
Highest density 2Amp SPDT switching in PXI, comprising 83 relays
Wide switching capacity (2Amp, 200VDC/140VAC, 60W)
Simple maintenance via use of leaded relays
Typical Applications:
Automotive, Mil/Aero, Power Cell Testing.
High-Density PXI Matrix Range (40-520 Family):
1-Pole Matrix, comprising 22 configurations & up to 256 crosspoints
Six bus widths (x16, x12, x8, x6, x4 & x2)
High reliability instrumentation grade reed relays for maximum performance
BIRST (in addition to eBIRST support)
Reduced build cost compared to existing solutions, for improved competitiveness
Optimized connection (D-type)
Simple maintenance (single PCB construction & leaded relays)
Typical Applications:
Signal routing in automatic test equipment and data acquisition systems
ADLINK news
ADLINK Technology, a leading global provider of cloud-based services, intelligent gateways and embedded building blocks for edge devices that enable the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), invites attendees to view the company’s latest IoT platforms, including a near real-time machine-to-machine (M2M) automation solution featuring robotic arms and an intelligent vending machine, in Booth 408 at IoT World 2016, May 10-12, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
The M2M automation solution features the MXE-202i intelligent gateway, based on Intel® IoT Gateway Technology, and Vortex Data Distribution Services (DDS). Motion tracking triggers a motion sensor connected to the MXE-202i, which ingests the data that is then distributed to the robotic devices via Vortex DDS in order to activate the arms. The MXE-200i Series provides an intelligent, robust embedded system supporting wide application development and easy service deployment in industrial automation, while the Vortex intelligent data sharing platform enables easy distribution of data between devices and from device to cloud.
ADLINK intelligent vending machine features a Mini-ITX compute board and remote management enabled by the Smart Embedded Management Agent (SEMA) Cloud solution. ADLINK’s intelligent vending employs software, hardware and end-user applications that work together in real-time to unlock previously inaccessible data, creating smart, interactive points-of-sale. The addition of cloud-based remote management tools enable vending systems to be managed more effectively by signaling maintenance or restocking requirements and adding the ability to more closely track incoming revenue.
Meinberg News
Meinberg manufacturer of the world´s most powerful solutions for time and frequency synchronization, will show its latest synchronization systems and monitoring/audit solutions for the financial sector at several industry relevant events.
The Spring 2016 STAC Summits organized by the Securities Technology Analysis Center (STAC) bring together industry leaders to focus on challenging areas of financial technology. STAC provides technology research and testing tools based on community-source standards. This accelerates technology selection at user firms while reducing the sales cycle for vendors. The standards are developed by the STAC Benchmark Council ®, a group of major financial firms and other “algorithmic enterprises” as well as leading technology vendors. Through a variety of online and in-person forums, the Council discusses key technology challenges and new solutions for them.
With MiFID II set for January 3, 2018 the financial industry is currently trying to meet the clock synchronization UTC divergence. MiFID II will introduce the requirement for trading venues, their members and participants to synchronize the business clocks used to record the date and time of reportable events to UTC with an accuracy of 100 microseconds. How to best achieve this accuracy, monitor and demonstrate compliance, with a robust and competitive implementation is a major challenge facing the global financial sector.The objective of the MiFID II Workshop presented by EIE, ITSF and NPL is to help financial institutions, equipment/service providers and implementers to better understand the motivations and requirement of time-stamping required by MiFID II, and manage the delivery. This workshop will bring together interested parties from the regulatory, finance and measurement communities.
As a new member of the STAC Council, Meinberg will be attending the STAC events in London and Chicago in May. Meinberg will be proving an innovation round-up presentation with the title “Measuring MiFID II Compliance: How to Audit and Monitor your Time Synchronization Infrastructure” and operates an exhibition stand showing a selection of Meinberg´s latest synchronization solutions for financial applications.
