Increasing DMM Measurement Throughput

The vast majority of electronic tests involve using a digital multimeter (DMM) at one time or another. There are a variety of ways to reduce DMM measurement times to improve overall test throughput. Of course, test time improvements sometimes require compromises in other areas, but knowing the tradeoffs involved in throughput improvements and identifying what is important in your specific test situation will help you determine which trade-offs make the most sense.

Auto zero: Accuracy versus test time Auto zero is a DMM feature that helps you improve accuracy. When you use the auto zero feature, the DMM makes an additional zeroing measurement with each measurement you make, thereby eliminating the offsets of the amplifier and integration stages inside the DMM. However, turning this feature off cuts the measurement time in half. These offsets are initially calibrated out, but the offsets can drift slightly with a change in temperature. Therefore, if your measurements are taken in an environment with a stable temperature, or if there are several measurements taken in a short period of time (temperature changes occur over longer periods of time), the improvements in throughput by turning auto zero off will far outweigh any slight compromise in accuracy. For example, with auto zero off in a stable environment, the Keysight 34460A/61A/65A/70A DMMs typically adds only an additional 0.0002% of range +5 μV for DCV or +5 mΩ for resistance accuracy specification. Note that with auto zero off, any range, function, or integration time setting change can cause a single auto zero cycle to be performed on the first reading using the new setting. Consequently, turning auto zero off and constantly changing settings defeats the time savings advantage. Check your DMM auto zero operation to be sure of the circumstances leading to an advantage from this change.

DMM Digital Multimeters

Reduce the number of changes Changing functions or measurement ranges also requires extra time in most DMMs. Try to group your measurements to minimize function changes and range changes. For example, if you make some voltage measurements and some resistance measurements, try to do all of the voltage measurements together and all the resistance measurements together instead of changing back and forth from one function to the other. Also, try to group your low-voltage measurements together and your high-voltage measurements together to minimize range changing. Voltage ranges above 10 V use a mechanical attenuator that takes time to switch in and out. Grouping your measurements by function and range will reduce your measurement times considerably.

Auto range variations Auto range time can sometimes contribute to longer test times, but not always. The time to auto range varies with the DMM design. DMMs using flash A/D converters and parallel gain amplifiers can actually reduce test times by using auto ranging, since the time to change ranges is zero. In these cases, the time to issue a range change command from a host computer and parse the command in the instrument will be slower. Manual ranging of integrating DMMs is still the fastest way to take a measurement. Manual ranging also allows you to keep the DMM on a fixed range, which eliminates unwanted zero measurements and prevents the mechanical attenuator from needlessly actuating. Note that the I/O speed and range command parse time for the Keysight 34460A/61A/65A/70A DMM is significantly faster than the auto range algorithm.

Integration time versus noise Integration time is another parameter over which you have direct control, but there is a clear tradeoff. DMMs integrate their measurements over a set period of time: the integration time. The biggest benefit to choosing a longer integration time is it eliminates unwanted noise from contributing to your measurement, especially AC mains line voltage noise. However, longer integration times obviously increase your measurement times. For example, if the integration time is set to an integral number of power line cycles (NPLCs) such as 1, 2, 10, or 100, the power line noise contribution will be minimized due to averaging over a longer period of time and due to increasing the normal mode rejection (NMR). With an NPLC setting of 10 in a 60-Hz environment, the integration time is 166 ms (200 ms for a 50-Hz line). The larger the integral NPLC value, the larger the NMR (for example, 60 Hz rejection), but the longer the measurement time.

DMMs are used in virtually all electronic test systems; therefore, making conscious choices about how to make DMM measurements can save large amounts of test time, thereby increasing throughput. Here is a helpful checklist for better throughput:

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