CIS9942 has been withdrawn from the product list as it has been replaced with EMC Compliance3 Immunity software

CIS9942 releases

• v4.32 May 2000
  • Service Pack 1 available October 2000
  • Service Pack 2 available May 2001
• v4.31 September 1999
• v4.10
• v4.00 and before

Changes Made:

• Support for the user configurability of the micro symbol has been placed in the language files. The user must open the appropriate language file using Wordpad or Notepad, and go to translation entry 705 and place the symbol that he/she requires to be displayed as the micro symbol.
• Frequency increment change to allow 0.005% increments

Bug Reports Cleared:

• Continue after pause estimates stress wrongly
• Step increase operates incorrectly
• No calibration data error if start of test and start of cal file are different frequencies
• IEEE access problems (we stopped allowing real names and only permitted "dev3" or "3" - this was a NI driver software change which we had to programme around)
• Dwell time (automotive substitution) cannot be changed
• Graph data point orientation incorrect in landscape mode

Automotive

• Closed Loop and Substitution levelling methods.
• Two power meters (or one meter with two probes) can be used.
• Display of forward, reverse and net power.
• If the Substitution method is chosen, the user can specify a limit (default 2 dB). The level will not be moved upward by more than this amount even if the stress is not achieved. The user can also choose not to move the level at all, or to move the level by any amount required to achieve the stress.
• The calibration and test will be performed with the modulation on if the instruments can measure this accurately.
• Previous versions of CIS9942 imposed a maximum step size for the frequency when using Automotive Substitution. This was based on a standard definition for the test. These restrictions have now been removed in version 4.31 and user defined increments are now accepted. Automotive Substitution Levelling to Forward Power An additional levelling method has been added named '(Automotive) Substitution - Forward Power'. This is essentially the same as automotive substitution, but the forward power reading is used for levelling instead of the Net Power reading. This is as a result from a user request.

Chamber Calibration

• EN 61000-4-3 (1997) and IEC61000-4-3 1995) analysis.
• Five spot and one spot scans.
• Chamber calibration data can be restored if the PC crashes. The calibration that was running when it crashed is not restored, but any previous unsaved calibrations are restored.
• Previous versions of CIS9942 only allowed the chamber file to be saved once it is complete. The problem with this is that if all points were being tested in one go and CIS bombs out, there is now way of saving the data. A facility to save the Chamber file after each measurement has now been implemented. All the user needs to do is to tick the “Prompt to save after each measurement”, the CIS 9942, will prompt the user to save the Chamber file after each measurement.