The LANTIME M1000, equipped with the new generation of the Meinberg time stamping unit HPS (High Precision Synchronization) provides a future-proof platform for your IEEE 1588 / NTP infrastructure. The high-performance processing unit, the 1-step master clock and the 1GE interface with SFP slot support a very large number of PTP clients. Thousands of IEEE 1588 slave devices or NTP clients can be synchronized, both in IPv4 and IPv6 networks, for example transaction servers running high-frequency trading applications. For NTP-based synchronization, each of the HPS-100 network interfaces of the LANTIME M1000 can be configured to act as a carrier grade NTP server with 10 ns time stamp accuracy, serving up to 12,000 NTP requests per second on each port. Each HPS module can serve time to up to 2,048 PTP Slaves at full Unicast rate (128 sync/128 delay req. per second) or 250K DelayRequests per second in Enterprise Profile/Hybrid mode. Each M1000 can hold up to four HPS modules, enabling a performance increase to 90,000 NTP requests/second or 8,096 unicast PTP Slaves (at full rate). As a part of the IMS family, the M1000 allows users to add or replace modules without having to shut down the system. The M1000-S is the compact version of the M1000 and provides the same outstanding synchronization capabilities.
As part of the Intelligent Modular Synchronization System (IMS) family, the M1000 and M1000S both allow field-replacement and hot-swap capabilities for IO modules and power supplies. This concept ensures future-proofness and expandability by allowing to add or replace modules when new technologies or interfaces are required and makes this product one of the most scalable and flexible synchronization solutions on the market.
Meinberg News
Meinberg Sync Academy in cooperation with Sincron Sistemi SrL, our local partner, organized Synchronization Seminars in Rome (April 11th) and Milano (April 13th).
The two seminars have been a great success, with more than 100 participants from the most important companies in the field of Broadcast, Defense, Energy, Finance, IT, Telecom and Transport.After a brief overview of various Synchronization methods like GPS, Glonass, Beidou, DCF77, IRIG, NTP, PTP IEEE1588, PPS, 10 MHz the new family IMS (Intelligent Modular Synchronization) of Meinberg was highlighted and it was demonstrated how specific solutions for different synchronization applications could be configured. LANTIME M500 IMS and M3000 models were used to showcase the flexibility and adaptibility of the Meinberg IMS system. The NTP mechanisms, related performances in various operating systems and explanations for all relevant setting options have been presented. In a live demo part, practical examples for the discussed topics were shown.
Special attention was paid regarding PTP IEEE1588, we revisited its historical evolution, explained different modes of operation, switch and router roles and discussed performance, pros and cons of Unicast and Multicast communication and the various profiles used in Power and Telecom applications.
A special section of the seminar was reserved to creating different IMS configurations by using the large selection of modules available from Meinberg. Redundancy concepts of synchronization, its various possible implementations and a couple of case studies stressing advantages of down converted antenna were shown. The conformance with ITU-T G.811 and the outstanding performance of the low jitter PPS output were mentioned, too.
In the following session, the Network Management using the Espy II Software from Bridgeworx was discussed in details. In a live simulation, the management and monitoring capabilities of Meinberg M3000 IMS using Espy II and some failure simulations were demonstrated. Many operators currently have existing deployments (or devices from multiple vendors) so the Espy ability to not only manage Meinberg IMS devices is a big advantage, avoiding to have separate management systems for each vendor.
Finally live demos using different PTP profiles (IEEE 1588v2 Default Profile and ITU-T G.8265.1 Frequency Profile) for PTP synchronization between Lantime M500 acting as slave and M3000 used as PTP Grandmaster were shown. At the end the attendees expressed great appreciation of the Sync Seminars and the Meinberg and Sincron team received a lot of positive feedback.
GW Instek News
GW Instek launches new PEL-3000E series programmable single-channel electronic load. In the series, PEL-3031E provides 300W (1V~150V/60A) current sink capability. Inherited from the PEL-3000 series, PEL-3031E has an easy-to-read LCD panel and user-friendly interface. This model features high speed and accurate measurement capability for electronic component, battery, portable charger and power products that require low to medium power consumption. The PEL-3000E series is designed for current sink operation starting from 60mA and aims at measurement applications, including charger, adapter, various power supply equipment, and portable charger. The PEL-3000E has seven operating modes. Among them, four basic operating modes are constant current, constant voltage, constant resistance, and constant power. Three other combined operating modes are constant current + constant voltage, constant resistance + constant voltage, constant power + constant voltage. Users can select operating modes based upon products’ test requirements. For C.C. mode, electronic load will sink a constant current according to the set current value; for C.V. mode, electronic load will attempt to sink sufficient current to control the source voltage to the programmed value; for C.R. mode, electronic load will sink a current linearly proportional to input voltage according to the set resistance value; for C.P. mode, electronic load will initiate load power sinking operation (load voltage x load current) in accordance with the programmed power setting.
To meet the requirements of different test conditions, the Static function is to sink a constant current; the Dynamic function is to periodically switch between two sink conditions, and the Sequence function is to provide tests for more than two sink conditions. The sequence function can be divided into Normal Sequence and Fast Sequence. Normal Sequence are the most flexible means of generating complex sequences that can facilitate users to establish a set of changing current sink conditions based upon different sinking conditions (CC, CR, CV or CP mode) and time(adjustable range: 1ms to 999h 59min 59s). Fast sequence allows time resolution of 25us to be set for the smallest step. Setting parameters for multiple steps can simulate consecutive current changes of various real load conditions. For instance, while using an electronic load to test a power-driven tool’s power supply we can first obtain waveforms by an oscilloscope and a current probe from the tool, and subsequently, use the obtained waveforms to edit simulated current waveforms, via electronic load’s sequence function, to test the power-driven tool and to analyze its operational status. The Soft Start function allows users to determine the rise time of current sink that is to decide the required time to reach electronic load’s set current, resistance or power value. Setting a proper rise time for Soft Start is effective to counter output voltage fluctuation caused by DUT’s (power supply) transient output current. It is worth noting, General DC loads do not have the soft start function. When conducting high speed current sink operation, the inductance effect on the cable connecting electronic load and DUT will lead to transient voltage drop on electronic load’s input terminal, therefore, that will result in Voltage Non-monotonic increase. PEL-3000E’s soft start function not only allows output voltage to be Monotonic increase, but also prevents inrush current and surge voltage from happening on DUT. For instance, tests using a power supply, LED and a DC load (activate the soft start function) can prevent inrush current and surge voltage from causing damages on LED.
The PEL-3000E is equipped with the count time function to obtain total time for electronic load’s current sink that helps users estimate DUT’s power capacity. The cut off time function is for users to control the total time of electronic load’s current sink. Both flexible time control functions increase the test adaptability of electronic load. UVP can be applied on battery discharge tests. Electronic load will cease operation if battery’s voltage is lower than the set UVP threshold to protect battery from over discharge. Other than that, PEL-3000E provides users with analog control terminal to control PEL-3000E from external voltage, external resistance and switch. Analog control terminal can also monitor electronic load’s status and display protective alarms.
Pickering News
This new range of PXI RF Multiplexers (series 40-760) is available in the following configurations: dual, quad and octal SP4T, single, dual and quad SP8T, single and dual SP16T and SP32T. All of the multiplexers have versions with automatic terminations to manage VSWR effects which could degrade the performance of a test system. All versions of this range of PXI RF multiplexers exhibit low insertion loss and VSWR through the use of modern RF relay technology. Each version has been carefully designed to ensure excellent and repeatable RF characteristics to frequencies of 600MHz with each path having a nominally equal insertion loss.
GW Instek News
GW Instek rolls out the new AFG-3000 series arbitrary function generators, including 20MHz/30MHz single channel and dual channel models, designed to meet industry, scientific research, and education applications. In the design of isolated output, all output channels are earth ground isolation, which is suitable for test applications of floating circuit. For instance, connecting an AFG-3000 with a power supply’s DC voltage, the maximum AC-DC cascaded output reaches +42V or -42V. Each channel of dual channel models can be operated independently or multi units can simultaneously function without taking grounding reference into consideration. Applications are, for instance, the ignition control or transmission device of automotive electronics. The series features sample rate of 250MSa/s, 16-bit resolution, and 8M point memory depth for arbitrary waveform generation. Users not only can save the edited waveforms to the memory to build arbitrary waveforms, but also rebuild waveforms by the AFG-3000’s built-in DSOLink function with a GW Instek digital storage oscilloscope.
