Customer Solution

Products Used: NI LabVIEW 7 Express, PCI-1411 Image Acquisition, PCI-5122 Digitizer, PCI-5911 High-Speed Digitizer, NI TestStand

Askey Automates Testing of Set-Top-Box with

NI Modular Instrumentation
Steve Chen, Askey Computer Corporation
The Challenge: Creating an automated,
low-cost, and scalable full-functional test
system for Askey Set-Top-Box.
The Solution: Using National Instruments
LabVIEW 7 Express with the NI PCI-5911
100 MHz flexible resolution digitizer for audio
and video parametric testing of a cable
set-top-box and for integrating the test code
into NI TestStand for complete automated and
modular production testing with database and
statistical process control analysis capabilities.
Audio and Video Test Needs
Askey Computer Corporation is a market leader in
We knew our test throughput needs could not be
the design, marketing, manufacturing, and
met by test systems based on traditional
distribution of broadband and wireless products for
instrumentation. Instead, we needed a PC-based test
ODM/OEM customers worldwide. With continuous
solution to lower test costs and meet throughput
progress in new product development, we have
requirements. We chose the PCI-5911 100 MHz
become the world leader in manufacturing of cable
high-speed digitizer with flexible resolution because
modems, ADSL modems, wireless LAN products,
it met the high-bandwidth requirement of video
and analog modems. With increased demand for
testing and high-resolution requirement of audio
digital data in homes, we have seen a tremendous
testing. The resolution of PCI-5911 ranges from
increase in demand for our set-top-box products.
eight bits at 100 MS/s to more than 21 bits at 10 kS/s.
The PCI-5911 is synchronized
via the real-time system
Using NI PC-based modular instrumentation and integration (RTSI) bus with
LabVIEW 7 Express, we were able to develop a the NI PCI-1411 video
acquisition card to offer
low-cost, automated audio video test system that
met our requirements.
Therefore, we wanted to build an automated test
system to increase test throughput and production
yield while lowering the total cost of testing.
Cable set-top-box testing typically includes
video, audio, modem, network, and various I/O.
Testing for standard analog video, such as NTSC
and PAL, is required on all models. Some higher-end
models may need testing of S-video, component
video, HDTV, and digital video interface. Most
models also require analog audio testing and some
may require testing of digital audio such as SPDIF.
For all these products, we have very high standards
for video and audio quality test. We will perform up
to 10 nonlinear video measurements and five audio
measurements to ensure each product meets our
high manufacturing quality requirements. Typical
video tests include sync and burst amplitude,
chroma/luma gain, differential gain, and differential
phase. And typical audio tests include gain, noise level,
signal-to-noise ration, and total harmonic distortion.
Fast, Low-Cost Solution
real-time video trigger and
capture. The PCI-1411 is not
only used to trigger on each
video line, but it also displays
live video feed for operators to perform quick visual
checks. The PC-based architecture uses the fastest
CPU to deliver quick and accurate video analysis
capabilities. We use an NI LabVIEW-based video and
audio analysis library developed by Karma
Technology to perform the required tests.
PCI-5122 Digitizer
Because functionality on set-top-boxes changes
rapidly and there is strong time-to-market pressures
in the consumer electronics industry, we needed a
test solution that was flexible and modular. We
developed test code based on LabVIEW 7 Express
that could be reused. We then built test sequences
using NI TestStand that we could easily tailor based
on the test requirements of each model.
NI TestStand provided a common framework
for test sequencing and built-in database capabilities.
Its flexible and open source code operator interface
also gave us full control over the operator interface
look and feel. By using LabVIEW 7 Express and
NI TestStand for test development, we significantly
reduced software development costs.
Meeting Future Test Needs
As accuracy requirements increase, we plan to
upgrade our existing test system to a higher-end test
system based on the new NI PCI-5122 14-bit 100 MHz
digitizer with built-in video triggering. The PCI-5122
will be able to deliver 14 bits of accuracy and more
than 75 dB spurious-free dynamic range for video
testing, which will outperform most standard video
analyzers today.
Using NI PC-based modular instrumentation
and LabVIEW 7 Express, we were able to develop a
low-cost, automated audio video test system that met
our requirements. At the same time, it is scalable to
meet future testing needs. As a market leader in
broadband and wireless products, we were able to
maintain high test standards with lower test costs by
using NI technology.

For more information, contact:

Steve Chen
ni.com/success (512) 683-0100 Fax (512) 683-9300 info@ni.com
Director of Product Engineering
Askey Computer Corporation
For worldwide contact information, please visit ni.com/niglobal. www.askey.com

2004 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved. LabVIEW and NI TestStand are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.