Software architecture requirements for DoD automatic test systems

The DoD has achieved success with recent automatic test equipment (ATE) families, as evidenced by the navy's consolidated automated support system (CASS) and the army's integrated family of test equipment (IFTE) programs. However, as these systems age, the increased requirements for technology insertion due to instrument obsolescence and the demands of advanced electronics are becoming evident. Recent advances in test technology promise to yield reduced total ownership costs (TOC) for ATE which can incorporate the new technology. The DoD automatic test system (ATS) executive agent office (EAO) objective is to significantly reduce total ownership cost. Several objectives have been identified including use of synthetic instruments, support for legacy test product sets (TPSs), and more efficient ways of developing TPSs. The NxTest software architecture will meet the objectives by providing an open systems approach to the system software. This will allow for the incorporation of commercial applications in the TPS development and execution environments and support current advances in test technology     

自动测试系统通用性的实现技术

文章分析了与开发通用ATS密切相关的标准/规范,从软、硬件两方面讨论了ATS通用性的实现途径,包括硬件配置及接口技术、IVI技术以及面向信号方法。ATS通用性的实现可以实现被测对象的跨平台测试以及测试程序的可移植,能带来显著的军事及经济效益。     

COTS software design minimizes ATS lifecycle cost

This paper identifies the design features of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software that impact the lifecycle cost of automatic test system (ATS) solutions and provides a set of design guidelines. It demonstrates that the architecture of COTS software must be modular, based on correct functional allocation, should possess distribution capabilities, and contain open interfaces that remain backwards compatible. In the case of COTS development tools, the programmatic interface should be simple, extensible, and enforced in the development environment.     

Development of a TPS reuse library using COTS tools

In the past, functional test requirements (FTR) or test requirement documents (TRD) and test program sets (TPS) were standalone items developed by individual engineers. In some cases, one engineer would write the FTR/TRD and another would develop the TPS. Commercial ATLAS FTRs are prepared in ARINC 616 and 626 ATLAS. Military TRDs are written in IEEE ATLAS 716 versions. Previous test reuse attempts have not been successful because additional software, like browsers, is required to support these efforts. It was difficult to justify writing new software; for example, browsers to manage the application software. Today, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) tools are in place to browse and view information from circuit diagrams to documents to source code. These tools can develop hierarchies to organize the information. These COTS tools are available throughout Boeing on many types of workstations and personal computers on every engineer's desk. This paper discusses how a reusable test library (RTL) is being developed using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) tools, such as Mosaic, to address commercial and military test applications. It describes each of the tools and the process to develop TPSs using the reuse library. It defines the metrics and benefits achieved     

Successful deployment of commercial ATE to an Air Force I-level (back-shop) repair facility

In today's world of constrained budgets, one of the problems the military faces is the challenge of trying to maintain organic maintenance capabilities. Historically, the US Air Force has desired to achieve an autonomous capability to maintain the equipment it uses. This has been achieved, traditionally, by setting-up three levels of maintenance: organizational; intermediate (back-shop); and depot. The I-level back-shops often utilize militarized automatic test equipment (ATE) and test program sets (TPSs) to test today's complex aircraft line replaceable units (LRUs). And even though this is still a cost-effective maintenance philosophy, it has become costly to develop militarized ATE. The Department of Defense (DoD) has been very active in trying to reduce the total ownership cost of ATE in the government inventory. One approach is to utilize commercial, instead of Mil-Spec, ATE. However, utilizing commercial ATE at an USAF back-shop is not without its tradeoffs and challenges as it represents a significant deviation from the way the USAF maintenance squadrons are accustomed to "doing business." This paper documents the current success story of replacing the legacy C-17 I-level ATE with a commercial ATE.     

基于PXI及GPIB总线的自动测试系统设计

通过使用自动测试设备来代替大量专用测试设备,不仅可以降低成本,而且可以有效的提高测试效率.介绍了基于PXI总线和GPIB总线的自动测试系统设计,从硬件和软件两个方面详细说明了系统的设计方法.系统具有模块化、层次化和开放式的特点,便于维护和升级.     

