Applications of MPSX/MIP370 with ECL in optimum configuration of text fixtures in electronic cards assembly and test

The author describes two applications of MPSX/MIP370 with ECL (mathematical programming system extended/mixed integer programming with the extended control language) in design configuration of fixtures commonly used for in-circuit testing of electronic boards. The applications described are used by IBM Austin´s electronic card assembly and test line, which is responsible for the bulk of PS/2 boards produced for the US market. The test fixture configuration programs are part of a larger application system developed in Austin for fixture design and tester code generation for the hybrid SMT/PTH (surface mount and pin-thru-hole components) with links to the electronic design systems for product data acquisition. Test fixture configuration problems were identified in the course of this system´s development. The resulting large-scale optimization problems were modeled as integer programming problems and solved efficiently through specialized adaptations via MPSX/MIP370