New HP Color-Display Logic Analyzers Push Price/Performance Envelope; Four New Series Offer Easier Viewing, Simpler Correlations and Wide Pricing Flexibility.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 1998-- Hewlett-Packard Company, the world's leading supplier of logic analyzers, has extended the performance range of its benchtop logic analyzers by introducing four flexibly priced series with flat-panel color displays. Color displays make traces of data, timing waveforms and analog signals much easier to view and correlate.

"We are constantly striving to offer more value to our customers," said Patrick J. Byrne, general manager of HP's Colorado Springs Division. "With 15 models to choose from and the combination of price/performance that we offer, our product line simply can't be matched."

Parametric and Mixed-signal Testing

The flagship HP 1660ES series features a built-in, two-channel digital oscilloscope with integrated triggering and the ability to display analog signals with logic analyzer data. The scope offers 500MHz bandwidth, two-gigasamples-per-second sampling rate and 32K samples of memory. An integrated oscilloscope is most useful when both the triggering capability of a logic analyzer and the high resolution of an oscilloscope are needed to uncover tough hardware problems. For example, users can track elusive problems rapidly by viewing state, timing and analog information simultaneously on the analyzer screen using time-correlated markers.

Hardware Simulation and Stimulus-response Testing

For designers who need to perform functional test on systems when some of their subsystems are incomplete, the HP 1660EP series provides a built-in, 32-channel pattern generator.

Testing components early in the design process can decrease development time significantly. Users can stimulate devices under test to see how they respond to specific signals or clock speeds. Complex stimulus programs can be generated by using program macros, repeat loops, initialization and wait commands. The HP 1660EP series provides 100 million vectors per second and a 256K-vector deep-stimulus program. Its pattern generator also can provide 200 million vectors per second over as many as 16 channels, as needed.

Complex Debugging and Trouble-shooting with Deep Memory

The HP 1670E series includes one megasample of memory depth per channel as a standard feature to accommodate the need for deep memory in complex debugging. Deep-memory capture, needed whenever the symptoms of a problem are widely separated from their cause, saves debugging time because it provides a comprehensive view of system behavior. With deep acquisition memory, software engineers can view long periods of code execution, and hardware engineers can capture deep traces of timing information.

General-purpose Logic Analyzers

For designers who desire solid performance in a logic analyzer at an attractive price, the HP 1660E series provides a high degree of reliability at the lowest price in the new family of HP benchtop logic analyzers.

Key Features -0-

     Each of the four new series provides the following:

--   a 2GB hard-disk drive;
--   a 1.44MB DOS floppy drive;
--   a Centronics printer port;
--   HP-IB and RS-232 programmability;
--   LAN (local area network) connections for remote operation; and
--   file formats for ASCII data, as well as PCX, TIFF and EPS screen
     shots.

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The 1660ES, EP and E series have four models with 34, 68, 102, or 136 channels each. The HP 1670E series' three versions -- 68-channel, 102-channel and 136-channel -- can be seen in booth No. 1038 at the Embedded Systems Conference, which will be held at the San Jose Convention Center in downtown San Jose, Calif., Nov. 3 to 5.

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U.S. Pricing and Availability

--   HP 1660ES series with built-in oscilloscope starts at $14,000
--   HP 1660EP series with built-in pattern generator starts at 10,300
--   HP 1670E series deep-memory logic analyzers start at 14,000
--   HP 1660E series general-purpose logic analyzers start at 7,000

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About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 125,300 employees and had revenue of $42.9 billion in its 1997 fiscal year.

Information about HP benchtop logic analyzers is online at http://www.hp.com/go/benchtopLA.

NOTE TO THE EDITOR: Sales information may be obtained by calling 1-800-452-4844 ext. 6102. Please do NOT use editor-contact or corporate telephone numbers for sales information.

Information in this release applies specifically to products available in the United States. Product availability and specifications may vary in non-U.S. markets.

If you choose to review this item, your readers will receive the quickest response to their inquiries by mailing them to Hewlett-Packard Company, Test and Measurement Organization, 5301 Stevens Creek Blvd., MS 54LAK, Santa Clara, Calif. 95052.