Cable Tester

SPI-Single-Dual-Quad-Comparison

The Advanced Cable Tester v2 tests USB cables, HDMI cables and Displayport cables for a variety of parameters that normally require many different tools. Among other things, the cable tester checks the continuity of the contacts, the IR drop / DCR, the validity of the E-marker and the signal integrity of the cables. Capturing errors in continuity, IR drop/DCR, e-marker validation, and signal integrity during the manufacturing process is critical.

 

Cable certification

It is therefore important to consider quality control methods at every stage of the manufacturing process. This goes beyond design validation into the assembly line. For this reason, there are specified parameters that cables must meet in order to receive certification. USB IF certification or HDMI cable certification is primarily intended to detect design flaws, nevertheless due to the manufacturing processes it is almost inevitable that the specified tolerances of the cable parameters will be exceeded, which inevitably lead to production errors and damage to devices can cause.

A suitable and uniform quality assurance measure must be found for testing and certifying cables. Because even with third-party testing and certification, bad cables are known to leave the factory and end up in the hands of end users. Appropriate validation of test parameters is particularly important for HDMI cables, which are expensive to manufacture and USB cables which are becoming increasingly complex.

 

Spezifikationen von USB

SpecificationVoltageCurrentPower
USB 1.0 / 1.15 V0,1 A0,5 W
USB 2.05 V0,5 A2,5 W
USB 3.0/3.15 V0, 9-1,5 A7,5 W
USB BC 1.25 V1,5 A7,5 W
USB Typ C5 V3 A 15 W
USB PD5 V / 12 V / 20 V5 A100 W

 

USB cables used to be easier to set up and manufacture, but the development of the USB bus is very dynamic, which means that USB cables are subject to specifications that are becoming more and more complex. Due to the high currents and transmission speeds that a USB cable must support from the USB 3.0 specification, it is a difficult task for manufacturers to meet the high specification and stay within the tolerances for successful certification. Therefore, testing and securing the defective cable is not a necessity in this requirement. However, most cable manufacturers are not willing to test their cables for quality defects. This is simply because they don't have any budget to adequately test the quality of the cables.

 

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Appropriate tool for quality assurance

Although the production costs of the cables are becoming increasingly expensive due to the constantly increasing complexity of the production itself, the selling price of the cables remains the same. That is why the cable productions are all in low-wage countries, especially China. Since reshoring is not an option for most companies, the cables must be checked for quality issues elsewhere.

In order to be able to meet the high divergent requirements at the same or lower price, there is a central starting point through the specified test parameters that can be checked with the Actv2. Buyers and companies in supply chains of large quantities of cables can fall back on the ACTv2 to ensure that there are no quality defects that could cause damage to their devices. With an average test time of 5 seconds per cable and without complicated pre-configurations or necessary calibrations, the ACTv2 can be easily integrated into production chains.

Developing cables that pass the rigorous testing of the Actv2 results in fewer product returns, fewer support calls and minimized product recalls. This offers the user higher profit margins and greater customer satisfaction, which contributes to a good reputation and brand of the company.

 

Testable cable types

  • USB Type C to USB Type C Cable
  • USB Type C to USB Standard A Cable
  • USB Type C to USB Micro B Cable
  • USB Standard A to USB Micro B Cable
  • USB Standard A to USB Standard B Cable
  • MFI Lightning (USB 2.0) to USB Standard A Cable
  • HDMI Cable
  • Displayport Cable