Parallel Emulating Switching Topology Management and Embedding

To address the Navy PMA-260 need for universal switching solutions for automated test systems (ATSs), Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Parallel Emulating Switching TOpology MANagement and Embedding (PETOMANE) System. This proposed system is based on a solid-state, hybrid four-wire crossbar (matrix) switch design, graph theoretic test procedure decomposition (routing), and test-procedure-to-script compilation (mapping). The innovation in switch architecture will enable the PETOMANE system to automate the DoD ATS configuration process, thereby eliminating error-prone and time-consuming manual hardwiring and configuration from the testing process. In support of this, PETOMANE offers fast reconfiguration (a few milliseconds or less), can mimic any switch configuration, and supports four-wire operation, enabling ultra-precise measurements of a few micro-ohms, which directly meets the PMA-260 requirements for a universal switching architecture for ATS devices. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of PETOMANE by fabricating a small-scale prototype switch, test porting software application, and switch management software, yielding a TRL-4 prototype. In Phase II, POC plans to expand the hardware architecture and extend and optimize the software routines. We will work with the TPOC and end users to identify a suitable ATS system, and will integrate the PETOMANE with this system.