Learn the detailed data structure of specifications in the Specification Compliance Module (SCM).

A specification is linked to a specific product and contains three primary categories of information.
  1. Properties
  2. Limits
  3. Conditions
The following figure depicts the relationships between the three categories.

Specification Properties

A specification has both standard properties and custom properties. Use the specification properties to identify individual specifications or group specifications into useful categories.

Standard properties are a component of every specification. The following tables lists the standard properties and their descriptions.

Table 26. Standard Specification Properties and Their Descriptions
Property Description Example
Spec ID An alphanumeric string that uniquely identifies the specification in the context of a particular product and workspace

The Spec ID is the primary key that enables you to connect a specification to test results.

 Spec001
Name The name of the specification Output Voltage
Category The group to which a specification belongs

When you view specifications in the Specs tab for a product, SystemLink groups the specifications by Category.

 Electrical Specifications
Type The type of specification

Specifications can be either PARAMETRIC or FUNCTIONAL. Parametric specifications define a set of numerical limits for product test data. Functional specifications define pass/fail criteria.

 PARAMETRIC
Symbol The engineering symbol that appears in a data sheet for the specification

Use a shortened version or technical representation of the specification name.

 Vout
Block The functional or architectural block of the product to which the specification applies

For example, in a system-on-chip, the block might be the micro-processor, the USB interface, or the memory subsystem.

Amplifier
Unit The SI unit of the measured values in a parametric specification

The unit can include the prefix if desired. For example, mV and V are both allowed.

V
Workspace The workspace to which the specification belongs

Users can see specifications in workspaces that the users are members of.

 My Lab Workspace

You can add custom properties and keywords after creating a specification. Custom properties and keywords help you find and group specifications. The SCM tracks the date and time of specification updates and the user who made the updates.

Specification Limits

Specification limits are the numerical values to which you compare measured values to determine if the measured value is in compliance with the specification. Using the SCM to check for compliance provides the following benefits.
  • When the limits change, you can compare previously measured values to the new limits without re-measuring.
  • Instead of hard coding limits into your test code, you can pull limits into the test code directly from the specification. The SCM enables you to reuse your test code.
When you must apply different limits under different conditions, create separate specification for each set of limits and specify the appropriate conditions. The SCM manages the following three types of limits.
Table 27. Types of Limits Managed in the SCM
Limit Type Description
Minimum A measured value less than the minimum limit is out of compliance. Use minimum limits when a specification must be guaranteed.
Maximum A measured value that is greater than the maximum limit is out of compliance. Use maximum limits when a specification must be guaranteed.
Typical Measured values are expected to have a statistical mean that is close to the typical limit. Use typical limits to denote a typical specification. You can use typical limits with or without the minimum and maximum limits.

Specification Conditions

Conditions are the set of parameters that are controlled by the test environment and impact the measurements. The SCM represents conditions as a list of parameters and their values. Specification conditions dictate the circumstances under which you must run a test and collect a measurement. A condition space is the set of all Cartesian combinations of parameter values. You must run a test under each of these combinations.

Numeric conditions are the most common and can represent a range of values or a discrete set of values. A numeric condition has the following parameters.
Table 28. Parameters of Numeric Conditions
Parameters Description
Name The name of the condition

This value must match the name for the condition in your test code.
Unit The SI unit for the condition

The unit can include the prefix. For example, the unit can be GHz or Hz.
Range A list of numeric ranges for the condition

SystemLink supports a list of ranges so you can specify disjoint numeric ranges. For example, you can sweep a frequency with different step sizes in different ranges.
Discrete values A list of individual values for the condition

Use discrete lists in addition to ranges or independently. When you use discrete lists along with ranges, the total set of values is the combination of the ranges and the discrete values.

The following example shows a frequency condition in GHz that a mixture of disjoint ranges and discrete values.

{
  "name": "Frequency",
  "value": {
    "unit": "GHz",
    "type": "NUMERIC",
    "range": [
      { "min": 1.0, "step": 1, "max": 5.0 },
      { "min": 5.0, "step": 0.1, "max": 7.0 },
      { "min": 7.0, "step": 1, "max": 10.0 }
    ],
    "discrete": [0.5, 10.1]
  }
}
String conditions specify any non-numeric condition value. A string condition has the following attributes.
Table 29. Attributes of a String Condition
Attribute Description
Name The name of the condition

This value must match the name for the condition in your test code.
Discrete values A list of individual values for the condition

String condition values must be discrete values.
The following example shows a string condition for capturing operating mode.
{
  "name": "Operating Mode",
  "value": {
    "discrete": ["High Gain", "Low Gain", "Passthrough"]
  }
}