Fact 4. Understand the Test Flow

Quick Facts!

Recommendation

Initialize FlexOTO once and leave FlexOTO running! Initialization is a one-time task where you create the Hardware Diagram and launch the StationsClosed A FlexOTO child process for making independent measurements for a Test Station.. Save a Setup fileClosed A file that saves FlexOTO settings which can be imported at a later date back into FlexOTO to restore the saved settings. so you can recall your configuration in the case FlexOTO is turned off. To save the file, Click File > Save.

For each FlexOTO's Station, make a FlexOTO Test ProgramClosed A FlexOTO Session's test plan for a Test Station. A Test Program specifies measurement configuration, measurement settings, and saved results.. Station's Test Programs can be identical or unique. Each line in a Test Program performs selected tests on a specific Fixture lane. Once your Test Programs are complete, repeatedly run your tests as shown in the following diagram.

When modifying a Test Program's lines or parameters, you can change:

  • Selected Measurements.
  • Measurement units, linearity definition, target transition and hit ratio.
  • Waveform symbol rate and pattern length.
  • Change presets.
  • Select to save waveform data or eye diagram image file.
  • Select eye diagram image options.

During testing cycle, notice that the Station is never ended and that FlexOTO's Hardware Diagram is never accessed.

If you are running FlexOTO on a laptop, you may gain a significant increase in performance if you 1) run the laptop on AC instead of a battery, and 2) on the laptop click on the battery icon and select Best Performance.

Why separate FlexOTO Initialization and the running of Test Programs?

Configuring the Hardware Diagram and launching Stations as similar to booting up your PC. Initialization takes time and is meant to be done once, while configuring and running Stations is quick and represents your repetitive testing. For example, you might initialize (configure the Hardware Diagram and launch the Stations) today, and run your Station tests continuously for the next several months without ever stopping the Stations. You wouldn't reboot a DCA-X oscilloscope between measurements, so don't stop your FlexOTO's Stations to configure or rerun measurements.