Sustainment of legacy automatic test systems: lessons learned on TPS transportability

Sustainment of legacy automatic test systems (ATS) saves cost through the re-use of software and hardware. The ATS consists of the automatic test equipment (ATE), the test program sets (TPSs), and associated software. The associated software includes the architecture the TPSs run on, known as the control software or test station test executive. In some cases, to sustain the legacy ATS, it is more practical to develop a replacement ATE with the latest instrumentation, often in the form of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software. The existing TPSs, including their hardware and test programs, then need to be transported, or translated, to the new test station. In order to understand how to sustain a legacy ATS by translating TPSs, one must realize the full architecture of the legacy ATS to be replaced. It must be understood that TPS transportability does not only include translating the original TPS from an existing language (such as ATLAS) to a new language (such as "C") to run on a new test station, but includes transporting the run-time environment created by the legacy ATS. This paper examines the similarities and differences of legacy ATE and modern COTS ATE architectures, how the ATS testing philosophy impacts the ease of TPS transportability from legacy ATE to modern-day platforms, and what SEI has done to address the issues that arise out of TPS transportability.     

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)     

New approaches to weapon system testing or “back to thefuture”

This paper proposes abandoning the use of multipurpose ATE for “horizontal” support of weapon systems in favor of returning to “vertical” support. An R&D effort is proposed to develop a software “hot mock-up” system for field testing weapon system assemblies     

C-17 successful application of existing automatic test equipment

The C-17 Program utilizes existing B-1B Automatic Test Equipment (ATE). The C-17 decision is in harmony with the Air Force emphasis on reducing proliferation of unique ATE. The ATE selection was made after consideration of cost, performance and supportability tradeoffs. Minimal augmentation of the government inventoried equipment was required which did not affect the existing hardware and software configuration, This approach significantly reduced C-17 program ATE development costs and afforded the program the use of established logistics elements and support structure. The C-17 program demanded concurrency of support structure and aircraft development-the ATE solution met that demand by reducing risks to a manageable level for both test program set development, and Air Force operation and training requirements     

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     

Teaching old tricks to new dogs [automatic test equipment]

This describes why transferring test programs and fixtures from obsolete automatic test equipment (ATE) to new equipment are not as simple as it should be. No one would argue that technology has made major advances on test in the last 30 years. Today, speed, overall performance, computing power, and software tools are more sophisticated than 20 or 30 years ago, when the first ATE appeared. As these ATE now head for retirement and as the programs they support still have a long life to live, one would think legacy replacement with new ATE would be a simple task. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case. We realize that old ATE had a number of cards up their sleeves to deal with. For example, high voltage technology, lack of computer aided engineering (CAE) data, requirements for parametric tests, extensive usage of the guided probe, and many other aspects might be not so simple to be reproduced with modern, yet powerful, ATE. The paper shall identify the specific constraints involved with old technology and give examples of success stories where new ATE has been adapted to respond to the challenge. Paraphrasing (in reverse) and old saying, it is like "teaching old tricks to new dogs".     

Peripheral emulation extends equipment life [ATE]

The ATE industry can benefit greatly by becoming better informed about the availability, functionality, and reliability of emulated peripheral solutions. Emulated peripherals provide the ability to dramatically extend the life of aging ATE equipment, while making that equipment more reliable, more functional, much easier to use, and much simpler to support. The use of emulated disk drives and tape drives can completely eliminate persistent maintenance headaches, increase ATE station availability and reliability, and provide a reasonably priced technology refresh without costly software modifications or system recertification.     

Applying independent verification and validation to the automatictest equipment life cycle

Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and complex, with an even greater dependency on software. With the onset of Versa Modular Eurocard (VME) Extensions for Instrumentation (VXI) technology into ATE, which is supposed to bring about the promise of interchangeable instrument components. ATE customers are forced to contend with system integration and software issues. One way the ATE customer can combat these problems is to have a separate Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) organization employ rigorous methodologies to evaluate the correctness and quality of the ATE product throughout its life cycle. IV&V is a systems engineering process where verification determines if the ATE meets its specifications, and validation determines if the ATE performs to the customer's expectations. IV&V has the highest potential payoff of assuring a safe and reliable system if it is initiated at the beginning of the acquisition life cycle and continued throughout the acceptance of the system. It is illustrated that IV&V effects are more pronounced when IV&V activities begin early in the software development life cycle, but later application of IV&V is still deemed to have a significant impact. IV&V is an effective technique to reducing costs, schedule, and performance risks on the development of complex ATE, and a “tool” to efficiently and effectively manage ATE development risks. The IV&V organization has the ability to perform a focused and systematic technical evaluation of hardware and software processes and products. When performed in parallel with the ATE development life cycle, IV&V provides for early detection     

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     

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.     

