Progress in specifying the ABBET ATLAS-level test procedure and operator/file interfaces

ABBET (A Broad Band Environment for Test) CAP (Common Ada Packages) (ATLAS-Level Test Procedure Interface) provide the best features of both Ada and ATLAS for automated test program generation by providing the UUT oriented test signal vocabulary of the ATLAS with higher level Ada procedures and data structures. The similarities between the ATLAS and ALTPI constructs make the transition to ABBET relatively straightforward and cost effective. ABBET standardization and Ada´s portability will also help reduce the current multiplicative efforts to develop test programs that defect and isolate the same faults in a system during online BIT, factory production test, and for field and depot level maintenance. ABBET CAP and ALTPI will also serve as targets for the automated test program generation tools at the ABBET Test Strategy and Product Description interfaces that are now under development by the ABBET subcommittee. The faster operation of compiled Ada code compared to interpreted ATLAS, and Ada´s built-in multi-tasking capability which supports running parallel digital and analog tests (when the instruments are available), will considerably reduce the time to find faults and repair UUTs