AUTOMATIC TEST EQUIPMENT (ATE) REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION AUTHORING TOOL

THIS PROPOSAL APPLIES EXPERT SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY TO AID IN THE COMPLEX AND TIME CONSUMING TASK OF CREATING A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATIC TEST EQUIPMENT (ATE) IN ACCORDANCE WITH MODULAR AUTOMATIC TEST EQUIPMENT (MATE) GUIDES, SPECIFICATIONS AND APPLICABLE MILITARY STANDARDS (MIL-STD). THE PROBLEM OF CREATING THE ATE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION IS MADE LARGER BY THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION PROCESS, THE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE REGARDING APPLICATION OF THE MATE GUIDES, MIL-STD'S, AND THE COMPLEXITY OF WRITING AN RFP. THE PROPOSED SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM IS AN EXPERT TAILORING ASSISTANT FOR ATE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION (ETAARS). ETAARS WILL BE USED BY PROGRAM MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL TO CREATE THE RFP, SOW, CONTRACT DATA REQUIREMENTS LIST (CDRL), DATA ITEM DESCRIPTIONS (DID) AND SOURCE SELECTION CRITERIA. THE RESULTING ATE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION ADHERES TO MATE GUIDE SPECIFICATIONS AND APPLICABLE MIL-STD REQUIREMENTS AND IS TAILORED TO THE END USER'S PRIME SYSTEM AND ATE MISSION REQUIREMENTS. DURING AN AUTHORING SESSION, THE RFP AUTHOR RESPONS TO QUESTIONS POSED BY ETAARS. BASED ON THE AUTHOR'S RESPONSES, ETAARS AUTOMATICALLY GENERATES THE SOW TEXT, CRDL'S, DID'S AND SOURCE SELECTION CRITERIA.