A view of the ABBET upper layers

Currently, the IEEE Std 1226-1993 (ABBET) is undergoing significant revision in preparation for its release as a "full-use" standard. Much of this work is motivated by a need to define the interfaces between the various "layers" of the current architecture and prepare a road map for implementing those interfaces. To date, little work has been-done on the upper layers of ABBET, yet it is believed that the upper layers offer the greatest potential for cost savings in developing advanced automatic test systems. In this paper, we address the issues of the ABBET upper layers in the context of a new architecture that is focused on addressing the needs of the upper layers.