From Box Instruments to Software-Defined, AI-Native, Open Ecosystems Introduction: From Static Hardware to Adaptive Test Ecosystems For most of the 20th and early 21st centuries, test and measurement (T&M) systems were defined by rigidity. Engineers relied on expensive, monolithic “black box” instruments—oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, and signal generators—each purpose-built, hardware-locked, and constrained by fixed lifecycles. Upgrading…

