When performing functional tests, keeping test times as short as possible is often a critical requirement. Time is money, after all. One way to reduce test times is to reduce the latency in setting up signal switch paths, stimulus devices, and measurements. These can all have a significant impact on the overall time it takes to complete a full functional test of a particular DUT.
Calibration is not an option. While today's instruments are more accurate and drift less than previous generations, you still need to periodically check and calibrate your equipment. The way you do this, however, is changing.
In the past, manufacturers would recommend calibration intervals. A digital multimeter manufacturer might, for example, recommend that you calibrate the instrument once a year. When that year was up, you sent the DMM to your company's cal lab or to a third party.
That paradigm is changing. The current trend in metrology is not to blindly follow a manufacturer’s stated calibration interval, but to determine your own interval based on how much each instrument drifts over time and how much risk you're willing to take.
Interchangeable Virtual Instruments (IVI) is a standard for instrumentation drivers that is designed to reduce the time and effort needed to integrate measurement devices into new or existing systems. It does this by providing a standard application programming interface (API) that defines common measurement functions. This is, in turn, provided by a standard set of shared components that must be used by all compliant drivers and ancillary software. These components provide services to drivers and driver clients that need to be common to all drivers.
In early 2012, engineers at a prime aerospace manufacturer were assigned the task of replacing several existing integrated test adapters (ITAs) used to test multiple line replaceable units (LRUs) belonging to an Air Force program. One goal was to replace the existing ITAs with as much commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology as possible.
