Instrumentation: Powerful microprocessors and standard buses help advance modular card instrumentation; meanwhile bench test equipment gets new features

The trend toward digital processing in test instrumentation continues unabated. Advances in the performance of microprocessors and the linkage of personal computers and workstations to instrumentation in 1985 increased not only data acquisition capability, but also the processing and analysis power of the instruments themselves. Powerful 16-bit processors-for instance, Motorola´s MC6800 family-have allowed complex data analysis software to be built into instruments, often with user interfaces that are similar to those of personal computers. Improvements made to oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and in-circuit emulators are discussed.