The AFG-3000 series supports synchronized phase for multi channel operation up to 6 units and 12 channels. A reference input connector is available allowing an external 10 MHz time base to synchronize the internal clock and elevate the frequency output accuracy. The series supports frequency sweep and amplitude sweep that can also integrate other functions, including linear/logarithm, one-way (saw tooth)/two-way (triangle), continuous/single trigger/gated trigger to meet various application requirements by applying different sweep methods. Frequency sweep tests the frequency response of electronic components such as filter and low frequency amplifier. Amplitude sweep simulates vibration tests (requires a vibration tester), and it also conducts aging tests of various materials and linearity tests of low frequency amplifier. The main features of the AFG-3000 series include output amplitude from 1mVpp to 10Vpp (connected with a 50 ohm load); frequency range from 1uHz to 20MHz or 30MHz; 1uHz frequency resolution; and built-in sine, square, pulse, triangle, ramp, DC voltage, harmonic and noise. The waveform width, rise edge time and fall edge time of pulse waveform can be adjusted flexibly. Pulse waveform, with duty cycle from 0.017% to 99.983%, can be applied as trigger signals. Users can conduct arbitrary editing via 65 built-in function waveforms. The series supports AM/FM/PM/FSK/PWM modulation, frequency sweep, amplitude sweep and burst to satisfy industrial application requirements. Dual channel models provide SUM modulation, coupling, tracking, and phase to meet the test requirements of differential signal, phase control and amplifier distortion. Built-in 8th harmonic signal generator simulates harmonic signal of switching power supplies and it also tests EMI power filter characteristics. The AFG-3000 series provides free arbitrary waveform editing software (AWES) for users to quickly edit waveforms from the built-in diagrams so as to execute measurements.
Meinberg News
Meinberg manufacturer of the world´s most powerful time and frequency synchronization equipment, is proud to announce the outstanding EANTC Interoperability Test results of the tested Meinberg devices and a successful exhibition presence at one of the major global MPLS+SDN+NFV events.
In January and February 2016, interoperability of Meinberg´s telecom optimized synchronization systems had been successfully tested at the EANTC Interop Test Event in Berlin, Germany. The clock synchronization part of this year´s EANTC Interop Tests included topics such as delay asymmetry, multi-vendor grandmaster changeover, holdover performance and microwave transport, which are some of the fundamental areas of interest for service providers. Interoperability tests of the participating devices covered the two published ITU telecom profiles for frequency and phase/time, including full on-path support and assisted partial timing support (APTS) network environments.
Two of this year´s tests were affected by a rather unusual event, a GPS Ground System anomaly, which later has been confirmed by an official US Air Force press release. This type of anomaly expanded the category GPS jamming and GPS spoofing and perfectly fitted in this year´s clock synchronization testing program regarding performance in optimal and suboptimal conditions (e.g. source failover between two different grandmasters).
Meinberg successfully participated in 15 test scenarios, proving interoperability of the LANTIME M1000-S and LANTIME M4000 model with devices from Ericsson, Huawei, Omnitron, ADVA and Microsemi. The unmatched flexibility of the LANTIME IMS platform allowed to use the M1000S and M4000 in various roles during the tests.
Details and descriptions of each test and their results are summed up in the EANTC Whitepaper, which can be downloaded at:
EANTC Interop Whitepaper
The different EANTC Interop test scenarios were demonstrated and explained at the Public Multi-Vendor Interoperability Showcase during the 2016 MPLS+SDN+NFV World Congress in Paris, France. A joint presentation of Ericsson and Meinberg during this event explained one of the synchronization tests concerning sync over a Microwave link. Meinberg also hosted a special event for their customers in Paris in cooperation with the local Meinberg partner for France, JTELEC.
