Measurement System Results Queue For Improved Performance

• US 20140039826A1
• Filed: 08/03/2012
• Published: 02/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Norman J. Kirchner Jr
• Inventors: Valdes, Gerardo Orozco, Rupp, Craig E., Lyons, Michael J., Kirchner, Norman J. Jr.
• Application Number:
  US13/566,860
• Publication Number:
  US 20140039826A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/123
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2822 of microwave or radiofrequency circuits of attenuation, gain, e.g. using network analyzers G01R27/28
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/31935 Storing data, e.g. failure memory

Abstract

System and method for testing units under test (UUTs). A test sequence is provided that includes an acquisition sequence and a processing sequence. The acquisition sequence may include a sequence of acquisition functions for performing acquisitions on one or more UUTs. The processing sequence may include a sequence of processing functions for processing measurement data resulting from the acquisitions. Each acquisition function may be performed, including performing a plurality of acquisitions, thereby generating respective measurement data sets, and storing the respective measurement data sets in order of the acquisitions. Each processing function may be performed, including retrieving and processing each respective measurement data set in order of acquisition. At least one processing function of the processing sequence may be performed concurrently with at least one acquisition function of the acquisition sequence.

Claims

1. A system for a test process, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory, coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the one or more processors to;

provide a test sequence, wherein the test sequence comprises;

an acquisition sequence, comprising a sequence of acquisition functions for performing acquisitions on one or more units under test (UUTs); and

a processing sequence, comprising a sequence of processing functions for processing measurement data resulting from the acquisitions;

perform each acquisition function of the acquisition sequence, including performing a plurality of acquisitions, thereby generating respective measurement data sets, and storing the respective measurement data sets in order of said performing the plurality of acquisitions; and

perform each processing function of the processing sequence, including processing the respective measurement data sets to analyze the one or more UUTs, including retrieving and processing each respective measurement data set in accordance with the order;

wherein at least one processing function of the processing sequence is performed concurrently with at least one acquisition function of the acquisition sequence.

2. The system of claim 1,

wherein said storing the respective measurement data sets comprises enqueuing the respective measurement data sets into a queue data structure;

and

wherein said retrieving comprises dequeuing the respective measurement data sets from the queue data structure.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

generate respective metadata for each of the respective measurement data sets; and

associate the respective metadata with each of the respective measurement data sets.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein to associate the respective metadata, the program instructions are executable to:

tag each respective measurement data set with the respective metadata, thereby generating respective tagged measurement data sets;

wherein said storing respective measurement data sets comprises storing the respective tagged measurement data sets; and

wherein said retrieving comprises retrieving the respective tagged measurement data sets.

5. The system of claim 4,

wherein said storing respective tagged measurement data sets comprises enqueuing the respective tagged measurement data sets into a queue data structure;

and

wherein said retrieving the respective tagged measurement data sets comprises dequeuing the respective tagged measurement data sets from the queue data structure.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein said storing respective measurement data sets comprises:

for each respective measurement data set;

storing the respective measurement data set in a respective memory location;

generating a reference to the respective measurement data set, wherein the reference indicates the respective memory location, and wherein the respective metadata includes the reference; and

enqueuing the respective metadata into a queue data structure; and

wherein said retrieving respective measurement data sets comprises;

for each respective measurement data set;

dequeuing the metadata for the respective measurement data set from the queue data structure; and

retrieving the respective measurement data set from the memory location based on the reference in the metadata.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said storing the respective measurement data sets comprises:

for each respective measurement data set;

storing the respective measurement data set in a respective memory location;

generating a reference to the respective measurement data set, wherein the reference indicates the respective memory location; and

enqueuing the reference to the respective measurement data set into a queue data structure; and

wherein said retrieving the respective measurement data sets comprises;

for each respective measurement data set;

dequeuing the reference to the respective measurement data set from the queue data structure; and

retrieving the respective measurement data set from the respective memory location via the reference.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the sequence of acquisition functions comprises:

functions for configuring acquisition hardware for each of a plurality of acquisitions; and

functions for performing respective acquisitions of the plurality of acquisitions, thereby generating the respective measurement data sets.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the functions for configuring acquisition hardware comprise:

a function for configuring the acquisition hardware to perform a first acquisition of the plurality of acquisitions on a first UUT of the one or more UUTs; and

a function for configuring the acquisition hardware to perform a second acquisition of the plurality of acquisitions on the first UUT.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more UUTs comprise a plurality of UUTs, and wherein the functions for configuring acquisition hardware comprise:

a function for configuring the acquisition hardware to perform a first acquisition of the plurality of acquisitions on a first UUT of the plurality of UUTs; and

a function for configuring the acquisition hardware to perform a second acquisition of the plurality of acquisitions on a second UUT of the plurality of UUTs.

