US Patent 7906981 Test apparatus and test method

There is provided a test apparatus for testing a device under test, including: a plurality of test sections; and a first synchronization section and a second synchronization section that, for each of a plurality of domains that respectively include one or more of the plurality of test sections, synchronize the one or more test sections included in the domain, where each of the first synchronization section and the second synchronization section includes: a local collection section that collects, for each domain, synchronization requests from the test sections connected to the corresponding synchronization section; an exchange section that exchanges, for a discrete domain of that includes test sections connected to the first synchronization section and test sections connected to the second synchronization section, synchronization requests collected in the corresponding synchronization section with synchronization requests collected in the other synchronization section; a global collection section that collects, the synchronization requests collected in the corresponding synchronization section and the synchronization requests collected in the other synchronization section; and a distribution section that distributes the collected synchronization requests to each of the test sections connected to the corresponding synchronization section.