Abstract: An automated network test system includes an integrated network switch connected to a network under test. The network switch includes a first and second plurality of network switch ports. The network switch further includes a physical layer engine coupled to the first plurality of network switch ports. The network switch also includes at least one processor having a plurality of processing cores that can each asynchronously execute a test execution context and a test engine having a plurality of dynamically configurable function modules. The test engine is coupled to the second plurality of network switch ports, the physical layer engine and at least one processor. The test engine is configured for automatic testing of the network under test.

Abstract: An automated network test system includes an integrated network switch connected to a network under test. The network switch includes a first and second plurality of network switch ports. The network switch further includes a physical layer engine coupled to the first plurality of network switch ports. The network switch also includes at least one processor having a plurality of processing cores that can each asynchronously execute a test execution context and a test engine having a plurality of dynamically configurable function modules. The test engine is coupled to the second plurality of network switch ports, the physical layer engine and at least one processor. The test engine is configured for automatic testing of the network under test.

Abstract: A slider includes a Tunneling Magneto-Resistive (TuMR) read sensor and a shunt resistor connected in parallel. The shunt resistor may be located in a read structure of the slider. The shunt resistor may reduce a total resistance of the read structure and any corresponding impedance mismatch between the read structure, a transmission line, and a preamplifier. The shunt resistor may be made of a material having a near zero thermal coefficient of resistivity (TCR) to test a quality of the TuMR read sensor. The TuMR read sensor may be deemed defective if its TCR deviates from a population average by a specific criterion. The TuMR read sensor may include a MgO tunneling barrier to improve signal strength. The TuMR read sensor may include a free layer that is able to be saturated with a perpendicular background field to calculate a more accurate TCR of the TuMR read sensor.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is provided for measuring a media thermal decay rate for a disk in a disk drive. In one embodiment, reference patterns are written in a plurality of reference sectors on a test track of a disk surface. A thermal decay measurement duration is predetermined. After at least two decades of time longer than the predetermined thermal decay measurement duration have passed since writing the reference patterns in the plurality of reference sectors, sector-under-test patterns are written in a plurality of sectors-under-test, wherein the sectors-under-test and the reference sectors are written in data sectors and alternate with one another about at least a portion of the test track. The mean square error is measured and averaged for the reference sectors, and the mean square error is measured and averaged for the sectors under test.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining a lifetime for a medium to fail due to thermal decay of a magnetization pattern is provided. Different stress magnetic fields are applied to a write head for writing to a machine-readable medium resulting in a magnetic field on the medium. A time to failure, corresponding to each of the different stress magnetic fields, is determined, the time to failure being an amount of time for an amplitude of a signal on the medium to degrade beyond a predetermined failure criteria. A time to failure without a stress magnetic field is determined based on the corresponding times to failure determined for each of the different stress currents.