Testbricks: Software framework for IEEE Standard 1641 test programs

A test program compliant with IEEE standard 1641-Signal and Test Definition (STD) standard has got two parts: the definition of the signals and the programmatic part. The standard doesn´t define a programming language for the programmatic part, any commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) programming language fulfilling annex G requirements can be used. This protects the standard against obsolescence but it has got a drawback: there isn´t a COTS programming language for the specific domain of STD test programs. Previous works have explored several options to add STD signals to general purpose programming languages but these techniques add complexity and decrease productivity compared to a domain specific solution. Testbricks is the result of several years investigating the creation of a software framework to allow an easy and straightforward development of STD test programs. This paper discusses the framework requirements, explains the key design features and describes the framework architecture.