Meinberg News
Bad Pyrmont, Germany / March 4, 2016 – Meinberg, one of the leading manufacturers for synchronization solutions announces the general availability of their updated NTP and PTP protocol simulation software. The new version offers new groundbreaking performance for large scale testbeds and a greatly improved feature set. The simulation software enables vendors and end users to test their network time synchronization infrastructure by simulation hundreds or thousands of NTP or PTP clients. The software can emulate NTP servers and clients as well as PTP grandmaster clocks and PTP slaves, providing a unique and powerful way of testing own implementations of the two major network time synchronization protocols in use today. In addition to large scale load tests for NTP servers or PTP grandmaster clocks, the software can be an invaluable tool for testing all aspects of the supported protocols, for example leap second handling, BMCA conformance and PTP profile support for almost any known PTP profile. This includes the latest SMPTE profile, the Telecom profiles for frequency and phase as well as the IEEE C37.238 power profile. The Meinberg Protocol Simulator offers detailed statistics concerning the response behavior of the device under test and supports a number of failure simulation concepts as well. Running on a wide range of x86 compatible hardware, the software-only solution removes the need to purchase or rent cost intensive specialized hardware solutions. Every Linux compatible PC can be temporarily converted into a simulator by simply using the bootable USB stick containing a Live Linux environment. This is done without touching the system installed on the hard disk of the system, allowing to use the PC or Server for other tasks. This approach saves a considerable amount of space and costs. With a recent powerful x86 multicore processor, the software can simulate up to 1 million NTP clients or up to 500 PTP unicast slaves at full rate. *Features:* – Simulation of NTP/PTP devices, each with its own Ethernet MAC address and IP address: — NTP Servers — NTP Clients — PTP Master Clocks (Unicast/Multicast) — PTP Slave Clocks (Unicast/Multicast) — PTP Controller (Unicast Load Balancing) – Full support for IEEE 802.3, IPv4 and IPv6 – Generation high workload by creating large numbers of simulated devices – Fully customizable/configurable protocol parameters (request intervals, quality parameters, …) – Detailed diagnostics of simulation runs possible due to recording of statistical metrics – Simulation of device failures with configurable randomized interval and duration – Simulation of leap seconds *New Features of MPSv2:* – Separated simulation engine and user interface allows to run simulations in the background – Simulation engine runs on remote Linux based servers – Configuration and management application controls simulation engines via a remote control interface (available for Linux and Windows platforms) – Multiple simulation engines can be orchestrated using one control instance, enabling the user to scale the number of simulated devices and distribute them to a group of independent servers – Own user management and authentication system, allowing multiple users to run their own independent simulations in parallel on the available simulation engine systems. – Greatly improved performance due to new simulation algorithms: — Up to 1,000,000 NTP clients with a standard request interval of 64 seconds — Up to 75,000 NTP requests per second — Up to 500 PTP unicast slaves with highest message rate settings (128/s) – Automatic logging of statistics in configurable intervals The simulation software is delivered on a bootable USB stick with a Live Linux system containing both the simulation engine and the user interface applications for Linux and Windows. Using the Live system you can run MPS on any 64bit capable x86 hardware available without having to install the software. More information about the new Meinberg Protocol Simulation can be found on our website: https://www.meinbergglobal.com/english/products/mps_v2.htm About Meinberg Meinberg is a modern electronics manufacturer located in Bad Pyrmont, Germany. Meinberg offers leading edge synchronization solutions, including high end PTP and NTP timeserver products, GPS and GLONASS receivers, DCF77/WWVB/MSF receivers, IRIG/AFNOR time code generators/readers and a large variety of accessories like antennas, diplexers, converters and signal distribution systems. The Meinberg IEEE 1588 grandmaster clocks and NTP timeserver appliances are well known for their innovative feature set, their flexibility and reliability, making them one of the leading network time synchronization solutions available today. Meinberg products are deployed all over the world and deliver synchronization for mission critical applications in power grid/substation automation, digital broadcasting, telecommunication networks, aviation and space and the labs of world class research organizations. See also http://news.meinberg.de/346/ If you have questions or comments regarding this newsletter, please contact [email protected] or visit our website at https://www.meinbergglobal.com .
Meinberg News
The Public NTP Services Project (www.ntp.org) announced on Dec 19th that the current versions of the reference implementation of NTP contain a number of security related bugs that affect all NTP 4.x versions.
CVE-ID:
CVE-2014-9293CVE-2014-9294CVE-2014-9295CVE-2014-9296
*1. Description of the Problem*
The version of the reference implementation of NTP installed on LANTIME firmware appliances and included in our Windows NTP Installer contains several bugs that can cause security vulnerabilities.
