Onboard wireless performance testing

• US 9,204,326 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2012
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Bommer, Jason P., Glover, Keith J., Ayyagari, Arun, Shetty, Sudhakar S., Kirkland, David T., Marston, Scott E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rivas, Raul
• Application Number:
  US13/562,789
• Publication Number:
  US 20140036686A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,218 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/20 for indoor coverage or short range network deployment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/06 Testing, supervising or monitoring using simulated traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks

Abstract

A method and associated wireless monitor and data analysis system are provided. The method includes installing one or more of a plurality of wireless monitors at respective locations onboard a complex system on which a wireless system of interest is installed or planned for installation. The method may then include by the plurality of wireless monitors, emulating the wireless system of interest, and recording data related to performance of the wireless system of interest at one or more recorded times over a plurality of operating conditions of the complex system. The method may also include by the plurality of wireless monitors, collecting data including the respective locations of the wireless monitors correlated with respective recorded data and recorded times. In this regard, the collected data for the plurality of wireless monitors may be retrievable for analysis of the wireless system of interest based thereon.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

installing one or more of a plurality of wireless monitors at respective locations onboard a configuration of a complex system on which a wireless system of interest is installed or planned for installation, the complex system being an aircraft or other vehicle, the configuration of the complex system including an at least partially defined configuration of an interior of the aircraft or other vehicle;

emulating the wireless system of interest, and recording data related to performance of the wireless system of interest at one or more recorded times over a plurality of operating conditions of the complex system;

collecting data including the respective locations of the wireless monitors correlated with respective recorded data and recorded times, and further correlated with the plurality of operating conditions of the complex system at the recorded times, the wireless system of interest being emulated, the data recorded and collected by the plurality of wireless monitors;

performing an analysis of the wireless system of interest based on the collected data, the analysis being performed by a data analysis system to establish a configuration of the wireless system of interest that meets or exceeds at least one design requirement thereof, the data analysis system computing whether the configuration or operating conditions of the complex system enable the wireless system of interest to perform with a wireless link quality specified by the at least one design requirement.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising by the plurality of wireless monitors:

receiving or calculating one or more parameters that at least partially define the configuration of the wireless system of interest, or one or more parameters that at least partially define the configuration of the complex system,

wherein the collecting of data further includes collecting the one or more parameters of the wireless system of interest or complex system, the collected data further including the one or more parameters of the wireless system of interest or complex system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the installing comprises installing the wireless monitors such that the wireless monitors are segregated from the wireless system of interest.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the installing comprises installing the wireless monitors such that the wireless monitors are integrated into and piggyback on the wireless system of interest installed on the complex system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless system of interest includes wireless hardware components, and

wherein the installing comprises installing the wireless monitors at one or more locations onboard the complex system at which the wireless hardware components are installed or planned for installation, or at one or more locations of external wireless hardware components with which the wireless hardware components are configured to communicate.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting of data includes collecting data in a hub-and-spoke arrangement in which one designated wireless monitor functions as a hub monitor responsible for interrogating and receiving responses from one or more other wireless monitors functioning as node monitors.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting of data includes collecting data in a mesh arrangement in which one or more of the wireless monitors selectively function as a hub monitor or node monitor, the hub monitor being responsible for interrogating and receiving responses from one or more node monitors.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the installing, emulating and collecting occur for a plurality of different configurations of the complex system, each configuration being at least partially defined by parameters one or more of which differ for different configurations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the installing, emulating and collecting occur for a plurality of different configurations of the wireless system of interest, each configuration being at least partially defined by parameters one or more of which differ for different configurations.

10. A wireless monitor of a plurality of wireless monitors installable at respective locations onboard a configuration of a complex system on which a wireless system of interest is installed or planned for installation, the complex system being an aircraft or other vehicle, the configuration of the complex system including an at least partially defined configuration of an interior of the aircraft or other vehicle, the wireless monitor comprising:

a radio;

a control module coupled to the radio and configured to control the radio to emulate the wireless system of interest, and record data related to performance of the wireless system of interest at one or more recorded times over a plurality of operating conditions of the complex system, wherein the control module being configured to record data includes being configured to calculate a wireless link quality at the one or more recorded times over the plurality of operating conditions; and

