If you throw all the products we buy and the services we use in one basket, then add up the price tag, that's the Gross Domestic Product, which is the primary metric economists use to assess the economic health of a country or region.

The easy part of calculating GDP is the calculation itself: C+I+G+(X-M)=GDP. Got it? No? Well, add Consumption, Investment by companies, Government purchases, and then take the product of eXports (calling it 'E' would lack sexiness) minus iMports ('I' was taken). Viola! GDP.

Still don't get it? Well, knowing the components helps. Consumption is the biggest component, and it's a tally of the cost of all the goods and services we buy. Investment is what companies spend on the real assets they own, plus the value of the inventory that we haven't gobbled up through consumption. Government purchases are what the Feds pay money for (whether it be highways or fighter jets, though big social programs, like welfare, aren't counted). And then we calculate the difference between the goods and services we¿re sending to other countries and the stuff we're bringing in.

Good. That explains it, except there's a catch. Inflation has a habit of distorting the numbers, so economists talk about either Nominal GDP or Real GDP. In fact, Real GDP isn't necessarily "real" for most folks, since it takes any inflation out. Nominal GDP includes the effects of inflation. (There's something called the implicit price deflator which is a calculation using the two, but we'll spare you the details.)

So, now that we know GDP, why do we want to? Well, it's good to compare different markets. And watching the trend shows whether a given economy is growing (good), stagnating (not so good), or shrinking (very not so good). When GDP goes down two quarters in a row, we're officially in a recession.

For the record, GDP is released at the end of each month, with most reporting ¿preliminary¿ data for the previous month. But you won't get final GDP numbers for the fourth quarter of a year until the very end of the first quarter of the next year. After all, it's not an easy number to calculate.

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Tuesday, July 01, 2008

TRADE NEWS: Agilent Technologies Introduces Most Reliable Link Test Solution for OBSAI Standard Interconnects

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SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jul 01, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) today announced a complete link test solution for Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI) interconnects, supporting Reference Point 3, RP3-01, Reference Point 1, and Ethernet Interfaces used between the BaseBand subsystem and Radiohead subsystems within a base station architecture. This is the most reliable link test solution for OBSAI interconnects. It accelerates hardware and software debug, and reduces interoperability testing time, enabling earlier availability of OBSAI-based systems in the market.

The emergence of standard high-speed electrical and optical, protocol-based interconnects between subsystems in base stations is driving changes in the debug and test methodologies; interoperability and robust testing are becoming increasingly important. In addition, as all subsystems may not be present during the test time, it becomes crucial to emulate missing devices to ensure proper operation of the device under test.

Agilent's test platform provides multichannel stimulus and real-time analysis capabilities with frame decoding for extensive link layer test. These capabilities accelerate development by providing bit-level to frame-level functionality, hierarchical protocol display and automated tools for test-vector generation that allow users to efficiently emulate, troubleshoot and verify designs.

Because reliability is essential for base stations, it is critical to validate the performance of each subsystem with test equipment that has a high level of reliability. To maximize the accuracy and dependability of the measurement results, Agilent has performed intensive subsystem validation in addition to working closely with the key equipment manufacturers in the marketplace. The Agilent base station link test module provides deterministic error injection capabilities on multiple channels combined with error-triggering and error-occurrence counting reports.

Since OBSAI architectures are modular and scalable, one of the key requirements for the test environment is to offer the same degree of scalability. Thanks to the modular architecture of the Agilent platform, the test environment can be extended to fit exactly with the subsystem's test needs. Moreover, the logic analyzer-based software environment helps each user customize the views according to his or her own test needs.

"The introduction of this solution illustrates Agilent's commitment to use its expertise in logic, serial protocol and network test to help our customers transform mobile device architectures to digital technologies with a new set of tools that are well integrated into the wireless use model," said Sigi Gross, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Digital Test Division.

U.S. Pricing and Availability

The Agilent N5341A base station link test module and N5340A base station test module extension are available now. Pricing for the N5341A starts at $80,000 The N5340A starts at $30,000.

Information about Agilent's OBSAI test solutions is available at www.agilent.com/find/obsai. Product photos are available at www.agilent.com/find/obsai_images.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is the world's premier measurement company and a technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company's 19,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenues of $5.4 billion in fiscal 2007. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Sales information is available by calling +1 800 829 4444, item number 8225. Please do NOT use editor contact or corporate telephone numbers for sales and product information.

Information in this news release applies specifically to products available in the United States. Product availability and specifications may vary in other markets.

If you choose to review this item, your readers will receive the quickest response to their inquiries by mailing them to Agilent Technologies, Test and Measurement Organization, 5301 Stevens Creek Blvd., MS 54LAK, Santa Clara, CA 95052.

Further technology, corporate citizenship and executive news are available on the Agilent news site at www.agilent.com/go/news.

SOURCE: Agilent Technologies Inc.

Agilent Technologies Inc. Janet Smith,
   +1-970-679-5397 janet_smith@agilent.com or Weber Shandwick, for Agilent Johanna Vallecillo, +1-408-685-0615 jvallecillo@webershandwick.com

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