Most of the recently reported issues are only affecting systems which have the so-called Autokey feature enabled. Due to the fact that Autokey has been found to have structural security flaws and therefore is not considered a secure way of providing NTP services, Meinberg recommends to not enabling this feature if possible.
Another set of the reported vulnerabilities are only exploitable if mode 6/mode 7 packets are not restricted on the target system to avoid that untrusted IP addresses are able to send these packets.
*2. Affected Systems*
All LANTIME Firmware Versions before V6.16.006 are affected by this vulnerability.
All NTP V4.x Versions before 4.2.8 are affected according to the information we received from the maintainers of NTP. We are still investigating whether this affects LANTIME V3.x, V4.x and V5.x firmware versions (using NTP 4.2.0b) and will update this page if we find out that they are not affected. Until then we consider these firmware generations to be affected.
*3. Possible Defense Strategies*
Meinberg Products
We recommend to set up firewall protection for all LANTIME V3.x systems still in use and reachable from untrusted networks. For Meinberg LANTIME products running firmware versions V4.x and V5.x, the recommended configuration changes outlined below can be applied using the “Edit additional NTP configuration” function on the NTP configuration page of the web UI.
In order to protect LANTIME systems that cannot be updated to V6.16.006, we recommend to disable Autokey using the Web UI of your LANTIME systems. Please note that this feature is disabled by default and therefore only needs to be disabled again if it had been actively enabled.
In order to restrict the use of Mode 6/Mode 7 packets on your LANTIME systems, please add the following lines to the “additional NTP configuration” of your LANTIME:# LANTIME Additional NTP Configuration:restrict default limited kod nomodify notrap nopeer noqueryrestrict -6 default limited kod nomodify notrap nopeer noqueryrestrict 127.0.0.1
IMPORTANT: the last “restrict” line is required to ensure that the internal status updates continue to work. Failing to add this line (restrict 127.0.0.1) can cause problems with displaying the NTP status on the Web UI and on the front display etc.
LANTIME products running V6 firmware versions can be protected either by using the same approach as V4/V5 or by disabling mode 6/mode 7 support generally using the “Disable mode 6 / mode 7” option in the “General Options” section on the NTP page of the web interface.
Other NTP Installations
If updating your NTP installation to 4.2.8 or a patched version provided by your OS vendor is not possible, you can disable the support for handling NTP mode 7 requests by using the “restrict” statement. The “noquery” flag will disable mode 7 support (including the “monlist” feature) and can be set up in a “default restrict” statement to be applied to all incoming requests. NTP allows to define default “restrict” setting and different restrictions for specific IPs and/or subnets. You should also disable Autokey if it is enabled in your configuration by removing, or commenting out, all configuration directives beginning with the crypto keyword in your ntp.conf file.
NTP packets are used for requesting status information from the NTP daemon and allow attackers to obtain knowledge about the NTP version and the OS version running on your NTP server as well as other information like upstream NTP servers and details about the current status of your NTP synchronization. In addition to disabling status query support, Meinberg recommends you disable configuration change support as well, which can be achieved by using the “nomodify” flag.
NOTE: To find out more about the meaning of the configuration statements used in this article, please refer to http://doc.ntp.org for further explanation. The configuration examples provided here should work with all ntpd versions from 4.2.0 to 4.2.6 with the obvious limitation that the IPv6 related configuration lines only work with versions that support IPv6.
Add the following lines to your NTP configuration file (ntp.conf):
# for IPv4 restrict default limited kod nomodify notrap nopeer noquery# for IPv6restrict -6 default limited kod nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
This will for all incoming requests disable mode 6 and mode 7 support and in addition enables the “kiss-o´-death” (kod) functionality of NTP. It will still allow everybody to send a regular NTP request (for time), but prevents all IP addresses not specifically configured from using mode 6 (status) or mode 7 (control) requests to obtain detailed information about your NTP server or use the mode 7 “monlist” feature for traffic amplification attacks.
