Preventing Legacy Test Equipment Obsolescence

Obsolescence is a fact of life for VME–based test system users, whose systems already have been in operation for a long time—and which must continue to have useful lives well into the future. Legacy system users require a test equipment and software that possesses a welldefined legacy system support strategy that includes engineering skills able to deal competently and quickly with end‐of‐life (EOL) hardware and software issues as well as the organizational and financial stability to provide reliable support over periods measured in decades.

This paper examines the numerous issues confronting legacy VME system users, and outlines a fourpart strategy that enables test equipment users and vendors to provide ongoing support.