Method and apparatus for measuring timing characteristics of message-oriented transports
First Claim
1. Apparatus for measuring timing characteristics of bursty message traffic over a low to moderate rate digital transport or transmission medium comprising:
- means for generating a reference pulse stream;
a transcoder device receiving said reference pulse stream and routing the pulse stream to a device or transmission medium under test and, in analog form, to a first channel input of a multichannel analog-to-digital capture an/or recording device, the transcoder further receiving an output pulse stream from the device or transmission medium under test and routing the output pulse stream, in analog form, to a second channel input of the analog-to-digital capture and/or recording device; and
means for processing and analyzing captured pulse streams so as to measure one or more timing characteristics of the output pulse stream from the device or transmission medium under test.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Timing characteristics of message-oriented transports are measured using common personal computers which easily support a wide variety of analytical tools. The apparatus measures timing characteristics of bursty message traffic over relatively low-speed digital transports such as the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). The apparatus includes means for generating a reference pulse stream, such as a sequencer. A transcoder device receives the reference pulse stream and routes the pulse stream to a device under test and, in analog form, to a first channel input of a digital recording device, such as a sound card installed in a personal computer. The transcoder also receives an output pulse stream from the device under test and routes the output pulse stream, in analog form, to a second channel input of the digital recording device. A differential technique allows timing errors in the reference pulse stream to be eliminated from measurements. The apparatus can also be used for measuring propagation characteristics of a particular transmission medium.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. Apparatus for measuring timing characteristics of bursty message traffic over a low to moderate rate digital transport or transmission medium comprising:
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means for generating a reference pulse stream;
a transcoder device receiving said reference pulse stream and routing the pulse stream to a device or transmission medium under test and, in analog form, to a first channel input of a multichannel analog-to-digital capture an/or recording device, the transcoder further receiving an output pulse stream from the device or transmission medium under test and routing the output pulse stream, in analog form, to a second channel input of the analog-to-digital capture and/or recording device; and
means for processing and analyzing captured pulse streams so as to measure one or more timing characteristics of the output pulse stream from the device or transmission medium under test. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for process signal capture and analysis, comprising the steps of:
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generating a reference pulse stream;
receiving said reference pulse stream and routing the pulse stream to a device or transmission medium under test and, in analog form, to a first channel input of a multichannel analog-to-digital capture and/or recording device; and
receiving an output pulse stream from the device or transmission medium under test and routing the output pulse stream, in analog form, to a second channel input of the analog-to-digital capture and/or recording device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
detecting peaks in the captured or recorded reference pulse stream;
detecting peaks in the captured or recorded output pulse stream from the device or medium under test; and
analyzing timing differences between the detected peaks in the captured or recorded reference pulse stream and the captured or recorded output pulse stream from the device or medium under test.
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12. The method recited in claim 11, further comprising the step of generating an analysis report based on the analyzing step.
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13. A method for measuring timing characteristics of bursty message traffic over a low or moderate rate digital transport or transmission medium comprising the steps of:
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generating a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) reference event stream;
receiving said MIDI reference event stream and routing the MIDI reference event stream to a device or medium under test;
receiving an output MIDI event stream from the device or medium under test;
capturing the received MIDI reference event stream in analog form;
capturing the received output MIDI event stream from the device or medium under test in analog form;
detecting peaks in the captured MIDI reference event stream;
detecting peaks in the captured output MIDI event stream; and
analyzing timing differences between the detected peaks in the captured MIDI reference event stream and the received output MIDI event stream. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification