ALAE proposes to develop a reconfigurable test adapter (RTA) that adapts differences between existing automated test systems (ATS) / Automated Test Equipment (ATE) to ensure efficient, cost-effective test program sets (TPS) transportability. Wiring from core versatile depot automated test station (VDATS) instrumentation (oscilloscopes, signal generators, counters, power supplies, etc.) will be routed to the RTA. Various standard unit under test (UUT) interfaces will be explored and selected based on the emulated legacy tester and best practices for preservation of signal integrity. Identification of potential hardware differences (capability and configuration) between the re-host target and the VDATS will be analyzed using automatic test markup language (ATML) TPS descriptors such as Test Description, Instrument Description, Test Configuration, Test Adapter Description, and Test Station Description (IEEE 1671.1,2, 4-6). Capabilities not covered by VDATS will be identified and provided by the RTA using synthetic / virtual instruments and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) instruments. Both will be coordinated with VDATS through platform independent RTA middleware software using a standard bus protocol (i.e. PXI, LXI, GPIB, etc.) and a common application programming interface (API) allowing for additional instrument(s) to be controlled by the re-hosted TPS.
