Patent ID: 7117274

Claim:
For use with a programmable microcontroller ( 140 ) for controlling routing circuitry ( 160 ) having configurable test signal routing paths with controllable switches therein for coupling test signals between dedicated test-signal circuitry and a target circuit device, a graphical user interface terminal ( 100 ) comprising: a micro-computer circuit ( 105 ); an input/output (I/O) interface circuit ( 130 ) coupled to the microcontroller; and stored computer-executable code ( 107 ) that, when executed, causes the micro-computer circuit to: in response to a user input, send configuration data to the microcontroller via the I/O interface circuit for automatically configuring the microcontroller to control the controllable switches for selectively routing the test signals between the dedicated test signal circuitry and the target circuit device; receive characteristics of the routing circuitry from the microcontroller via the I/O interface circuit; and display the received characteristics.