The Little Project that Could, but Didn't
...s. Ideas/solutions were discussed at the next meeting. Although the software engineering group was in charge of software, a contractor was hired to perform the job due to the high workload of the other engineers. The old software was written in HP BASIC, with thousands of lines of code to decipher. The software suite to be used for the project is called Labview. Labview is a graphical programming suite that utilizes function blocks and connection lines, which can be grouped together into function blocks. These blocks could be copied and pasted to other locations to make creation easier. Once copied over, the block could then be modified to perform a specific function for that new area. It also has driver modules for specific test equipment. Some of this equipment includes power meters, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, and RF switches. These instruments can be controlled by GPIB controller hardware, which can be installed into a computer, or are externally controlled via a serial port. Labview is a much easier software suite to program, because it doesn’t involve lines of code to write, it’s all graphical. The contractor hired for the job supposedly had over five years experience programming with Labview. The test equipment group analyzed the old test bench to see how it could be improved. The test equipment used in the old bench was a little past its time, not as accurate as newer equipment. The old RF switch was replaced with a newer, smaller switch that exhibited less RF signal loss. The vector analyzer was replaced by a power meter and a spectrum analyzer. The spectrum analyzer has several more options for measuring signal quality. With the approval from development engineering(DE), some of the tests will be altered to take advantage of the new functions. The old bench had its limitations as well. It could only test one cage, and then you would have to move the cables on to the next cage, slowing down testing time. The new bench will hook up to all cages at the same time. Coupling this with the new software will reduce the testing cycle time. The footprint of the new bench was also less than half of what the old bench was, because equipment was stacked vertically instead of horizontally like in the old bench. The IT group was brought in to work with the test equipment group to provide the test bench with a new computer. The old bench consisted of an HP-UX box loaded with HP BASIC. The processor wasn’t even the equivalent of a 486. The new computer is the factory standard – a Pentium II or III, 500MHz Dell with 128 MB RAM, an internal GPIB controller card, an extra NIC for communication with the serial port server,and loaded with Windows NT4. It was loaded with the standard NT manufacturing disk image provided by the IT dept. The serial port server allows up to 16 serial port connections. These connections are used to communicate with the boards under test in the frame. The other improvement to the process is that instead of using 16 ports to perform all of the tests (1 for each transmit/receive board), a majority of the tests will be run via 1 serial connection to the shelf controller board, reducing the high failure rate of the serial cables using the old method. The new method of using the controller board to do the work also tests the shelf backplane in ways that weren’t being tested before. In the concurrent meetings, progress reports were given. The test bench supplies were ordered, and the bench was constructed within two weeks. The test equipment was calibrated and installed in another week. The computer was constructed and installed within another week. All of the construction was completed with the exception of the software. Henry (the software contractor) was moving along very slo...