Paradigm | Multi-paradigm: structured, imperative (procedural), generic, array |
---|---|
Family | ANSI/IEEE-716 ANSI/IEEE-416 |
Designed by | ARINC |
Developer | IEEE |
Final release | C/ATLAS (1995) / 16 March 1995 |
Typing discipline | strong, static, manifest |
OS | Cross-Platform |
License | None |
Filename extensions | .as , .lu , .tpsi |
Influenced by | |
Fortran |
Abbreviated Test Language for All Systems (ATLAS) is a specialized programming language for use with automatic test equipment (ATE). It is a compiled high-level computer language and can be used on any computer whose supporting software can translate it into the appropriate low-level instructions.
The original language was developed by Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated (ARINC) and standardized under ANSI/IEEE-Std-416 and released on December 22, 1983. [1] Its purpose was to serve as a standard programming language for testing and maintenance of electronic systems for military and commercial aerospace applications. The language was designed to be platform-independent.
The ATLAS language is oriented toward the Unit Under Test (UUT) and is independent of the test equipment used. This allows interchangeability of test procedures developed by different organizations, and thus reduces costly duplication of test programming effort.
The first ATLAS specification developed by the international committee was published in 1968. The basic document has been revised several times.
An ATLAS implementation typically consists of an online compiler (OLC), test executive (TEX or Test Exec), and file manager and media exchange (FMX) packages. ATLAS is run in TEX mode on test stations while testing electronic equipment.
The structure of an ATLAS program is very similar to FORTRAN. Standard ATLAS program structure consists of two elements: preamble structure and procedural structure. The language makes extensive use of variables and statement syntax.[ clarification needed ] An ATLAS statement consists of these fields:
FSTATNOVERB,variable field$
Sample ATLAS Statements:
000250 DECLARE,DECIMAL,'A1'(4)$ 000300 FILL, 'A1', 'NUM', (1) 1, 5, (2) 20, 87, (3) 15, 12, (4) $30, 18
Comments may be included with a 'C' in the FLAG field.
These ATLAS statements apply a voltage to a pin (stimulus) and verify the presence and characteristics of a voltage at a pin:
... 010200 APPLY, AC SIGNAL, VOLTAGE-PP 7.5V, FREQ 3 kHz, CNX HI=P1-$1 ... 010300 VERIFY, (VOLTAGE-AV INTO 'VAVG'), AC SIGNAL, VOLTAGE-PP RANGE 64V TO 1V, SAMPLE-WIDTH 10MSEC, SYNC-VOLTAGE 2 MAX 5, SYNC-NEG-SLOPE, MAX-TIME 0.5, GO-TO-STEP 400 IF GO, LL 0.5 UL 50, CNX HI=P2-4 LO=P2-5, SYNC HI=P2-8 LO=P2-$5 ...
ATLAS has been used in the U.S. Air Force primarily on test stations for testing the avionic components of the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, and B-1 Lancer. The U.S. Navy uses ATLAS-based programs for testing avionics systems of the P-3C Orion, UH-1Y Venom, AH-1Z Viper, SH-60 Seahawk, E-2C Hawkeye, F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet, S-3 Viking, A-6 Intruder, EA-6B Prowler, AV8B Harrier, and V-22 Osprey. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps used a version called Super Atlas for its AN/USM-484 hybrid test set (HTS) test benches. The AN/USM-247 VAST (Versatile Avionics Shop Test) was used by the Navy onboard aircraft carrier and shore stations. It has been used in testing the F-14, S-3, E-2, A-7 Corsair II, A-6, etc. VAST is considered by many to be the grandfather of modern avionics test equipment.
In the years that followed the cold war, ATLAS found uses on many dual-use aircraft [ clarification needed ] for the U.S. and NATO, as well as commercial business, regional, and general aviation aircraft. ATLAS test program sets (TPS) allow porting older programs to new hardware, providing some protection against hardware obsolescence. Although a standard, many adaptations, customizations, and flavors exist that impede full portability. Because most ATLAS toolsets are custom, on custom hardware, with a custom software load for the platform, it is not as prone to some types of issues that plague other languages that are more prevalent in the industry; the down side is that training is not available to the general public, so it also requires an extensive investment in personnel.
ATLAS generally can be configured to run "stand-alone", or "stand-alone – monitored only" which can help limit many of the tampering and other concerns with mainstream commercial software. Other languages, such as BASIC, C/C++, Python, and Perl, are also used on commercial and military programs for testing of systems; ATLAS typically requires another computer system to either optically scan test results, or read a tape, disk, or locked memory stick/data key from a test station and then perform statistical analysis on test results for a variety of uses.
Subsets include:
Avionics are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to perform individual functions. These can be as simple as a searchlight for a police helicopter or as complicated as the tactical system for an airborne early warning platform.
Analog television is the original television technology that uses analog signals to transmit video and audio. In an analog television broadcast, the brightness, colors and sound are represented by amplitude, phase and frequency of an analog signal.
Pascal is an imperative and procedural programming language, designed by Niklaus Wirth as a small, efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring. It is named after French mathematician, philosopher and physicist Blaise Pascal.
A signal generator is one of a class of electronic devices that generates electrical signals with set properties of amplitude, frequency, and wave shape. These generated signals are used as a stimulus for electronic measurements, typically used in designing, testing, troubleshooting, and repairing electronic or electroacoustic devices, though it often has artistic uses as well.
