A new TPS design structure for DOD ATS

While the Department of Defense (DOD) has made some progress in addressing the difficult issues dealing with the convergence of automatic test system (ATS) functional interfaces, the definition of the next generation test software environment, and the development of DOD ATS modernization processes, it remains that the development of test program sets (TPS) continues to be an increasingly costly effort. Furthermore, TPS run time performance continues to be an issue within the user community. One key reason is that the primary test program set design approach used today is: (a) based on a static, hard coded design structure which does not include the weapon system's self-diagnostics data or other information-based diagnostic techniques; and (b) it is still based on the traditional TPS performance specifications which require strict compliance with parametric test requirements and sometimes unrealistic fault isolation design parameters. With very few exceptions, the typical TPS design structure which results from this traditional approach consists of parametric performance tests with in-line diagnostics. The TPS design structure presented in this paper answers the question of "what can be done today that will have an immediate effect on reducing the cost of test program sets?." The design structure takes into consideration the self-diagnostics architecture of the system under test (SUT) and addresses the value of using a more practical, modular approach, that would minimize the development of hard coded diagnostics in the early phases of system development and, at the same time, include the use of dynamic, information-based diagnostic techniques. The design structure also addresses the issue of producing a rehostable test program as an end item.