Automated Test Selection for Hardware Equivalence Classes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Testing large-scale computing systems is complex, time-consuming, and expensive due to the need for extensive manual effort in configuring and reconfiguring tests across different hardware setups, which hampers the reuse of accumulated tests and makes diagnosing hardware problems difficult.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that automatically identify hardware units in a computing system, select appropriate test programs from a database based on hardware type and time constraints, and execute these tests with optimized subsets of hardware units, leveraging equivalence classes and logical equivalence to minimize redundant testing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If comprehensive and thorough testing is performed on large-scale computing systems, then system integrity and defect detection are improved, but testing time and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically selects a representative subset of hardware units from equivalence classes to test, rather than testing every single hardware unit. This partial action approach maintains adequate testing coverage while significantly reducing testing time and resources.
Solution Approach 2:
Tests are designed to be universal across equivalence classes of hardware units. A single test can validate multiple hardware units that share the same operational characteristics, allowing one test to serve multiple purposes and reducing overall testing effort.
2Measurement precision
If tests are customized to recognize internal system hardware infrastructure, then test accuracy and relevance are improved, but effort and maintenance cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically discovers hardware units and their equivalence relationships without requiring manual configuration. The test management system self-services by autonomously identifying hardware characteristics and selecting appropriate tests, eliminating the need for testers to manually translate requirements into test parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts test parameters based on automatically discovered hardware characteristics. Rather than requiring fixed, hard-coded test configurations, the system modifies test parameters automatically based on the actual hardware units being tested, maintaining accuracy without increasing maintenance effort.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual parameter specification is required for each test, then test flexibility is maintained, but user effort and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an automatic test selection intermediary that translates high-level test requirements into specific test configurations. Users specify only their testing needs at a high level, and the intermediary automatically selects and configures appropriate tests, maintaining flexibility while dramatically reducing user effort.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary automatic analysis of hardware units and test requirements before test execution. By pre-processing the matching between hardware characteristics and test parameters, the system prepares test configurations in advance without requiring manual user input during the actual test setup phase.
Data Source
AI summary
Various approaches for testing an electronic system are disclosed. The hardware units of a hardware configuration of the system are determined, and a time constraint parameter value is input. Also input is a hardware unit type identifier that specifies a first type of hardware unit of the electronic system to be tested. A database that describes a plurality of test programs is provided, and from the database at least one test program that tests the specified type of hardware unit is selected. A subset of identifiers of the hardware units of the configuration is selected for testing based on the input time constraint parameter value and the type of hardware unit tested by the at least one test program. The at least one test program is executed on the electronic system with the identifiers of the subset of hardware units as inputs.