Digital test program portability to VXI-based testing environments

This paper addresses the portability of existing test program sets (TPS) created using digital automatic test program generation (ATPG) tools with respect to their potential for transition from older, obsolete or non-supported automatic test equipment to modem VXlbus testers. Specifically, we examine this subject with respect to the technical issues and problems associated with the reuse of the original digital models and test vectors (represented in IEEE P1445, Digital Test Interchange Format) used to create a TPS capable of execution on a variety of digital test instruments from different manufacturers. Such an approach preserves the integrity of the original test program and theoretically eliminates the need to re-engineer the program in this process. Theory, however, differs from practice in practical implementation from a number of perspectives. In this paper we discuss some of the key issues that must be considered in performing this task.