Patent ID: 7385927

Claim:
In an automated test environment having a system under test and a host system, a method for testing said system under test comprising the steps of: connecting the system under test directly to a host system; providing a mailbox interface within said system under test for exchange of information between said system under test and said host system; providing a shared memory area on said system under test accessible to said host system through the direct connection between the system under test and the host system; downloading from said host system to said system under test program instructions to be executed by said system under test wherein the program instructions define a test sequence, wherein the downloaded program instructions are stored into said shared memory area, and wherein the downloading step is performed in accordance with a protocol; and exchanging information between the host system and the system under test while executing the program instructions, the exchanges regarding processing of said test sequence using said mailbox interface in accordance with said protocol, wherein said protocol is independent of the particular said test sequence to be executed and independent of the particular said system under test.