Others

• The power meter is now read and displayed if it is present, even if the levelling method does not require it (Active Levelling or Return to Signal Generator Settings).
• The CIS can now accept hexadecimal or exponential values from an instrument.
• Any alphabetic character can be used as a terminator.
• Readings presented in a fixed format but without delimiters can now be processed.
• Key codes are now stored in the dongle.This means that only the Softlock dongles can now be used. The Activator dongle (black or yellow) is no longer recognised.
• More drivers have been included (see below).
• The FP1000 drivers have been renamed FM1000 and vice versa.
• The instrument driver files can now be displayed, edited and printed from within CIS.
• CIS 9942 can now address IEEE devices with an address greater than 16. Additionally the user can enter the address in the form “devX” or just “X”, where X is the device address. This enhancement has been tested with version 2.6 of the National Instruments GPIB software (earliest version available) on a Windows 95 Platform.
• In previous versions of CIS 9942, when starting a segment the Signal Generator is set to its lowest value, and will then ramp up at 6 dBm. This is now user programmable in the “RF Stress Setup” by entering the appropriate value in the default level increment fields. This level is programmable for each segment! The lowest permitted value is 0.1 dBm. There is no upper limit (however, the software ensures that the max level is never exceeded). This enhancement has resulted in a minor change in the setup files (segment section). A new entry in the format of “Seg.SigLevInc=”, where x is the segment number and y is the dBm value to increase (default 6dBm). To ensure backward compatibility, files without this entry will default to 6dBm.
• When running a test, if the first target stress for each segment is not achieved (which would be as a result of that target never being able to be obtained in the first place), a message box will be displayed informing the operator. The test will then be abandoned after the user has acknowledged this. Run Time Error Fix The previous version (4.30) of CIS 9942 developed a run-time error when tests were set-up without a power amplifier in the configuration. This fault is difficult to reproduce, but the fix implemented will prevent any further run-time errors.
• The number of spot frequencies for testing has been increased from 100 to 160. 160 is the limit imposed by the 16 bit version software compiler, therefore, it will not be possible to increase this limit in the future and keep support for 16 bit platforms such as Windows 3.x. This fix has other implications, in that memory that has now been used for the spot frequencies may not be used for additional enhancements.
• Earlier versions of CIS required the user to examine the table to determine whether the CIS was able to level within the levelling window. CIS 9942 Version 4.31 simplifies this in the following ways: During a calibration run, if the target stress level was no achieved after 30 attempts the target stress cell and actual stress cell on the calibration results table will be highlighted in red. During an actual test the user can set-up a new column heading. This is achieved by loading the appropriate setup and selecting the “Display Format” window. From the “Column Type” selection list, there is one named, “Levelling Failed”. Selecting this option will produce a column on the results table with the heading supplied by the user. During a test, if the CIS is unable to achieve the levelling window for the respective frequency, a blue cross will appear in the “Levelling Failed” column, otherwise the column will be blank.

Bug Fixes

• The signal generator output is switched off while instruments are zeroing.
• The signal generator output is switched off before error messages are displayed.
• The user can abort more quickly at the start of a test or calibration.
• Data is now displayed and stored to three decimal places.
• Spot frequencies are now dealt with correctly in Manual Test and Manual Control on Failures.
• Spot scans are now displayed correctly.
• Closing the setup form now only brings up the 'Do you wish to save...' dialog if anything has been changed.
• The printer is switched to landscape mode in a different way, which should ensure the printer is always set to the correct format.
• Template files are now installed without the user being asked for permission to overwrite a

Changes

• Minimum system requirements are increased to Windows '95 in a 120MHz Pentium with 32MB RAM.
• A new test is available: Bulk Current Injection
• The user can perform a two stage calibration used when only one power meter is available.
• The user can set a forward power limit and/or a current limit. All tests will check for these limits as well as the signal generator limit.
• The frequency is now sent to all instruments that can accept it.
• The user can define a start level for the signal generator instead of -107dBm.
• The user is asked for the software key code the first time the software is run. The user does not have to enter a valid number but will be asked each time the software is run if a Software Key Code is not entered. This is not requested if a dongle is not present.
• The driver files can now have any number of sections in any order. Each section can have up to 5 commands (.setup has a limit of 100 commands) which are sent to the instrument at the appropriate time. Existing driver files will work without modification.
• There are new or updated driver files for a number of instruments.
• Amplifiers can now be controlled. See CBA9145.amp for details of the file structure.
• Transducer factors can now be used by limiter, power meter and monitoring instruments as well as stress instruments.
• Configuration files have a new format. Existing files may be used without modification but new files cannot be used by earlier versions of this software.
• A setup can be altered and a test or calibration carried out without saving the alterations.
• The calibration filename can be added to the setup automatically when the calibration is saved.
• Logic level control of monitors or amplifiers is now possible using the Computerboards Inc CIO-DAS08/Jr-A0 I/O control board.
• Long names are used on all forms instead of the DOS file names.
• There is a new button on the Help > About dialogue which displays a form showing details of all the driver files present in the default directories.
• The test graph uses frequency limits from the setup instead of the calibration
• Levelling now exits after two more iterations when the signal generator reaches its maximum limit.

• Programming language changed from VB3 to VB4 16 bit version.