Simplifying TPS development and execution using a PC, Web-based environment

Test Program Set (TPS) development and test execution for modern electronic modules involves the integration of a myriad of software and hardware tools which are inherently difficult to integrate. It is not uncommon to have a combination of digital, analog, and mixed-signal test routines in the same test program, all of which use different tools for development and execution. While data exchange and software language standards have helped provide a common ground for reducing the barriers to integration, there has been no progress in providing a user environment that can leverage these advances. This paper describes a PC-based TPS development, documentation, and execution environment that uses Microsoft COM interfaces, high-level scripting and World Wide Web technologies to integrate development processes and point tools from multiple sources. The result is an open, easily reconfigurable TPS operating environment that uniquely combines flexibility with a process-oriented framework.