Methods and apparatus for performance testing of cordless telephones
First Claim
1. A system for automated performance testing of an analog cordless telephone, comprising:
- a handset for communicating with a matching base station, the handset including a handset test access port, the handset being operative to transmit a test packet to the base station in response to an instruction received via the handset test access port, the test packet comprising an opcode similar to opcodes used for signaling between the handset and the base station;
a base station for communicating with the handset, the base station being operative to receive the test packet and output a signal indicating receipt of a packet by the base station to a base station test access port if the base station properly received the test packet, the base station being operative to ignore the test packet if the test packet was improperly received; and
a test controller for connecting to the handset test access port and the base station test access port, the test controller being operative to issue an instruction to the handset test access port to direct the handset to transmit a test packet to the base station, the test controller being operative to read the signal indicating receipt of the packet by the base station from the base station test access port and to note whether the test packet was received, the test controller being further operative to evaluate communication performance between the handset and the base station based on whether the test packet was received.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for performance testing of an analog cordless telephone are addressed herein. A telephone base station is connected to a test controller which directs the base station to initiate a test. The test controller signals the telephone handset to transmit a plurality of test packets to the base station, each test packet being similar to an opcode used in signaling between the handset and the base station. For each test packet received, the base station passes a signal to the test controller. The test controller computes an error rate based on a difference between the number or packets received and the number of packets expected and computes communication performance between the handset and the base station based on the error rate. It is also possible to test communication performance between the base station and the handset by instructing the base station to transmit test packets to the handset and counting the test packets received by the handset, computing an error rate based on a difference between the number of received packets and the number of expected packets.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A system for automated performance testing of an analog cordless telephone, comprising:
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a handset for communicating with a matching base station, the handset including a handset test access port, the handset being operative to transmit a test packet to the base station in response to an instruction received via the handset test access port, the test packet comprising an opcode similar to opcodes used for signaling between the handset and the base station;
a base station for communicating with the handset, the base station being operative to receive the test packet and output a signal indicating receipt of a packet by the base station to a base station test access port if the base station properly received the test packet, the base station being operative to ignore the test packet if the test packet was improperly received; and
a test controller for connecting to the handset test access port and the base station test access port, the test controller being operative to issue an instruction to the handset test access port to direct the handset to transmit a test packet to the base station, the test controller being operative to read the signal indicating receipt of the packet by the base station from the base station test access port and to note whether the test packet was received, the test controller being further operative to evaluate communication performance between the handset and the base station based on whether the test packet was received. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A system for automated performance testing of an analog cordless telephone, comprising:
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a handset for communicating with a matching base station, the handset being operative to transmit a plurality of test packets to the base station, the test packets comprising opcodes similar to opcodes used for signaling between the handset and the base station;
a base station for communicating with the handset, the base station being operative to receive the plurality of test packets and output a signal indicating receipt of each properly received test packet to a test access port; and
a test controller adapted to connect to the test access port of the base station, the test controller being operative to count signals received from the test access port, to compute an error rate based on a difference between the number of signals received and signals expected and to evaluate communication performance between the handset and the base station based on the error rate. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. An analog cordless telephone adapted for automated performance testing, comprising:
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a handset for communicating with a matching base station, the handset being operative to perform a handset to base station test, the handset being operative upon initiation of the handset to base station test to inform the base station that a test is being conducted and that a plurality of test packets comprising a specified number of test packets is being transmitted and to transmit the plurality of test packets to the base station, the test packets comprising opcodes similar to opcodes used for signaling between the handset and the base station; and
a base station for communicating with the handset, the base station being operative to receive the plurality of test packets and count the test packets properly received, the base station being further operative to determine an error rate based on a difference between the number of test packets received and the specified number of test packets, the base station being further operative to evaluate communication performance between the handset and the base station based on the error rate. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for range testing of a cordless telephone, comprising:
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a first shielded enclosure for enclosing a cordless telephone handset, the first shielded enclosure containing a first sensing antenna;
a second shielded enclosure for enclosing cordless telephone base station, the second shielded enclosure containing a second sensing antenna;
an attenuator connected between the first sensing antenna and the second sensing antenna, the attenuator adapted to introduce a predetermined attenuation equivalent to a specified distance;
the cordless telephone handset, the handset being adapted for designation as a sending unit or a receiving unit, the handset being adapted to transmit a plurality of range test packets to the base station when designated as the sending unit, the handset being adapted to receive a number of range test packets from the base station and to report each successful receipt of a range test packet when designated as the receiving unit;
the cordless telephone base station, the base station being adapted for designation as a sending unit or a receiving unit, the base station being adapted to transmit a plurality of range test packets to the handset when designated as the sending unit, the handset being adapted to receive a number of range test packets from the handset and to report each successful receipt of a range test packet when designated as the receiving unit; and
a range calculator adapted to compute the range performance between the sending unit and the receiving unit based on an error rate comprising a difference between the number of range test packets sent by the sending unit and the number of range test packets received by the receiving unit, and a distance equivalent to the attenuation introduced by the attenuator. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of range testing for an analog cordless telephone, comprising the steps of:
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(1) enclosing a cordless telephone handset within a first shielded enclosure, the first shielded enclosure also containing a first sensing antenna;
(2) enclosing a cordless telephone base station within a second shielded enclosure, the second shielded enclosure also containing a second sensing antenna, the second sensing antenna being connected to the first sensing antenna through an attenuator, the attenuator having an attenuation set to be equivalent to a specified distance;
(2) designating one of the cordless telephone handset and the cordless telephone base station as a sending unit and the other of the handset and the base station as a receiving unit;
(3) sending a plurality of range test packets from the sending unit to the receiving unit;
(4) detecting each reception of a range test packet by the receiving unit; and
(5) computing an error rate based on a difference between the number of range test packets sent from the sending unit and the number of range test packets received by the receiving unit; and
(6) computing range performance from the sending unit to the receiving unit based on the error rate and the attenuation. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. An analog cordless telephone adapted for range testing, comprising:
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a handset adapted for placement in a first shielded enclosure, the first shielded enclosure also enclosing a first sensing antenna, the handset being adapted to transmit a plurality of range test packets to the first sensing antenna;
a base station adapted for placement in a second shielded enclosure, the second shielded enclosure also enclosing a second sensing antenna, the first and second sensing antennas being connected via an attenuator adapted to introduce an attenuation equivalent to a predetermined distance, the base station being adapted to receive a plurality of range test packets from the second sensing antenna, the base station being further adapted to report a number of range test packets successfully received in order to allow computation of an error rate based on a difference between the number of packets sent from the handset and the number of packets received by the base station, the error rate allowing computation of a maximum allowable range between the handset and the base station based on the error rate and the attenuation. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification