Hardware-Software Tradeoffs for Analog Automatic Test Instruments

This paper will show that in general the cost and reliability of ATE analog instruments are improved if hardwired logic is minimized and software is given the task of step-by-step control of these instruments. Test speed is perhaps the most important parameter that may be adversely affected by this tradeoff. However, by careful design of the ATE software system, test speed for software-controlled instruments can be improved substantially.