a data storage coupled to the control module and configured to store the respective location of the wireless monitor correlated with the recorded data and recorded times, and further correlated with the plurality of operating conditions of the complex system at the recorded times, the plurality of wireless monitors being configured to collect data including the respective locations, and respective recorded data and recorded times, the collected data for the plurality of wireless monitors being retrievable for analysis of the wireless system of interest based thereon,

wherein the analysis enables establishment of a configuration of the wireless system of interest that meets or exceeds at least one design requirement thereof, the analysis including computing, based on the calculated wireless link quality, whether the configuration or operating conditions of the complex system enable the wireless system of interest to perform with a wireless link quality specified by the at least one design requirement.

11. The wireless monitor of claim 10, wherein the control module is further configured to receive or calculate one or more parameters that at least partially define the configuration of the wireless system of interest, or one or more parameters that at least partially define the configuration of the complex system, and

wherein the data storage is further configured to store the one or more parameters of the wireless system of interest or complex system, the collected data further including the one or more parameters of the wireless system of interest or complex system.

12. The wireless monitor of claim 10, wherein the radio comprises:

a radio stack comprising a software-defined radio system configured to implement one or more radio access technologies of a respective one or more wireless systems including the wireless system of interest; and

a radio frequency and sounding layer configured to operate to cause transmission of, receive and measure one or more network parameters of one or more waveforms via one or more antennas.

13. The wireless monitor of claim 12, wherein the control module comprises:

a channel model constructor configured to construct one or more wireless channel models according to which the radio frequency and sounding layer is configured to operate; and

a link quality evaluator configured to calculate the wireless link quality based on the one or more network parameters measured by the radio frequency and sounding layer.

14. The wireless monitor of claim 10, wherein the wireless monitor is installable onboard different configurations of the complex system, each configuration being at least partially defined by parameters one or more of which differ for different configurations,

wherein the control module is configured to record data and the data storage is configured to store the recorded data for each configuration, the plurality of wireless monitors further being configured to collect data for each configuration.

15. The wireless monitor of claim 10, wherein the control module is configured to control the radio to emulate different configurations of the wireless system of interest, each configuration being at least partially defined by parameters one or more of which differ for different configurations,

wherein the control module is configured to record data and the data storage is configured to store the recorded data for each configuration, the plurality of wireless monitors further being configured to collect data for each configuration.

16. A data analysis system comprising:

a data storage configured to store a collection of data from a plurality of wireless monitors installable at respective locations onboard a configuration of a complex system on which a wireless system of interest is installed or planned for installation, the complex system being an aircraft or other vehicle, the configuration of the complex system including an at least partially defined configuration of an interior of the aircraft or other vehicle, the wireless monitors being configured to emulate the wireless system of interest, and record data related to performance of the wireless system of interest at one or more recorded times over a plurality of operating conditions of the complex system, the collection of data including the respective locations of the wireless monitors correlated with respective recorded data and recorded times, and further correlated with the plurality of operating conditions of the complex system at the recorded times; and

a data analyzer coupled to the data storage and configured to perform an analysis of the wireless system of interest based on the collection of data, the analysis being performed to establish a configuration of the wireless system of interest that meets or exceeds at least one design requirement thereof, the data analyzer being configured to compute whether the configuration or operating conditions of the complex system enable the wireless system of interest to perform with a wireless link quality specified by the at least one design requirement.

17. The data analysis system of claim 16, wherein collection of data further includes one or more parameters that at least partially define the configuration of the wireless system of interest, or one or more parameters that at least partially define the configuration of the complex system.

18. The data analysis system of claim 16, wherein the wireless monitors are installable onboard different configurations of the complex system, each configuration being at least partially defined by parameters one or more of which differ for different configurations,

wherein the data storage is configured to store a collection of data for each configuration, and the data analyzer is configured to retrieve each collection of data for analysis of the wireless system of interest based thereon.

19. The data analysis system of claim 16, wherein the wireless monitors are configured to emulate different configurations of the wireless system of interest, each configuration being at least partially defined by parameters one or more of which differ for different configurations,

wherein the data storage is configured to store a collection of data for each configuration, and the data analyzer is configured to retrieve each collection of data for analysis of a respective configuration of the wireless system of interest based thereon.