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The increasing difficultly of developing modern test systems is compounded by shortened development times and exponentially more complex devices under test. The fundamental need for connectivity to a wide variety of hardware has not changed, but test engineers often find themselves building systems without the final hardware and without access to the actual device that will be tested. This need for...
Linux®-based ATEs are susceptible to obsolescence due to quickly changing kernel versions and varying distribution support between hardware and software vendors. This paper explains how virtualization technology can help mitigate the risk of obsolescence and reduce maintenance costs in Linux-based ATEs by running multiple operating systems simultaneously on one controller.
Particular problems can occur for frequency synthesizers under vibration and temperature. These effects will be outlined for providing margin to prevent failures. Phase noise, noise figure, and spectrum analysis tools are applied with vibration tables and thermal chambers. Particular focus is given to frequency synthesizers whose oscillators are most susceptible to environmental effects.
Today's fast paced world of ever changing Commercial-Of-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware and software architectures creates a quandary in that the end-user must be cognizant of these effects on their own legacy based system when embracing a new design. The advantages of moving to a newer and sleeker system surely outweigh the complexities of attempting to maintain an older system especially when obsolescence...
Over the past few decades, the ANSI C language has become one of the most popular test and measurement programming languages due to its power and flexibility. ANSI C applications can be optimized for improved performance because of the developer's ability to have low level control through direct access to memory and hardware specific function calls. Although the ANSI C language provides low level...
Staying true to Moore's law, portable computing devices have become exceedingly capable of increasing their intended possibilities and applications. Evidence of this can be seen in the quantity and variety of applications ranging from Language Translators, GPS applications, and Image editing, to wireless control of external hardware. The demand has been so great that even the U.S Military has shown...
This paper illustrates how serial buses have been emulated in the past and how, using synthetic bus technology, better test methods can reduce program life cycle costs.
Network Centric System operation is the core of our military environment today. While much research and development has been accomplished in technology to support creating and exploiting these increasing complex, interdependent systems, testing technology has not kept pace with the rate of technology advancement. As our dependence on network centric operation grows, the limitations of our ability...
This paper describes an automated microwave measurement and test systems with an emphasis on reducing overall test times. It presents as an example a measurement system for Transmit and Receive (TR) modules used in Active Electronically Scanned (AESA) radars.
Two System Test Program Sets (TPS), Digital-Analog (DA) and Radio Frequency (RF) Calibration for the Versatile Depot Automatic Test Station (VDATS) were developed to semi-automate the process of Automated Test Equipment (ATE) calibration. Calibration for ATE in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) is defined as the verification of instrumentation accuracy by comparing the instrument to a known standard. The...
Test forensics is a systematic approach for evaluating execution results of a Unit Under Test (UUT) over a broad set of criterion. Execution results include the traditional test numbers, measured values and limits, but also include timing relationships and configuration information about the UUT and Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) used while conducting the test. Occasionally a test may pass on station...
This paper details the on-board JTAG programming of a Flash Memory using typical digital test instrumentation found in test systems rather than various boundary scan vendor proprietary hardware. Advantages to this technique, such as reduction in required equipment and reduced integration and support costs, are discussed.
During the last four decades the number of Automated Test Systems (ATS) has experienced tremendous growth at Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD). This is characterized in the proliferation through Base Realignment and Closure acquisition and in-house development of a wide variety of general and special purpose ATS - to date there are 94 unique ATS and a total of 230 ATS. With advancing technology and increasingly...
For Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE), the goal is to get planes in the air and ensure they land safely. Consequently, a high operational availability (Ao) is crucial to ALRE operations. In order to ensure high Ao, it is crucial that the amount of maintenance, both corrective and preventative, is kept to a minimum. Historically, improvements have been reactive in nature to satisfy the...
Commercial off the shelf (COTS) equipment is generally preferred because of its low acquisition costs, wider user base and implied support from the vendor. Because it is treated as a black box, however, it is often complicated to measure the testability and diagnosability of the COTS equipment and therefore its supportability is difficult to predict. While some metrics for testability, diagnosability...
How to identify when a static pattern digital test program should be re-hosted as a dynamic pattern set on the state-of-the-art ATE is complicated. However, there are critical issues that should be evaluated when making this decision. Issues include chip models, timing parameters, drive strength, logic levels, circuit complexity, I/O pins, automated diagnostics, portability, reuse, speed, optimal...
System integration testing (SIT) is still relied upon for final confirmation of data link products. SIT, a costly process, is still required for most circuit card sub-assemblies because of the risk that lower level testing is either insufficient or incomplete. A description of production testing and debug is presented.
A new emerging test and measurement standard called AXIe, AdvancedTCA eXtensions for Instrumentation, is expected to find wide acceptance within the Automatic Test Equipment community as it offers many key benefits. It is expected that a large number of stimulus, measurement, signal conditioning, acquisition and processing modules will become available from a range of different suppliers. AXIe uses...
Advanced diagnostic reasoners are being developed to make use of Bayesian fault probability distributions, experiential learning algorithms and actual net centric historical failure data to change dynamically or optimize the testing sequence. What is not covered is how also to reconfigure dynamically the system or unit under test and the test equipment from its present state to the state required...
The operating models that most organizations have adopted over the past several decades are changing rapidly, and Lockheed Martin has worked with our customers to adapt to the new environment. Automated Test Equipment (ATE) and DoD partnering have played an important role in this adaptation. Insertion of new technologies and commercial best practices has demonstrable benefit through the entire supply...
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