ANAHEIM, CA -- September 23, 1997 -- Teradyne announced new hardware and software product additions to its L300-Series test systems at Autotestcon this week, reinforcing its leadership position as the "best in class" COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) supplier for military/avionics depot and factory test applications. The additions include support for a more powerful TPS (Test Program Set) development computer platform, a new release (Version 2.2) of the ProgramGuide TPS development environment, a new high-speed diagnostic probe option and a new high-speed clock interface option.

"The L300-Series test systems have become the de facto COTS standard for military and avionics depot level test systems world-wide," said L300-Series Product Manager John Arena. "We've provided proven ATE solutions for analog, digital and RF production and conformance testing, and for test, diagnosis and re-verification of mission-critical equipment at factory and depot levels. Our ProgramGuide development environment delivers the lowest overall cost for sophisticated TPS generation and operation on ATE, compared to conventional TPS development and operational software."

These new product announcements reinforce Teradyne's commitment to respond to customer requirements for new, high performance testing solutions, and underscore the value that the company continues to deliver to current users of its L300-Series test systems, Arena noted.

Software Supports Alpha-Based Development Environments, Reduces Development Time

"By providing new support for the DEC Alpha computer and the new capabilities of ProgramGuide 2.2 for TPS development, we've given L300-Series users access to a more powerful environment for developing, executing and maintaining sophisticated test programs," Arena said. "We've designed ProgramGuide Version 2.2 in part around our installed-base customers' ever-growing need for performance, specifying that the software must allow for routine migration of older VAX-based TPS to the Alpha. Because ProgramGuide version 2.2 also operates on VAX 4000 series platforms, customers migrating multiple systems to the Alpha can do so by upgrading individual computers, while maintaining overall CPU interoperability and TPS transportability during the process."

Existing VAX-based L-Series users will enjoy the significant reductions in CPU time for TPS development, TPS run times, and guided probe/fault dictionary diagnostic times when using ProgramGuide Version 2.2 on the Alpha. The benefits are enhanced programmer efficiency, greater ease of TPS development and maintenance, and lower overall TPS development time, Arena said. Running on both VMS 6.2 on the VAX 4000 series, and Open VMS 7.1 on the DEC Alpha series, ProgramGuide 2.2 will support both GUI (Graphical User Interface) and non-GUI programming environments.

With the ProgramGuide version 2.2 release, Teradyne also introduced support for integrated OEM development tools from Analogy, Diagonal Systems, Hewlett Packard, IET, Interleaf, and Mentor into the ProgramGuide process controllers.

"These software tools provide de facto industry standard capabilities for schematic capture, RF and analog simulation, analog diagnostics and on-line documentation. Now, we've provided users with the means to access them from within our own development environment, and integrated them into our TPS development process software. The result is a tightly integrated, process-oriented, comprehensive COTS software solution for users who are developing sophisticated digital, analog, and RF TPSs. " Arena said.

The release is scheduled for shipment in March 1998 to all L300 customers who have a current Software Support Agreement.

Enhanced High-Speed Dynamic Probe Speeds TPS Programming

The new high-speed dynamic probe option, available as an upgrade to all installed L320-Series, L350-Series, and L390-Series testers, expands the available diagnostic probe memory. "Until now, programmers have had to break up lengthy digital activity into smaller sections to fit within the available probe memory," Arena said. "This new option makes it easier and faster for programmers to create TPSs requiring long, high-speed guided probe diagnostics."

The High-Speed Diagnostic Probe provides 64K of deep probe memory, at probe speeds to 40 MHz, with no impact on existing TPSs or diagnostic probing process. Pricing of the option starts at $ 50,000; deliveries begin in the first quarter of 1998.

Enhanced, High-Speed Timing Option Supports Board Clock Rates to 80 MHz

To meet new customer requirements for high-speed clock inputs, or to synchronize to fast on-board clocks, the new High-Speed Timing Enhancement Option supports clock frequencies up to 80 MHz. Specialized PLL (Phase-Locked Loop) circuitry provides stable, repeatable clock inputs to the UUT (Unit Under Test), or synchronizes the L-Series ATE to signals from the UUT. The option provides independent, programmable drive/ receive levels, separate from the levels used for other channels.

The PLL circuitry also enables production of clock signals that are independent of the tester's pattern rate and timebase. "This option helps our customers develop test programs and text fixtures faster, for boards requiring high-speed clock support, or requiring a second, independent clock source," Arena said. "By providing a standard clock source in the ATE, we eliminate the cost users would incur to engineer clock solutions in test fixtures." The price of the option starts at $60,000, with deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 1998.

HP VEE 4.0 support Assists Complex Requirements for Analog and RF Programming

Program Guide 2.2 introduces software support for the newest version of Hewlett Packard Virtual Engineering Environment HP VEE Version 4.0 as an analog application development environment. L-Series users with requirements for extensive analog and RF subsystems now have the option of developing these TPS sections in the HP VEE environment- accessed from within ProgramGuide and the process controllers.

At runtime, ProgramGuide also manages the execution of the complete TPS, sending those analog and RF TPS sections to HP VEE for execution, as part of the overall TPS. This option provides comprehensive analog development environment and TPS tools for users with extensive requirements for analog and RF instrumentation, from within the ProgramGuide Framework.

Teradyne, Inc. is a leading supplier of automatic test equipment (ATE) and connection systems and to manufacturers of electronics worldwide. The company's Assembly Test Boston division is a major supplier of COTS functional board test systems and software for military test. Teradyne is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Symbol: TER). Sales in the first half of 1997 were approximately $538 million.