VHDL is a hardware description language that can model the behavior and structure of digital systems at multiple levels of abstraction, ranging from the system level down to that of logic gates, for design entry, documentation, and verification purposes. The language was developed for the US military VHSIC program in the 1980s, and has been standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as IEEE Std 1076; the latest version of which is IEEE Std 1076-2019. To model analog and mixed-signal systems, an IEEE-standardized HDL based on VHDL called VHDL-AMS has been developed.
Electronic test equipment is used to create signals and capture responses from electronic devices under test (DUTs). In this way, the proper operation of the DUT can be proven or faults in the device can be traced. Use of electronic test equipment is essential to any serious work on electronics systems.
A line-replaceable unit (LRU), lower line-replaceable unit (LLRU), line-replaceable component (LRC), or line-replaceable item (LRI) is a modular component of an airplane, ship or spacecraft that is designed to be replaced quickly at an operating location. The different lines (distances) are essential for logistics planning and operation. An LRU is usually a sealed unit such as a radio or other auxiliary equipment. LRUs are typically assigned logistics control numbers (LCNs) or work unit codes (WUCs) to manage logistics operations.
Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated (ARINC), established in 1929, was a major provider of transport communications and systems engineering solutions for eight industries: aviation, airports, defense, government, healthcare, networks, security, and transportation. ARINC had installed computer data networks in police cars and railroad cars and also maintains the standards for line-replaceable units.
Automatic test equipment or automated test equipment (ATE) is any apparatus that performs tests on a device, known as the device under test (DUT), equipment under test (EUT) or unit under test (UUT), using automation to quickly perform measurements and evaluate the test results. An ATE can be a simple computer-controlled digital multimeter, or a complicated system containing dozens of complex test instruments capable of automatically testing and diagnosing faults in sophisticated electronic packaged parts or on wafer testing, including system on chips and integrated circuits.
An air data computer (ADC) or central air data computer (CADC) computes altitude, vertical speed, air speed, and Mach number from pressure and temperature inputs. It is an essential avionics component found in modern aircraft. This computer, rather than individual instruments, can determine the calibrated airspeed, Mach number, altitude, and altitude trend data from an aircraft's pitot-static system. In some very high-speed aircraft such as the Space Shuttle, equivalent airspeed is calculated instead of calibrated airspeed. Air data computers usually also have an input of total air temperature. This enables the computation of static air temperature and true airspeed.
In aviation, ACARS is a digital datalink system for transmission of short messages between aircraft and ground stations via airband radio or satellite. The protocol was designed by ARINC and deployed in 1978, using the Telex format. More ACARS radio stations were added subsequently by SITA.
Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX), also ARINC 664, is a data network, patented by international aircraft manufacturer Airbus, for safety-critical applications that utilizes dedicated bandwidth while providing deterministic quality of service (QoS). AFDX is a worldwide registered trademark by Airbus. The AFDX data network is based on Ethernet technology using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. The AFDX data network is a specific implementation of ARINC Specification 664 Part 7, a profiled version of an IEEE 802.3 network per parts 1 & 2, which defines how commercial off-the-shelf networking components will be used for future generation Aircraft Data Networks (ADN). The six primary aspects of an AFDX data network include full duplex, redundancy, determinism, high speed performance, switched and profiled network.
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Aircraft Data Network (ADN) is a concept introduced by the Airlines Electronics Engineering Committee (AEEC) in the ARINC 664 Specification. The specification proposes data networking standards recommended for use in commercial aircraft installations. The standards provide a means to adapt COTS networking standards to an aircraft environment. It refers to devices such as bridges, switches, routers and hubs and their use in an aircraft environment. This equipment, when installed in a network topology, can provide effective data transfer and overall avionics performance. The ARINC 664 specification refers extensively to the set of data networking standards developed by the Internet community and IEEE. The specification also applies the concepts of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) standards.
Integrated modular avionics (IMA) are real-time computer network airborne systems. This network consists of a number of computing modules capable of supporting numerous applications of differing criticality levels.
ARINC 653 is a software specification for space and time partitioning in safety-critical avionics real-time operating systems (RTOS). It allows the hosting of multiple applications of different software levels on the same hardware in the context of an Integrated Modular Avionics architecture.
ARINC 818: Avionics Digital Video Bus (ADVB) is a video interface and protocol standard developed for high bandwidth, low-latency, uncompressed digital video transmission in avionics systems. The standard, which was released in January 2007, has been advanced by ARINC and the aerospace community to meet the stringent needs of high performance digital video. The specification was updated and ARINC 818-2 was released in December 2013, adding a number of new features, including link rates up to 32X fibre channel rates, channel-bonding, switching, field sequential color, bi-directional control and data-only links.
CANoe is a development and testing software tool from Vector Informatik GmbH. The software is primarily used by automotive manufacturers and electronic control unit (ECU) suppliers for development, analysis, simulation, testing, diagnostics and start-up of ECU networks and individual ECUs. Its widespread use and large number of supported vehicle bus systems makes it especially well suited for ECU development in conventional vehicles, as well as hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. The simulation and testing facilities in CANoe are performed with CAPL, a programming language.
Harvard biphase is a magnetic run length code for encoding magnetic tape. It is one of the formats employed in forming the digital bits of logic one and logic zero, along with non-return-to-zero (NRZ) and bipolar-return-to-zero (RZ) formats. Each bit in the Harvard biphase format undergoes change at its trailing edge and this transpires either from high to zero or zero to high independently of its value.
Astronics Corporation is an American aerospace electronics corporation founded in 1968, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. It is traded on NASDAQ as Nasdaq: ATRO. It is known for lighting and electronics integrations on military, commercial, and business aircraft and semiconductor test systems.