Bridging the gap between ATLAS and C: an open-systems approach toTPS re-host

As the DoD focuses on commercialization and open-architecture standards, the need to migrate existing TPSs from proprietary ATLAS-based platforms to an Open Systems platform becomes more critical. This paper will focus on a solution which leverages COTS software tools and emerging industry standards and technologies to implement object-oriented database tools which enable the conversion of an ATLAS TPS to an ANSI C environment     

Rehosting legacy test program sets from military ATE

This paper describes some of the key issues developers must address in a test program set (TPS) rehosting plan. Examples and success stories are used to describe the translation of three legacy test program sets onto modern board test equipment, thereby extending the useful life of fielded systems and preserving the considerable investment made in developing the TPSs     

Smart test program set (TPS)

The Boeing Company has several research and development efforts focused on improving interoperability of the test station with other external systems as well as the interoperability within the test station itself. This includes integrating UUT data, test set-up, test execution, test results, repair and replace actions with other systems to provide a "closed-loop" system. One example of the "closed-loop" system is a non-intrusive tool referred to as Smart TPS (Test Program Set). Smart TPS will provide informational services to the user that reduce diagnostic test times and provide an ordered list of replacement actions based on historical data. Where possible, data are exchanged via the automatic test markup language (ATML).     

Reconfigurable COTS test systems

Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) systems are used to qualify, accept, and troubleshoot electronic products. ATE systems may be in the form of large general-purpose systems that can test a wide variety of products or the more commonly used custom, turnkey systems that are designed for specific test application(s) and requirements. Turnkey ATE systems are labor-intensive; as a result, even a relatively simple turnkey tester is costly and may take months (or even years) to develop, integrate, and deploy. The main reason for this aspect of turnkey ATE systems is that even though the instrumentation may be off-the-shelf components, most everything else is custom and requires design, development, extensive debug and integration. Time and again, systems integrators have tried to find a solution that would combine the cost effectiveness of COTS systems with the flexibility of custom ATE. This paper suggests a solution to this problem and that it is feasible to combine COTS testers with custom requirements. This solution, called CreATE, provides a flexible architecture using COTS components (including instruments, cabling and interfacing products)     

Using built-in-test to reduce TPS run times and improve TPSreliability

This paper addresses using information derived from Built-in-Test (BIT) to fault diagnose Units Under Test (UUTs), wherever possible. This philosophic approach to diagnostic testing is not new. It has been studied over the past 20 years under the visor of “Integrated Diagnostics”, but it has yet to be truly implemented in a “real life” military diagnostic test environment. The mindset of Test Program Set design engineering, along with customer and contractor management alike, remains “complete diagnostic testing based upon single catastrophic component failure modes”. If we are to generate cost efficient Test Program Sets (TPSs) under reduced military budget constraints, this will have to change! The test engineer must be encouraged to use methodologies to speed up development time and decrease TPS run times. Using present technology, this is possible now, and as the technology matures, will become a truly viable approach in the future. For the purpose of this paper, the author relies heavily on his extensive US Navy Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) and Test Program Set (TPS) experience, as well as on previous studies performed on using BIT to fault diagnose Unit Under Test failures on US Naval Air weapon systems     

VLSTA: virtual instrument standard test architecture

Diagrammatic programming environments provide a unique challenge for the developers of test software. These cost effective environments facilitate access to technologies such as VXI, provide speedy development of highly effective user interfaces, and eliminate many of the tasks often associated with hardware integration in complex test systems. Nonetheless, difficulties can arise when designing functional and diagnostic test software in this environment. This paper introduces VISTA, a promising new architecture which allows users to elude most of the difficulties of building detailed functional and diagnostic Test Program Sets (TPSs), while taking full advantage of the benefits of diagrammatic programming environments. Here we examine an implementation of the VISTA architecture, the integration of advanced diagnostics, and the use of diagrammatic programming as a test language cross compiler     

Implementing reusable, instrument independent test programs in thefactory

Development of computer programs that control test sequences on Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) is costly and time consuming. Test Programs are usually written by specifying the instruments to be used in the ATE and the sequence of the setup and measurement parameters for these instruments. Reuse of test program software on other ATE is usually not possible without rewriting, revalidating and re-releasing the programs. This paper describes an implementation of a test program software development system and a standard of software runtime architecture used in our factories. The object-oriented development environment and its associated class libraries allow test programs to be written without knowledge of the ATE on which they will be run. Two main principles guided the design: the software architecture was based on recognized formal and industry standards; and our implementation used commercial off-the-shelf software products when possible. Emerging standards such as the IEEE-1226 (ABBET) as well as defacto industry standards including VXI Plug and Play have made our implementation possible. The current draft of the ABBET and P&P standards do not promote this instrument independence, but it is hoped that this will be added as the standards mature. Three immediate benefits are: cost savings that result from reusing validated test programs; cycle time reductions that result from concurrently developing test program software and ATE; and software defect reductions that result from using proven software     

Generic training for ATE technicians

It is argued that the job of an automatic test equipment (ATE) technician is evolving toward that of a computer operator. The technician has automatic tools (test programs) written for every replaceable unit in his test set. The technician selects which test is run. During the test the technician is presented results and given options if a test fails. If the option called out by the test program does not fix the problem, the technician must go back into his tool box (his library of test programs) and select the right tool to do the job. This is true for a technician working on any piece of ATE. It is contended that training for these technicians should be centered around troubleshooting skills with initially less emphasis on the hardware implementation details. These skills could be developed with a genetic trainer     

