Quality measurement method and apparatus for wireless communicaion networks
First Claim
1. A quality testing apparatus comprising:
- a transceiver circuit, wherein the transceiver circuit receives voice test signals and audio test tone signals from a mobile test terminal, and wherein the transceiver circuit transmits voice test signals and audio test tone signals to the mobile test terminal;
a voice signal generating unit, connected to the transceiver, wherein the voice signal generating unit generates a time division multiplexed (TDM) base band signal, wherein the TDM signal includes at least one test sentence and at least one synchronization pulse, and wherein the at least one synchronization pulse identifies a time slot containing the at least one, test sentence;
a voice quality measuring unit connected to the transceiver, wherein the voice quality measuring unit objectively determines the quality of a received voice test signal by comparing the received voice signal with a series of reference sentences and ranking the comparison against a predetermined set of parameters;
a test tone generating unit, connected to the transceiver, wherein the test tone generating unit generates an audio test tone signal;
a signal quality measuring unit connected to the transceiver, wherein the signal quality measuring unit measures the signal quality of the audio test tone signal received from the mobile test terminal;
a communication exchange register connected to the voice quality measuring unit and the voice signal generating unit; and
a control processor coupled to the communication exchange register, wherein the control processor transmits either a tone generation command signal or a voice generation command signal when the apparatus operates in a generation mode, and wherein the control processor transmits a test tone measurement command signal when the apparatus operates in a measurement mode.
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Abstract
An quality testing apparatus and method for providing an objective and real-time evaluation of voice quality in a wireless communication system. The system under evaluation would include a receiving and transmitting apparatus at both ends of the system. To evaluate voice quality, one apparatus transmits a TDM base band voice test signal to a receiving apparatus. The configuration of the transmitted TDM base band voice test signal permits the receiving end to synchronize a test sentence, contained within the TDM test signal, with a corresponding reference sentence stored at the receiving apparatus. After synchronization, the receiving apparatus uses a model of human hearing to objectively compare the two sentences, and based on the result, outputs an AQS ranking. In addition to voice quality, the apparatus measures SINAD, noise, distortion, and signal level of transmitted test tones and maintains a log of call progress statistics.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A quality testing apparatus comprising:
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a transceiver circuit, wherein the transceiver circuit receives voice test signals and audio test tone signals from a mobile test terminal, and wherein the transceiver circuit transmits voice test signals and audio test tone signals to the mobile test terminal; a voice signal generating unit, connected to the transceiver, wherein the voice signal generating unit generates a time division multiplexed (TDM) base band signal, wherein the TDM signal includes at least one test sentence and at least one synchronization pulse, and wherein the at least one synchronization pulse identifies a time slot containing the at least one, test sentence; a voice quality measuring unit connected to the transceiver, wherein the voice quality measuring unit objectively determines the quality of a received voice test signal by comparing the received voice signal with a series of reference sentences and ranking the comparison against a predetermined set of parameters; a test tone generating unit, connected to the transceiver, wherein the test tone generating unit generates an audio test tone signal; a signal quality measuring unit connected to the transceiver, wherein the signal quality measuring unit measures the signal quality of the audio test tone signal received from the mobile test terminal; a communication exchange register connected to the voice quality measuring unit and the voice signal generating unit; and a control processor coupled to the communication exchange register, wherein the control processor transmits either a tone generation command signal or a voice generation command signal when the apparatus operates in a generation mode, and wherein the control processor transmits a test tone measurement command signal when the apparatus operates in a measurement mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for testing the voice audio quality of a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
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transmitting a test signal from a mobile testing terminal, wherein the test signal is a TDM audio signal including a series of time slots, wherein at least one time slot contains a test sentence and an identifying synchronization pulse; receiving, at a quality testing apparatus, an analog signal, wherein the analog signal corresponds to the transmitted test signal plus an RF distortion signal; converting the received analog signal to a digital signal by sampling the analog signal for real-time evaluation; synchronizing the digital signal with a corresponding reference signal using the identifying synchronization pulse received with the digital signal; filtering the test signal with a first critical-band IIR filter bank; subtracting the filtered test signal from the synchronized reference signal to produce a difference signal; comparing the difference signal with a set of predefined parameters to objectively determine a quality ranking score; and outputting the quality ranking score. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A wireless communication system comprising:
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a land-line quality testing unit configured to test the total quality of the wireless communication system by measuring an audio quality of a received time division multiplexed (TDM) base band voice test signal and an audio test tone signal, wherein land-line quality testing unit includes a control processor configured to transmit a measurement command signal when the land-line unit operates in a measurement mode; a modem connected to the land-line quality testing unit, wherein the land-line quality testing unit generates TDM base band voice test signals and audio test tone signals, and wherein the modem transmits the signals to a mobile switching station, and wherein the mobile switching station is coupled to a base station controller; a mobile quality testing unit connected to a wireless mobile telephone test terminal for receiving the TDM base band voice test signal and the audio test tone signals transmitted by the modem, wherein the telephone test terminal is coupled to the base station controller, and wherein the base station controller receives the TDM base band voice test signal and the audio test tone signals from the mobile switching station; and wherein the mobile quality testing unit also transmits TDM base band voice test signals and audio test tone signals to the land-line quality testing unit via the modem. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for testing the voice audio quality of a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
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transmitting a test signal from a mobile testing terminal; receiving, at a quality testing apparatus, an analog signal, wherein the analog signal corresponds to the transmitted test signal plus an RF distortion signal; converting the received analog signal to a digital signal by sampling the analog signal for real-time evaluation; synchronizing the digital signal with a corresponding reference signal using an identifying synchronization pulse received with the digital signal; filtering the test signal with a first critical-band IIR filter bank; subtracting the filtered test signal from the synchronized reference signal to produce a difference signal; comparing the difference signal with a set of predefined parameters to objectively determine a quality ranking score; and outputting the quality ranking score.
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Specification