Virtual instruments: adding RF transmission line testing to an existing tester at almost no cost

The core of the virtual instrument (VI) concept is that many instruments can be implemented completely in software, supported by only a bare minimum of low-cost, commercial off-the-shelf hardware. To demonstrate the strong advantages of this approach, we demonstrated the Full Analytical Systems Tester (“FAST”), initially configured for end-to-end testing of electronic warfare (“EW”) suites. The authors added a full range of software instruments for transmission line testing, including insertion loss, return loss, and VSWR. Countering arguments that virtual instrument-based architectures are not sufficiently mature, FAST was successfully demonstrated in the field versus the US Air Force´s and Navy´s first line EW suites