SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
modate new functionality. And these TPS should require recertification only if the underlying hardware or software modules change in a way that affects the measurement science.
Easier TPS Modifications
For insertion into existing programs, TPS would only have to be modified once, as opposed to several times as each legacy instrument is replaced with a successor generation. Similarly, for SDSI, TPS only require recertification once to accommodate the initial replacement. In most cases, once an SDSI has been inserted into an existing ATE system, TPS modifications and recertification should be extremely rare, which will result in significant reductions in TPS LCC, and therefore overall ATE TCO. In studies conducted by the author and in other studies published at IEEE Autotestcon, the cost to rewrite and recertify TPS on discrete replacement instruments is, on average, approximately $150k/TPS. This expense, because of the life cycle of
GPETE, will recur over the life of the ATE. Developing and recertifying TPS on SDSI is typically about $45k/TPS, which results in a savings of approximately $105k/TPS or 70 percent per TPS. When multiplied across dozens of TPS per instrument and three to five generations of GPETE over the life of an ATS, the potential savings in TPS costs alone are very significant. In addition, as more SDSI become deployed throughout the DoD, the potential for upgrading ATE to test and diagnose faults in multiple weapon systems becomes feasible, enable further savings.
From Modular to Synthetic
Modular GPETE—such as VXI, LXI and so on—emerged in the 1980s to eliminate subsystem redundancy by leveraging common infrastructure and thereby reducing ATE Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) and supporting modular replacement, both of which reduce TCO. Like GPETE, MGPETE is also designed to perform specific functions—to measure signal frequency,
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COTS Journal | April 2014
one would use a frequency counter, spectrum analyzer and/or oscilloscope, each of which is housed in a separate instrument or module. MGPETE eliminates subsystem redundancy and provides modular replacement by distilling instruments down to their measurement-specific components, with common elements shared among modules. SDSI eliminates instrument-level redundancy by providing an instrument synthesis platform that can emulate a number of instruments— or measurements—with little or no additional hardware. To add another measurement function using MGPETE, one adds another measurement-specific hardware or hardware/software module. To add another measurement function using SDSI, one simply adds another software module. Accordingly, in most instances, one SDSI can replace several discrete or modular instruments, which leads to wholesale savings in logistics, calibration and TPS maintenance expense, all of which are important factors in ATE TCO.
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