CTMA Project #: 140376
Problem: Electronics repair facilities continue to support legacy test systems well beyond their life expectancies. The retention of the outdated repair capability jeopardizes weapon system availability. Costs associated with migrating or redeveloping test program set (TPS) software is the primary impediment to replacing legacy test systems. Test software migration costs can approach 20 times the cost of the replacement test system. Technologies are needed that can reduce the cost of test software migration as automated test equipment (ATE) systems become completely unsupportable. Broad project objectives include:
- Minimize recurring cost when migrating TPS to new ATE platforms
- Develop automated methods for extracting test requirements from legacy ATE/TPS
- Develop “middleware” to generate new TPS on modern systems
- Enable data collection for trend analysis and knowledge base.
Benefit: The CTMA Legacy TPS Migration System project offers a technology for re-hosting test program software that when realized will greatly reduce transition costs. The planned solution will be a software package running under Microsoft Windows that contains an integrated set of tools. The tools will provide the following functions:
- Perform test program screening
- Identify module input/output (I/O) requirements and compare them with the capabilities of the new test station capability at the pin level.
- Identify incompatibilities between legacy test program code semantics and new test station coding requirements.
- Input original test program source code and process it into an intermediate form that represents the data as language independent test requirements that is supported by recognized or emerging industry standards.
- Resource allocation that automatically assigns or enables the TPS developer to select the instrument or set of instruments in the test system that satisfies the requirements for a given test.
- Output new test program source code.
Solution/Approach: Feasibility demonstration was run at WR-ALC.
Impact on Warfighter: The project will establish a viable process for modernizing legacy ATLAS TPSs.
DOD Participation:
- U.S. Air Force (WR-ALC)
- U.S. Navy (FRC East) (observer)
- U.S. Army (Tobyhanna) (observer)
Industry Participation:
- Teradyne
- Support Systems Association, Inc.
- NCMS
