A method of and an apparatus for designing a test environment and of evaluating
performance of the test environment and an electronic device during testing of
the electronic device. A virtual test environment is created emulating an actual
test environment. A virtual device emulating the actual electronic device is implanted
into the virtual test environment, and that virtual device is stimulated with an
input test signal emulating the actual input signal applied to the actual electronic
device in the actual test environment. The integrity of the input test signal and
the resulting output signal is evaluated. An adjustment might be made to the virtual
calibration of the virtual test environment and/or to the virtual device, or both,
and the design of the actual device might be improved. The invention can be implemented
on a properly programmed general purpose processing system or on a special purpose system.