It often makes sense to allow full access from the server itself, you can remove the restrictions for the local host by using these “restrict” lines:
# for IPv4 restrict 127.0.0.1# for IPv6restrict -6 ::1
In order to disable these restrictions for specific hosts or whole subnets that need access to the “monlist” and other status information provided by ntpd with the mode 6/mode 7 approach, additional “restrict” statements can be added for each of those IP addresses or subnets. If you want to allow an administrator PC to access the detailed NTP status information, you can add another “restrict” statement:
# for IPv4 restrict 192.168.0.20 nomodify nopeer
Or, to define different restrictions for a whole subnet:# for IPv4 restrict 192.168.0.0 mask 255.255.255.0 nomodify kod
You can define multiple “restrict” lines to grant access to multiple hosts and subnets. More about possible access control configuraton functions can be found on the NTP documentation site of the NTP Project (doc.ntp.org).
*4. Additional Information Sources *
More about this topic can be found on the following websites:
Security Notice des NTP Public Services Project
Debian Security Announce Message DSA-3108-1 von der Debian Security Announce Mailingliste
Please do not hesitate to reach out to your Meinberg support contact if you need further assistance or have additional questions.
See also http://news.meinberg.de/272/
Time and Frequency Synchronization Systems
חברת Meinberg המייצרת שרתי זמן משנת 1979 השיקה לאחרונה דגם חדש הנקרא LANTIME M900
המאפשר סנכרון זמנים ותדר כלל עולמים של כל מרכז מחשוב החל מהקטן ועד לגדול שבינהם, רשתות תעשייתיות
ואף סביבת טלקום.המערכת מכילה מבחר רחב שלקונפיגורציות ממשקים ומקורות זמן ותדר מהמכשיר ואל המכשיר כגון
, IRIG , GPS, NTP, 10MHz,DCF77, 2.048MHz, 1 PPS,7 ETHERNET PORTS
וגם Rubidium
וכן גם מאפשרת יתירות מרכיבים כגון, ספקים ,שעון אטומי ועוד לשם גיבוי המערכת במקרים קיצוניים.
אנטנת ה GPS מאפשרת התרחקות של עד ל 700 מטר מהשרת זמן ללא שום שימוש במגברים בדרך.
Built In Relay Self Test in PXI platform
אימות ודיאגנוסטיקה של אורך חיי מערכות מיתוג מורכבות, תמיד אילץ את מהנדס המערכות
להתייחסות למשאב של זמן בעת רכישה של צב”ד ואביזרי עזר.
כיום חברת Pickering שמחה להציג את הטכנולוגיה החדשה הנקראת BIRST (Built In Relay Self Test) בפלטפורמת PXI. המאפיין החדש מאפשר כיום לזהות ממסרים מתים או שעומדים לקראת סוף חייהם.
בניגוד לשיטות מתחרים אשר סופרים את כמות הפתיחות / סגירות של הממסרים, ב-Pickering למעשה בודקים את האיכות האמיתית של הממסר, שכן ביצועים של אורך חיים תלויים בעיקר גם בגודל ההספקים המועמסים על הממסר. BIRST מוצע כיום במבחר של מודולי מיתוג בעלי דחיסה גבוהה.
בדקו עד כמה תחזוקה ודיאגנוסטיקה יכולים לשפר את ביצועי המערכת שלכם.
High-Speed Digitizers
חברת GAGE שמחה להציג משפחה חדשה בליין הדוגמים המהירים שלה בעלת רזולוציה של 8 ביט.
הכרטיס מגיע לקצבי דגימה של 4 גיגה דגימות בשנייה, ולהקליט בזמן אמיתי עד ל-4 גיגה דגימות נתונים.
ניתן לסנכרן עד ל-16 ערוצי דגימה בו זמנית במערכת אחת ולהגיע אל רוחב פס של 1.5 גיגה הרץ.
ניתן לקבל מבחר רב של סביבות פיתוח לתוכנה כגון MATLAB, LABVIEW & C/C#.
ניתן גם לקבל תוכנת GAGE SCOPE, המאפשרת שליטה מיידית בכרטיס ללא צורך בכלי פיתוח מיוחדים.
ניתן לספק וסנכרן לכרטיס ומהכרטיס שעון וטריגר.
הכרטיס מתאים לאפליקציות כגון:
Wireless Communications, Military & Aerospace, Manufacturing Test Signal Intelligence, Non-destructive Testing, Synthetic instrumentation, Electro-optic, Radar/Laser Optics, Embedded digitizer, Scope replacement.
