The IEEE TC-10 Standards: Update 2019

There is a global need to standardize the terms and the test and computational methods that are used to describe and/or measure the parameters that characterize and define the performance of devices that generate signals and subsequently measure and analyze the waveforms acquired of those signals. This standardization is essential for accurate, reproducible, reliable, and communicable characterization of the performance of these devices, which supports technology and product advancement, product comparison and performance tracking, and device calibration and traceability. Users of the devices need to unambiguously specify the device performance required for particular applications. Manufacturers need to unambiguously state the performance of their devices (e.g., instruments, components, etc.). Metrology facilities need to perform calibrations with well-defined methods to produce reliable data expressed in clear terms. Measurement instruments need to acquire data with well-defined methods and present their results clearly. Technical Committee 10 (TC-10), the Waveform Generation, Measurement, and Analysis Committee of the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement (I&M) Society, develops documentary standards to address these needs. The TC-10 comprises an international group of electronics engineers, mathematicians, professors and physicists with representatives from national metrology laboratories, national science laboratories, component manufacturers, the test instrumentation industry, academia, and end users. The published standards developed and maintained by the TC10 include: IEEE Std 181-2011, "Standard on Transitions, Pulses, and Related Waveforms;" IEEE Std 1057-2017, "Standard for Digitizing Waveform Recorders;" IEEE Std 1241-2010, "Standard for Terminology and Test Methods for Analog-to-Digital Converters;" IEEE Std 1658-2011, "Standard for Terminology and Test Methods for Digital-to-Analog Converters;" and the IEEE Std 1696-2013, "Standard for Terminology and Test Methods for Circuit Probes." In development is the IEEE Draft Std. P2414 "Draft Standard for Jitter and Phase Noise." The status of these standards are described herein.