The role of testing methodologies in open systems standards

This paper describes the lifecycle role of a conformance testing research facility in the open systems standards environment. This facility, the Clemson Automated Testing System (CATS), has demonstrated the value of integrating formalized test methods within all phases of standards development. IEEE's effort to develop a standard for operating systems interfaces (POSIX) has provided a working environment to investigate and evaluate the capabilities of CATS. In this arena, CATS has proven valuable in exposing critical issues in the emerging standard and in formulating feasible solutions on multiple occasions. The role of CATS in the areas of automated testing, profile development and real-time extensions is described. A discussion of future directions for CATS and testing in open system standards concludes the paper.<>