COMMAND INTERFACE FOR COMMUNICATION TEST FRAMEWORK

• US 20130080503A1
• Filed: 09/23/2011
• Published: 03/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Roche Diabetes Care Inc. (Roche Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Roche Diagnostics Operations Incorporated (Roche Holding AG)
• Inventors: Reinke, Robert E., Dean, Brian J., Granger, Jay A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,430,345 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3656 using a specific debug interface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3668 Software testing software testing in telephone exchanges H04M3/242, testing of hardware G06F11/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3696 Methods or tools to render software testable
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 Testing arrangements

Abstract

A protocol-independent tool for debugging and testing communication interfaces of devices and systems is disclosed. The tool is configured to receive protocol plug-ins corresponding to different communication protocols. Given a plug-in, the tool instantiates the plug-in'"'"'s implementation of a tool-defined stack interface. Through this interface and its implementation by the plug-in, the tool can communicate with a device being tested. The protocol plug-in receives commands from a command interface for the device being tested, generates data packets in accordance with the communication protocol implemented by the plug-in, and transmits the data packets to the device being tested.

Claims

1. A tool for testing a plurality of different devices having a plurality of different device types, the plurality of different device types having different communication protocols associated therewith, the tool comprising:

a plurality of communication modules, each communication module having a different physical transport for communicating with one or more of the plurality of different device types, each communication module being configured to communicate using at least one of the plurality of different communication protocols;

a command definition file datastore that stores a plurality of different command definition files corresponding to the different communication protocols, wherein a command definition file corresponding to a particular communication protocol indicates at least one command supported by at least one stack layer of the particular communication protocol;

a manual command user interface configured to;

1) retrieve a list of command definition files from the command definition file datastore,

2) receive a user selection indicating a selected command definition file from the list of command definition files, the selected command definition file corresponding to a particular communication protocol,

3) display a list of available stack layers from the selected command definition file, the available stack layers corresponding to different stack layers of the particular communication protocol,

4) receive a user selection indicating a selected stack layer,

5) display a list of available stack layer commands from the selected command definition file, and

6) receive a selected stack layer command;

a stack broker configured to instantiate a protocol plug-in from a plurality of available protocol plug-ins based on the selected command definition file, wherein the protocol plug-in corresponds to the communication protocol of the command definition file; and

a protocol manager configured to receive the selected stack layer, the selected stack layer command, and at least one argument values for the selected stack layer command, and to provide the instantiated protocol plug-in with a command indicating the at least one argument value and the selected stack layers,

wherein the instantiated protocol wrapper;

i) opens a communication session with a device being tested over one of the plurality of communication modules in accordance with the communication protocol,

ii) receives the selected stack layer command,

iii) generates a packet for the device being tested according to the selected command definition file, the selected stack layer, and the selected stack layer command, and the at least one argument, and

iv) communicates the packet to the device being tested using the communication session.

2. The tool of claim 1 wherein a command definition file defines a set of stack layer commands for each stack layer of the communication protocol corresponding to the command definition file, and wherein a stack layer command has one or more associated arguments.

3. The tool of claim 2 wherein the manual command user interface is further configured to:

7) prompt the user to provide at least one argument value(s) corresponding to the selected command definition file and the selected stack layer command, and

8) receive the argument value(s) from the user via the user interface.

4. The tool of claim 3 wherein the list of available stack layer commands that is displayed to the user is based on the stack layer selection, such that the available stack layer commands are directed to the selected stack layer.

5. The tool of claim 1 further comprising a sequence command user interface that is configured to receive a sequence of commands to transmit the device being tested, to receive argument values for the arguments of each command in the sequence of commands, and to communicate the sequence of commands to the protocol manager, the sequence of commands including the received argument values.

6. The tool of claim 1 wherein the instantiated protocol plug-in is further configured to:

v) receive response packets from the device being tested,

vi) generate response data by decoding the packets according to the communication protocol corresponding to the instantiated protocol plug-in, and

vii) provide the response data to the protocol manager.

7. The tool of claim 6 wherein the response data is at least one of displayed to the user and stored in a log file.

8. The tool of claim 1 wherein the protocol manager is further configured to receive selected stack layer commands having no arguments associated therewith.

9. A method executed by a tool for testing a plurality of different devices having a plurality of different device types, the plurality of different device types having different communication protocols associated therewith, the tool including a plurality of communication modules, each communication module having a different physical transport for communicating with one or more of the plurality of different device types, each communication module being configured to communicate using at least one of the plurality of different communication protocols, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of different command definition files corresponding to the different communication protocols in a command definition file datastore, wherein a command definition file corresponding to a particular communication protocol indicates at least one command supported by at least one stack layer of the particular communication protocol;

retrieving a list of command definition files from the command definition file datastore;

receiving a user selection indicating a selected command definition file from the list of command definition files, the selected command definition file corresponding to a particular communication protocol;

displaying a list of available stack layers from the selected command definition file, the available stack layers corresponding to different stack layers of the particular communication protocol;

receiving a user selection indicating a selected stack layer;

displaying a list of available stack layer commands from the selected command definition file;

receiving a selected stack layer command;

instantiating a protocol plug-in from a plurality of available protocol plug-ins based on the selected command definition file, wherein the instantiated protocol plug-in corresponds to the communication protocol of the command definition file; and

providing the instantiated protocol plug-in with a command indicating the selected stack layer and the selected stack layer command,

wherein the instantiated protocol wrapper performs the following steps;

opening a communication session with a device being tested over one of the plurality of communication modules in accordance with the communication protocol,

receiving the command, including the selected stack layer and the selected stack layer command,

generating a packet for the device being tested according to the selected command definition file, the selected stack layer, and the selected stack layer command, and

communicating the packet to the device being tested using the communication session.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein a command definition file defines a set of stack layer commands for each stack layer of the communication protocol corresponding to the command definition file, and wherein a stack layer command has zero or more associated arguments.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

prompting the user to provide zero or more argument values corresponding to the selected command definition file, the selected stack layer command, and the zero or more associated arguments, and

receiving the zero or more argument values from the user via the user interface.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the list of available stack layer commands that is displayed to the user is based on the stack layer selection, such that the available stack layer commands are directed to the selected stack layer.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

receiving a sequence of commands to transmit the device being tested,

receiving zero or more argument values for the arguments of each command in the sequence of commands, and

communicating the sequence of commands to the instantiated protocol plug-in, the sequence of commands including the received argument values.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the instantiated protocol plug-in further performs:

receiving response packets from the device being tested, and

generating response data by decoding the packets according to the communication protocol corresponding to the instantiated protocol plug-in.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising displaying the response data to the user.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising storing the response data in a log file.