Getting Multifunction Right

Solutions that combine the functionality of two or more separate products have been around for a long time. While the image above serves as both example and go-to metaphor, a quick look around most homes reveals other instances: clock radios, all-in-one printers, and perhaps most clearly these days, smartphones. Multifunction solutions are usually intended to deliver some combination of lower total cost and higher convenience, where convenience can manifest in different ways. In some cases the benefit goes beyond mere convenience and becomes true synergy, where the functions deliver more in combination than they're capable of individually. If that's the dream outcome, the other end of the spectrum is when the constituent functions are unacceptably compromised, without any offsetting benefits. Or the total cost goes in the wrong direction, or the solution becomes too narrow in its appeal. Multiple failure modes are available ?? and it can be a hard thing to get right.

The field of electronic measurement has been fertile ground for multifunction solutions over the years. Even as new product categories have been created, others have been combined, which itself can be a path to a new category. Dedicated voltmeters and ammeters were combined into multimeters. Pulse generators were merged with function generators. In the world of time-domain measurements, HP had oscilloscopes with digital trigger inputs and logic analyzers with analog oscilloscope inputs as far back as 1985. Two years later we had the 16500A platform that supported cross-triggering and time-correlated measurements. It also included a digital pattern generator capability. A watershed event was the 1996 introduction of the 54645D, a mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO) with 2 analog channels plus 16 logic timing channels, implemented with a scope-like user interface and custom ASICs for fast update rates. (The link may take a few seconds to load – it points to an HP Journal issue with articles describing the motivation for and implementation of the product.) The 54645D sold 2X its forecast, created a new category, and led to a stream of subsequent multifunction innovations, the latest of which is the 6-in-1 InfiniiVision 1000-X Series.

In the frequency-domain world, network analyzers have acquired spectrum analyzer functionality and time-domain capabilities too (via inverse transforms). The FieldFox handheld product can perform 2-port network analysis, spectrum analysis, vector voltmeter measurements, power meter measurements, TDR of cables, and much more – up to 10-in-1 functionality at this point. That's quite a punch, for a battery-powered product no less.

Some of Keysight's competitors have made multifunction contributions as well. That's a good thing for the industry, because it spurs innovation and leads to better solutions for customers. In my experience, getting multifunction solutions right requires staying very close to customer needs and artfully applying technology that's been designed with at least some degree of multifunction deployment in mind. Kludging things together without previous design intent usually doesn't work. On the other hand, when the technology has been architected to support multifunction solutions, wonderful outcomes are possible.

This brings us to the Infiniium MXR-Series Keysight introduced last week.

This family of MSOs features models with 4 or 8 full-bandwidth analog channels, and up to 8-in-1 functionality: oscilloscope, logic analyzer, protocol analyzer, DVM, counter, real-time spectrum analyzer, Bode plotter, and waveform generator. They benefit from multifunction learnings first gained at the lower end of the portfolio, the Infiniium GUI, a thoughtful industrial design, and killer hardware and software technology initially deployed at the high end, such as the 10-bit ADC and the 100M+ gate ASIC that helps deliver the the digital downconversion and RTSA capability. They include some new capabilities of their own too, most notably the Fault Hunter.

With all of its hardware and software capabilities, the MXR-Series is both a product family and a powerful solution platform. The features have synergistic benefits in the way they've been combined, and the value for engineers working on design validation and other tasks is high. It gets multifunction right, and I'm especially proud of the teams that have worked so hard to get it released and into the hands of customers during this challenging time.