A system-level approach to designing modular switching software

The system switch plays a crucial role in any automated test system as it provides ATE engineers the ability to distribute a finite amount of instrumentation I/O to multiple test points. The popularity of modular architectures such as VXI and PXI, created an opportunity for consolidation of instrumentation and switching within a single mainframe, resulting in high-channel count capability in a reduced footprint. A modular approach to switching systems also affords the ATE architect design flexibility through the use of domain-specific modules (i.e, power, RF, and analog) that can be combined to cover a broad range of the signal spectrum. Unfortunately, software development and integration can become unnecessarily complicated when the system switch is viewed simply as a collection of discrete modules that are assembled to accommodate the required I/O count. This paper will discuss web-based methodologies and software platforms that VTI Instruments has developed to create a versatile system-level switching programming environment. This framework, which is implemented on web-enabled LXI-based modular switch instruments, significantly reduces test program set development time and simplifies debugging and design validation activities without the overhead of third party configuration tools.