Consolidated Automated Support System Research Articles

Digital radio frequency memory synthetic instrument enhancing US navy automated test equipment mission

This research project aims to expand the capability of a current US Navy Automated Test Equipment (ATE) family of testers known as the Consolidated Automated Support System (CASS). Industry research is now focused on breaking the historical construct of test equipment. Advances in the field of Synthetic Instruments have opened the door to test avionics in new ways. Every year new capabilities are developed using core hardware and increasingly capable software modules to create complex waveforms. This research creates a Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) Synthetic Instrument that can be programmed to perform a wide array of low latency Radio Frequency (RF) tests. Synthetic Instruments are defined as a concatenation of hardware and software modules used in combination to emulate a traditional piece of electronic instrumentation. This Synthetic Instrument couples high speed Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) to high speed Digital-to-Analog Converters (DAC) with Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) in between for digital signal processing. An RF front end is used to down convert the RF to baseband where it is sampled, modified, and up converted back to RF. The FPGA performs Digital Signal Processing (DSP) on the signal to achieve the desired output.

Logistics support system: Harmonization enhances Multi-National Support

This examines the evolution of the Harmonization approach for the LM-STAR <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">®</sup> Multi-National Support. Critical to the Lockheed Martin Corporation's approach to winning the JSF/F35 contract in 2002 was developing a common logistics approach. A strategy was devised for ATE Harmonization whereas all Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) would utilize a common ATE subset solution knowing one day programs developed on the subset solution would be required to execute on a full-up solution for Depot support, etc. Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support (LMSTS) was already executing the Consolidated Automated Support System (CASS) and some of its early PBL efforts, Contractor Logistic Support (CLS) efforts, and the Consolidated Service Pool Program (CSP) and realized how a common solution was beneficial to the US Navy and other foreign military users of CASS. A test envelope was established using the CASS as a baseline. Several OEM/supplier meetings were held and the test envelope was expanded to handle additional OEM test requirements. The first station built was a full-up superstation with the entire test envelope supported. From this point, each OEM working with their Lockheed Martin Aerospace buyer, filled out requirements needs, as well as a quantity and need date. From these requirements LMSTS developed various configurations and delivered 62 System Design & Development (SDD) testers to OEMs in the United States, United Kingdom, and other JSF partnering countries. LMSTS is now delivering 16 more LM-STARs <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">®</sup> in Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP), 3 to the OEMs and in LRIP4 LMSTS will deliver 21 stations to OEMS and three to the Depot.

Software architecture requirements for DoD automatic test systems

The DoD has achieved success with recent automatic test equipment (ATE) families, as evidenced by the navy's consolidated automated support system (CASS) and the army's integrated family of test equipment (IFTE) programs. However, as these systems age, the increased requirements for technology insertion due to instrument obsolescence and the demands of advanced electronics are becoming evident. Recent advances in test technology promise to yield reduced total ownership costs (TOC) for ATE which can incorporate the new technology. The DoD automatic test system (ATS) executive agent office (EAO) objective is to significantly reduce total ownership cost. Several objectives have been identified including use of synthetic instruments, support for legacy test product sets (TPSs), and more efficient ways of developing TPSs. The NxTest software architecture will meet the objectives by providing an open systems approach to the system software. This will allow for the incorporation of commercial applications in the TPS development and execution environments and support current advances in test technology.