HM400
With the new 40 MHz, 2 Channel, Analog Oscilloscope HM400, HAMEG Instruments, well known for oscilloscopes and test equipment for more than 50 years, sets a new benchmark in price and performance. Apart from the Autoset function for the adjustment of the display parameters at the push of one button, the HM400 offers an unequalled, high input sensitivity of 1 mV/div, and also a high input voltage range: voltages up to 50 V/div can be displayed. The Z-input serves for intensity modulation. You can save and recall your periodical instrument settings in 6 setup memories. An intuitive user interface has been created using rotary encoders and colored, back-lit buttons . According to the slogan “Measuring instruments at a fair price – made in Germany”, this high quality, “classic” analog oscilloscope will be available for less than 550€ net at HAMEG’s authorised dealers from September.
DIN-Rail Mount NTP Time Server with Integrated GPS
Another new model expands the LANTIME M-Series product range: The LANTIME M100/GPS is a compact NTP Stratum 1 time server with integrated GPS receiver for DIN Rail installations. It is available with two different power supply options covering either a voltage range of 100-240 VDC/100-240 VAC or 19-72 VDC.
This system has been optimized for industrial environments and allows to synchronize NTP and SNTP compatible client devices in small and medium sized networks.
The LANTIME M100 is – like all Meinberg M-Series time servers – fully IPv6 compatible and offers a wealth of features and configurable options.
New IEEE 1588 / PTPv2 GPS Grandmaster Clock
Meinberg Funkuhren, a leading manufacturer of Time and Frequency Synchronization Solutions, today announced the general availability of their new PTP V2 (IEEE 1588-2008) Grandmaster Clock System. The new generation of the LANTIME M600/GPS/PTP provides GPS based synchronization of PTP Slave Clocks over Ethernet connections with sub-microsecond accuracy.
The new LANTIME M600/GPS/PTP offers a comprehensive feature set: The ultra stable OCXO-HQ oscillator provides excellent holdover characteristics. The internal clock will in case of a loss of GPS reception exhibit a maximum error of +/- 1.6 seconds after one year.
In addition to the IEEE 1588-2008 compatible network port the unit has five more LAN interfaces which can be set up to implement an out-of-band management and synchronize NTP and SNTP clients on separated subnets.
A wealth of time code, pulse and frequency signals are available. This includes 1PPS, 1PPM, 10 MHz, a Frequency Synthesizer (1/8 Hz – 10 MHz) as well as IRIG DCLS and AM outputs.
If you want to learn more about one of the most powerful and feature-rich GPS Grandmaster Clocks currently available for your PTPv2 / IEEE 1588 network, please check out the M600/GPS/PTP productpage or sent an email message to [email protected].
If you already own a M600/GPS/PTP with a V1 (IEEE 1588-2002) compliant module, you can upgrade your unit(s) to V2 with the Meinberg M600 V2 Upgrade Kit. Contact the Meinberg Support Team or your Meinberg Sales Partner for further details on this offer.
Precision Programmable Resistor Module
New from Pickering :Interfaces
PXI Precision Programmable Resistor Module –
The 40-260 is a 3 channel variable resistor module covering the range of 90Ohm to 8kOhm with unprecedented precision in the PXI form factor. The module provides a resolution of better than 10mOhm and an accuracy of better than 0.1% .for all resistance settings, which are simply programmed by resistance calls in ohms
LXI .Optical Switching Multiplexer –
Pickering Interfaces is expanding its range of LXI compliant switching products with the introduction of two optical switching multiplexers. The 60-850 single mode) and) 60-851 .multimode) offer 8-way and 16-way multiplexer configurations with a variety of connector options to suit most applications)
The Meinberg LANTIME
The Meinberg LANTIME models build a whole family of NTP time servers. You can choose between different form factors and power supply options, select one of a number of available reference time sources and add additional interfaces and outputs to your individually configured system. The modular concept allows us to highly optimize the time server to the location and application purpose you have in mind. Of course our team is ready to assist you in order to find out how your individual LANTIME NTP server should look like.
Online Presence
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