The increasing importance of instrumentation in all phases of design, development, manufacture, deployment, and maintenance of electronic systems has prompted us to add this entirely new section to this edition of the handbook. It complements Sec. 15, Measurement Circuits, but deals with the instruments themselves and how they are used.

The first two chapters are devoted to instruments for measuring basic parameters: current, voltage, frequency, and time. Chapter 25.3 covers signal sources, and Chap. 25.4 logic analyzers.

Arguably the most powerful instrument, the oscilloscope, is treated in some detail in Chap. 25.5. During its 60-year history, it has been constantly improved in performance and sophistication.

Chapter 25.6 deals with reconfigurable instruments. One example would be configuring a portable ground support test system for military avionics from VXI modules configured in a dual-rack structure. Finally, the embedment of sensor- and computer-based instrumentation into complex systems can enable the implementation of self-repair concepts.

The editors wish to thank Stephen E. Grossman, a consultant to Agilent Technologies, for his invaluable assistance in organizing this section. C.A.

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