Conformance testing IEEE standard 488-1978 bus interface

It is noted that many ATE systems and hundreds of individual test instruments equipped with an interface bus conforming to the IEEE standard 488-1978 have been procured and deployed by the Navy in support of operational weapons systems. Field use of these systems and instruments has demonstrated the need for supplementary test tools to maintain the equipment. These test tools must be simple to operate, must minimize program development time, must optimize adaptability to new instruments and new test requirements, and must be reliable and maintainable. The IEEE standard provides for three primary activities to take place on the bus: uniline message sequence, multiline command message sequences, and multiline data message sequences. Equipment is described which, it is believed, offers the Navy a solution to the basic problem of testing instrumentation using the IEEE 488 bus interface for remote control.