Method and system for testing a signal path having an operational signal
First Claim
1. A method of testing a signal path comprising:
- a) receiving an operational signal from the signal path, wherein the operational signal is present within the system during operation and is not an injected test signal;
b) estimating a correlation of the operational signal at a time-offset wherein the correlation is the expectation of the product of the operational signal and a reference signal; and
c) determining a characteristic of the signal path from the correlation.
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Abstract
A technique for testing a signal path while an operational signal is present is disclosed. The technique may be performed without injecting a test signal into the signal path by using an operational signal already present in the signal path. A method of testing a signal path includes receiving an operational signal from the signal path and estimating a correlation of the operational signal. A system for testing a signal path includes an extractor configured to extract a sample of the operational signal when coupled to a signal path and a correlator configured to estimate a correlation of the operational signal. Various properties of the signal path may be determined using the technique.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method of testing a signal path comprising:
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a) receiving an operational signal from the signal path, wherein the operational signal is present within the system during operation and is not an injected test signal; b) estimating a correlation of the operational signal at a time-offset wherein the correlation is the expectation of the product of the operational signal and a reference signal; and c) determining a characteristic of the signal path from the correlation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of testing a signal path having at least one anomaly comprising:
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extracting from the signal path a forward portion of an operational signal within the signal path wherein the operational signal is present within the system during operation and is not an injected test signal; extracting from the signal path a reflection of the operational signal introduced by the at least one anomaly; estimating a plurality of cross-correlation values of the forward portion of the operational signal and the reflection of the operational signal corresponding to a plurality of relative time-offsets between the forward portion of the operational signal and the reflection of the operational signal wherein the cross-correlation is the expectation of the product of the forward portion of the operational signal and the reflection of the operational signal; and finding a first extremum of the plurality of cross-correlation values corresponding to a first one of the at least one anomaly. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A method of testing a signal path having a plurality of anomalies comprising:
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extracting a portion of an operational signal from the signal path, the operational signal having distortion introduced by the plurality of anomalies wherein the operational signal is present within the system during operation and is not an injected test signal; a. estimating an autocorrelation of the operational signal at a plurality of time offsets wherein the autocorrelation is the expectation of the product of the operational signal with a time offset version of the operational signal; b. determining a number of peaks of the autocorrelation; and c. calculating a number of anomalies from the number of peaks. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A system for testing a signal path having an operational signal comprising:
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an extractor configured to extract a sample of the operational signal when coupled to a signal path wherein the operational signal is present within the system during operation and is not an injected test signal; a correlator coupled to the extractor and configured to estimate a correlation of the sample of operational signal at an at least one time-offset; a processor coupled to the correlator and configured to determine a characteristic of the signal path from the correlation. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A system providing self-test capability comprising:
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at least one signal path carrying an operational signal used by the system during operation wherein the operational signal is not an injected test signal; at least one noise domain reflectometer coupled to the at least one signal path adapted to monitor the signal path during operation of the system wherein the noise domain reflectometer comprises; a correlator coupled to the signal path and configured to estimate a correlation of the operational signal; a processor coupled to the correlator and configured to determine a characteristic of the signal path. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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Specification