11. The system of claim 1,

wherein the acquisition sequence comprises one or more radio frequency (RF) acquisition functions;

and

wherein the processing sequence comprises one or more RF processing functions.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the acquisition sequence further comprises one or more non-RF acquisition functions;

wherein at least one of the one or more non-RF acquisition functions is performed concurrently with at least one of the one or more RF acquisition functions;

wherein the processing sequence further comprises one or more non-RF processing functions; and

wherein at least one of the one or more non-RF processing functions is performed concurrently with at least one of the one or more RF processing functions.

13. The system of claim 1,

wherein the one or more processors comprise a plurality of processors;

wherein one or more first processors of the plurality of processors perform each acquisition function of the acquisition sequence; and

wherein one or more second processors of the plurality of processors perform each processing function of the processing sequence.

14. The system of claim 1,

wherein the one or more UUTs comprise a plurality of UUTs;

and

wherein for at least two UUTs of the plurality of UUTs, acquisition functions of the acquisition sequence on each of the at least two UUTs are performed concurrently, thereby generating respective data sets for the at least two UUTs concurrently.

15. The system of claim 14,

wherein the one or more processors comprise a plurality of processors;

and

wherein for the at least two UUTs, respective processors of the plurality of processors perform acquisition functions of the acquisition sequence on each of the at least two UUTs concurrently, thereby generating respective data sets for the at least two UUTs concurrently.

16. The system of claim 1,

wherein at least one processing function of the processing sequence is performed concurrently with at least one other processing function of the processing sequence.

17. The system of claim 1,

wherein the program instructions comprise at least one graphical data flow program.

18. A non-transitory computer accessible memory medium that stores program instructions executable by one or more processors to perform:

providing a test sequence, wherein the test sequence comprises;

an acquisition sequence, comprising a sequence of acquisition functions for performing acquisitions on one or more units under test (UUTs); and

a processing sequence, comprising a sequence of processing functions for processing measurement data resulting from the acquisitions;

performing each acquisition function of the acquisition sequence, including performing a plurality of acquisitions, thereby generating respective measurement data sets, and storing the respective measurement data sets in order of said performing the plurality of acquisitions; and

performing each processing function of the processing sequence, including processing the respective measurement data sets to analyze the one or more UUTs, including retrieving and processing each respective measurement data set in accordance with the order;

wherein at least one processing function of the processing sequence is performed concurrently with at least one acquisition function of the acquisition sequence.

19. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 18,

wherein said storing the respective measurement data sets comprises enqueuing the respective measurement data sets into a queue data structure;

and

wherein said retrieving comprises dequeuing the respective measurement data sets from the queue data structure.

20. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 18, further comprising:

generating respective metadata for each of the respective measurement data sets; and

associating the respective metadata with each of the respective measurement data sets;

wherein said associating comprises tagging each respective measurement data set with the respective metadata, thereby generating respective tagged measurement data sets;

wherein said storing respective measurement data sets comprises storing the respective tagged measurement data sets, wherein said storing respective tagged measurement data sets comprises enqueuing the respective tagged measurement data sets into a queue data structure; and

wherein said retrieving comprises retrieving the respective tagged measurement data sets, wherein said retrieving the respective tagged measurement data sets comprises dequeuing the respective tagged measurement data sets from the queue data structure.

21. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 18, further comprising:

generating respective metadata for each of the respective measurement data sets; and

associating the respective metadata with each of the respective measurement data sets;

wherein said storing respective measurement data sets comprises;

for each respective measurement data set;

storing the respective measurement data set in a respective memory location;

generating a reference to the respective measurement data set, wherein the reference indicates the respective memory location, and wherein the respective metadata includes the reference; and

enqueuing the respective metadata into a queue data structure; and

wherein said retrieving respective measurement data sets comprises;

for each respective measurement data set;

dequeuing the metadata for the respective measurement data set from the queue data structure; and

retrieving the respective measurement data set from the memory location based on the reference in the metadata.

22. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium claim 18, wherein said storing the respective measurement data sets comprises:

for each respective measurement data set;

storing the respective measurement data set in a respective memory location;

generating a reference to the respective measurement data set, wherein the reference indicates the respective memory location; and

enqueuing the reference to the respective measurement data set into a queue data structure; and

wherein said retrieving the respective measurement data sets comprises;

for each respective measurement data set;

dequeuing the reference to the respective measurement data set from the queue data structure; and

retrieving the respective measurement data set from the respective memory location via the reference.

23. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 18, wherein the sequence of acquisition functions comprises:

functions for configuring acquisition hardware for each of a plurality of acquisitions; and

functions for performing respective acquisitions of the plurality of acquisitions, thereby generating the respective measurement data sets.

24. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 23, wherein the functions for configuring acquisition hardware comprise:

a function for configuring the acquisition hardware to perform a first acquisition of the plurality of acquisitions on a first UUT of the one or more UUTs; and

a function for configuring the acquisition hardware to perform a second acquisition of the plurality of acquisitions on the first UUT.

25. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 23, wherein the one or more UUTs comprise a plurality of UUTs, and wherein the functions for configuring acquisition hardware comprise:

a function for configuring the acquisition hardware to perform a first acquisition of the plurality of acquisitions on a first UUT of the plurality of UUTs; and

a function for configuring the acquisition hardware to perform a second acquisition of the plurality of acquisitions on a second UUT of the plurality of UUTs.

26. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 18,

wherein the acquisition sequence comprises one or more radio frequency (RF) acquisition functions;

and

wherein the processing sequence comprises one or more RF processing functions.

27. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 26, wherein the acquisition sequence further comprises one or more non-RF acquisition functions;

wherein at least one of the one or more non-RF acquisition functions is performed concurrently with at least one of the one or more RF acquisition functions;

wherein the processing sequence further comprises one or more non-RF processing functions; and

wherein at least one of the one or more non-RF processing functions is performed concurrently with at least one of the one or more RF processing functions.

28. A computer-implemented method implementing a test process, the method comprising:

utilizing a computer to perform;

providing a test sequence, wherein the test sequence comprises;

an acquisition sequence, comprising a sequence of acquisition functions for performing acquisitions on one or more units under test (UUTs); and

a processing sequence, comprising a sequence of processing functions for processing measurement data resulting from the acquisitions;

performing each acquisition function of the acquisition sequence, including performing a plurality of acquisitions, thereby generating respective measurement data sets, and storing the respective measurement data sets in order of said performing the plurality of acquisitions; and

performing each processing function of the processing sequence, including processing the respective measurement data sets to analyze the one or more UUTs, including retrieving and processing each respective measurement data set in accordance with the order;

wherein at least one processing function of the processing sequence is performed concurrently with at least one acquisition function of the acquisition sequence.

29. A system for a RF test process, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory, coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the one or more processors to;

provide a RF test sequence, wherein the RF test sequence comprises;

an RF acquisition sequence, comprising a sequence of RF acquisition functions for performing acquisitions on one or more units under test (UUTs), wherein the one or more UUTs comprise one or more mobile wireless devices; and

an RF processing sequence, comprising a sequence of RF processing functions for processing measurement data resulting from the acquisitions;

perform each RF acquisition function of the RF acquisition sequence, including performing a plurality of RF acquisitions, thereby generating respective RF measurement data sets, and storing the respective RF measurement data sets in order of said performing the plurality of RF acquisitions; and

perform each RF processing function of the RF processing sequence, including processing the respective RF measurement data sets to analyze the one or more UUTs, including retrieving and processing each respective RF measurement data set in accordance with the order;

wherein at least one RF processing function of the RF processing sequence is performed concurrently with at least one RF acquisition function of the RF acquisition sequence.