基于高速直接数字式频率合成器的塔康信号模拟

对机载塔康设备的自动检测,需要模拟地面信标台向机载设备发射的回答信号.从电路原理、硬件电路设计和软件编制等方面,介绍了一种基于直接数字式频率合成技术的模拟塔康地面信标台波形的电路设计方法,并给出了改善信号波形质量的措施.     

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     

The benefits of using ATE systems in the testing of printed circuitboards

An industry-based pragmatic review is provided of the economic and product-quality consequences of automatic test equipment (ATE) usage in printed circuit board testing. The company selection process, the nature of the industrial participants, and the data collection process are described. The benefits obtained by users are identified. It is demonstrated that the use of ATE systems does result in definable economic and quality-level benefits     

Analysis tools for the evaluation of maintenance software

Test packages written for built-in test (BIT) and mobile automatic test equipment (ATE) systems for the forward support of electronic and thermal imaging equipment used by the British Army are currently scrutinized and subjected to objective tests by test package evaluation and acceptance teams (TPEATs) before being accepted for field use. This is a time-consuming and costly exercise that can result in the rejection of unsuitable software. The result of such rejection on equipment logistics is for reaching, since the hardware will enter service without adequate maintenance support. In an attempt to address this problem a suite of programs aimed at assisting the verification and validation activities of the TPEAT at every stage of the software life cycle from requirements analysis through to testing and acceptance is being devised. The development of these tools is discussed     

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.     

Role of BIT in support system maintenance and availability

The role of built in test (BIT) in electronic systems has grown in prominence with the advances in system complexity and concern over maintenance lifecycle costs of large systems. In an environment where standards drive system designs (and provide an avenue for focused advancement in technology), standards for BIT are very much in an evolutionary state. The reasons for advancing the effectiveness of BIT include reduced support overhead, greater, confidence in operation, and increased system availability. The cost of supporting military electronic systems (avionics, communications, and weapons systems) has driven much of the development in BIT technology. But what about the systems that support these end items that contain test and measurement instrumentation - such as automatic test equipment (ATE), simulators and avionics development suites? There has also been a beneficial effect on the maintenance and availability of these systems due to the infusion of BIT into their component assemblies. But the effect has been much more sporadic and fragmented. This paper looks at the state of BIT in test and measurement instruments, explain its affect on system readiness, and present ideas on how to improve BIT technologies and standards. This will not provide definitive answers to BIT development questions, since the factors that affect it are specific to the instrument itself. The topics covered in this paper are: definitions of built-in test, instrument BIT history, importance of BIT fault coverage and isolation in support systems, overview of BIT development process issues that limit the effectiveness of BIT Standards related to instrument BIT, making BIT more effective in support system maintenance and availability and conclusions.     

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     

ATE综合校准系统的软件设计及实现

通用自动测试设备（ATE）的测量准确性、可靠性会直接影响飞机综合保障的质量,因此,对此检测设备进行全面有效的测试校准,是确保测试系统完成任务的关键。为了保障测试数据准确可靠和量值传递统一及实现现场的系统性校准工作,本课题以通用自动测试设备为对象,建立了一套基于虚拟仪器技术基础上的综合校准系统。本文对系统的软件结构设计进行了分析和设计,以LCOD原型生命周期为基础,使用了面对组件的设计模式,设计和实现了软件功能,使得该系统具有一定的兼容性和可移植性,并且为扩展留下了接口,同时保证了校准数据的可靠性和精确性。     

某型导弹检测设备故障诊断专家系统的研究

导弹检测设备用来对导弹技术性能参数进行检测，用以评定导弹的良好性。但导弹检测设备不能对自身所发生的故障进行定位和诊断，将自动检测技术和专家系统相结合。建立故障诊断专家系统，是提高导弹检测设备维护水平，完善其技术保障的一个有效途径。本文对某型导弹检测设备故障诊断专家系统的设计方法进行了研究。包括其系统结构组成，关键技术解决的方法和系统功能实现的策略等。     

Choosing software and replacing ATE: lessons learned

When tasked to ensure the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system remains fully operational and supportable through 2020, the Air Force realized that the support capability of its legacy automated test system for the operational ground support electronics subsystem would need to be completely replaced. The legacy test system, while fully operational, was rapidly becoming non-supportable. Unless replaced with new hardware and upgraded test program sets, the needed long-term support could not be provided to the weapon system. To address this issue within the scope of available program funding constraints, the Air Force selected an approach of combining the technical and programmatic expertise of the weapon system prime contractor, the program control responsibilities of the weapon system Program Office, and the technical capability of an Air Force technical organization. The program was divided into two phases: a prototype phase and a production/rehost phase. This paper gives an overview of the program and presents valuable lessons learned during the prototype phase.