Automated Test System Pipeline Architecture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manual assistance is often necessary for testing software and hardware systems, making the process slow, prone to errors, expensive, and difficult to manage, especially when testing multiple systems simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
An automated testing system (ATS) that schedules and conducts tests on multiple systems under test without manual intervention, using a pipeline architecture to process and execute test instructions remotely, eliminating the need for testing agents and enabling parallel execution of tests across multiple systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual assistance is used for testing, then testing can be performed with simple systems, but testing speed and productivity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service testing where the testing infrastructure automatically manages test execution, result collection, and system monitoring without requiring manual human intervention for each testing operation
Solution Approach 2:
Manual testing operations are replaced with automated software-based testing agents and remote command execution systems that perform testing functions programmatically rather than through human action
2Ease of operation
If testing agents are transferred to SUT, then testing functionality is enabled, but device complexity and management difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The testing agent functionality is extracted from the target system and relocated to a remote testing server, where test commands are generated and executed remotely without requiring permanent agent installation on the systems under test
Solution Approach 2:
A remote testing server acts as an intermediary between the tester and the systems under test, managing test instruction generation, command transmission, and result collection without requiring direct agent-to-agent communication
3Loss of time
If tests are executed sequentially on multiple SUT, then testing can be performed on multiple systems, but testing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The testing process is segmented into independent test instructions that can be distributed to multiple systems simultaneously, with each system executing its own test sequence in parallel rather than waiting for sequential completion
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from single-dimensional sequential testing to multi-dimensional parallel testing by distributing test execution across multiple systems concurrently, effectively adding a parallelism dimension to the testing process
4Reliability
If extensive manual assistance is provided, then testing accuracy can be monitored, but error proneness and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated feedback mechanisms where test results are automatically collected, transmitted to the remote testing server, and processed to provide continuous monitoring of testing accuracy without requiring manual verification at each step
Solution Approach 2:
Manual monitoring and verification functions are replaced with automated result collection and analysis systems that eliminate human error while maintaining or improving testing accuracy through consistent automated processes
Data Source
AI summary
A system comprising a plurality of components and an automation module coupled to the plurality of components. The automation module is adapted to automatically initialize a software test environment for at least one of the plurality of components, where the software test environment prepares the at least one of the plurality of components to be tested. The automation module also is adapted to, without transferring a testing agent to the at least one of the plurality of components, automatically test the at least one of the plurality of components.