Embedded information system re-engineering

Currently fielded embedded information systems face readiness challenges imposed by evolving missions and extended service lifespans. The ability to overcome these challenges is constrained by such factors as shrinking budgets, limited computational capacity and diminished manufacturing sources effects that impact both hardware and software options. Wholesale redevelopment is often cost prohibitive, particularly since large portions of embedded applications continue to fulfil mission requirements. Solutions must preserve prior investments while providing efficient pathways for continued technology refresh. A technology solution for affordable modernization of legacy system software is being development. The Embedded Information System Re-engineering (EISR) project is developing an automation-assisted JOVIAL-to-C re-engineering capability that permits simultaneous modernization of both the structure and source language of legacy embedded applications. Engineers will be able to apply the proven labor-saving visualization and analysis features of modern CASE tools to legacy JOVIAL applications. EISR will thus allow the DoD to recapture previous investments in proven legacy algorithms and mission capabilities while permitting the full exploitation of COTS economies of scale. This paper describes in brief the goals and objectives of the EISR project, and provides the current status of the EISR capability.     

军用自动测试系统的标准化研究

针对保障装备标准化方面存在的不足,提出了相应的解决措施,同时对自动测试系统涉及的系统研制及软件开发、硬件接口、测试与诊断信息等国际标准进行了研究,为我国军用自动测试系统的标准化工作提供借鉴与参考.     

Automated testing

Since the DoD was the leader in incorporating transistors, ICs and embedded processors, they also were on the forefront in developing automatic test equipment. The term automatic test equipment (ATE) encompasses all phases of computer controlled testing. It is based on the integration of instruments, computers and software. These systems generally include five basic elements: control, stimulus, measurement, switching and software. A special interface device or interface test adapter connects the unit under test (UUT) to the ATE. Test program software connects the ATE to the appropriate UUT test points, programs the input stimulus and monitors the output response     

Shared technologies: a new roadmap

The long-term goal of the USAF Shared Technologies Program is to facilitate the development of a roadmap for technology insertion on the wide variety of legacy Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) accumulated by the USAF over the past 30 years. A successful roadmap will provide for Operation & Support (O&S) cost reduction, preserve Test Program Set (TPS) development investments, and evolve in concert with the DoD Executive Agent for Automatic Test Systems (ATS) initiatives and commercial industry, and (e.g., NxTest) changes. The near-term objective of this phase of the USAF Shared Technologies Program is to demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating available commercial technology into the Radio Frequency (RF) Mobile Electronic Test Set (RFMETS). The RFMETS was originally delivered to the USAF during the early 1990s and is used to support a variety of C-130 avionics including the APQ-170 and APQ-180 Radar Systems.     

Open systems architecture solutions for military avionics testing

Raytheon makes extensive use of open systems architecture methods in developing special test equipment (STE) for testing military avionics equipment. Such use has resulted in significant cost and schedule savings in the development of production test equipment for radar and infrared systems. With open systems architectures, a test system can be assembled using COTS products. This brings economies of scale to test equipment, which is normally built in very low quantities. Therefore, the potential cost savings due to COTS usage is proportionately greater in STE than in the higher volume avionics systems that are tested. A second major benefit of using COTS products is that test system development schedule cycle time is greatly reduced. This paper describes the application of Open Systems Architectures (OSA) to avionics testing. The following major architectures are surveyed: VME bus, VXI bus, IEEE GPIB, IEEE 1149.1 JTAG test bus, 1553 Military Bus, Fibre Channel, and COTS Test Applications Software. We describe how the benefits of OSA have been extended at Raytheon into achieving vertical test commonalities. The flexibility of OSA can be exploited to provide an overall optimum test solution, taking all levels of test into account. For example, test systems can be tailored with COTS products to provide integrated methods for avionics tests at the module, unit, and system levels. Test systems can be configured to maximize the reuse of COTS hardware over all test levels. Test software can also be programmed to optimize such reuse over levels of test. Additional test verticality synergies derived from such OSA usage are described, including: test false alarm avoidance; test cones of tolerance optimization; and efficient test of field returns     

机载计算机ATE计量校准软件的研究与设计

全面有效地计量校准军用ATE,对保证其正确性有效性非常重要.设计开发ATE计量校准程序,可以实现ATE自动化整体原位校准,提高计量保障效率和测试质量.介绍了机栽计算机ATE计量校准软件的系统结构,重点讨论了计量校准程序结构和面向信号的程序开发方法,最后描述了计量校准程序流程和实现方法.