Modular software for VME/VXI subsystems

As part of a standardization effort, a software architecture was designed to control high-speed devices within an ATE (automatic test equipment) system. Devices that require real-time responses were located in a subsystem controlled by a dedicated processor. A host computer communicates with the subsystem using a communications bus (referred to as the host bus). The hardware chosen to implement this design consisted of a VMEbus card rack (later a VXIbus card rack) containing a minimum of one single-board computer and an interface to the host bus. Software was implemented using a commercial real-time operating system kernel. The modular architecture enables users to configure the subsystem hardware and software components to satisfy requirements for their specific applications.<
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