System architecture for a test apparatus having primary and dependent processors

An apparatus for analyzing communication lines comprising:

• a primary processor;
• a digital information bus;
• a first dependent processor connected to said primary processor via said digital information bus;
• a second dependent processor connected to said primary processor via said digital information bus;
• and
• an interface bus connecting said first and second dependent processors thereby allowing direct communication therebetween.

An apparatus for analyzing communication lines, comprising:

• a primary processor;
• a dependent processor for receiving analog signals from the communications lines to be analyzed, digitally processing the received analog signals, and sending other analog signals to the communciations lines;
• and
• a digital information bus connecting said dependent processor to said primary processor, wherein said primary processor provides instructions to said dependent processor over the digital information bus, for controlling the manner in which the dependent processor processes analog signals, wherein said dependent processor provides data to said primary processor over the digital information bus, and wherein the primary processor performs overflow calculations using the data received from the dependent processor to increase the speed of the functions performed by said dependent processor."