Multi-application test system for optical devices and transmission systems

The new product is a successor to Yokogawa’s established AQ2200 system, and is 100% backwards compatible with the earlier product. New features in the AQ2210 Series include enhancements to remote-control capabilities, multi-user functionality, macro programming, and remote viewer software.

The AQ2210 Series offers a choice of 3-slot (AQ2211) or 9-slot (AQ2212) mainframes, each of which can be used with any of the existing AQ2200 Series modules and remote commands. Each mainframe incorporates a bright display with an added ‘print screen’ key, USB, GP-IB and Ethernet interfaces, and an additional front-panel USB storage interface. Modules can be ‘hot-swapped’, with the mainframe automatically recognising installed or removed modules.

Quick response under remote control results from fast command processing and fast data and command transfer via a high-speed LAN (which is 100BASE-TX compatible). This capability is particularly effective when repeating a process that a module does not take a long time to complete, such as the continual switching of optical paths or the reading of optical powers.

The new system features faster attenuation setting speed (by up to a factor of 1.7 times). This is particularly important in improving the throughput of optical transceiver testing, where frequent changes of attenuation settings can occur during a measurement.

The facility for up to five users to access a frame controller simultaneously, with the capability of controlling individual modules, offers considerable benefits in terms of space and overall investment. In addition, the new macro programming function provides an easy way to build an automatic measurement system without the need for an external PC to run it.

The remote viewer software allows the user to view a mainframe screen on a PC, with the unit being controlled as if the user were operating on the real mainframe. This means that the user can monitor, operate or troubleshoot the mainframes in a production line at a remote location via LAN. It also offers benefits when the mainframe controller is mounted at a difficult-to-access location in a test setup where the display on the main frame cannot easily be seen.

The AQ2210 Series can be used with the broad range of existing Yokogawa AQ2200 Series modules, including light sources, sensors and sensor heads, switches, modulators, receivers and interfaces, as well as units for measuring optical return loss, optical attenuation, and BERT testing.