UNIVERSAL TESTER HARDWARE
A universal testing system platform with a modular and symmetrical design that provides faraday cages in a flexible, efficient and space saving architecture for testing wireless devices.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/057,085, filed Feb. 29, 2016.
This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/866,720, filed Sep. 25, 2015; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/866,752, filed Sep. 25, 2015; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/866,630, filed Sep. 25, 2015; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/866,780, filed Sep. 25, 2015; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/948,143, filed Nov. 20, 2015; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/929,180, filed Oct. 30, 2015; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/929,220, filed Oct. 30, 2015; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/948,925, filed Nov. 23, 2015; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/987,538, filed Jan. 4, 2016, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention is directed to a system for testing devices.
For a better understanding of the various embodiments of the invention, reference should be made to the description of embodiments below, in conjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.
Methods, systems, user interfaces, and other aspects of the invention are described. Reference will be made to certain embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with the embodiments, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to these particular embodiments alone. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents that are within the spirit and scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
Moreover, in the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without these particular details. In other instances, methods, procedures, components, and networks that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art are not described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the present invention.
According to certain embodiments, a universal test station for testing wireless devices such as wireless routers, cable modems, set top boxes, cable modems with eMTA (Embedded Multimedia Terminal Adapter, a combination cable modem and telephone adapter) comprises a modular rack with a symmetrical architecture and compact footprint. The symmetrical design provides for easy installation of the universal test station equipment. For example, the equipment includes:
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- 2 MOCA harnesses
- 4 Faraday cages (each cage has 4 device test slots but the embodiments not restricted to 4 slots per Faraday cage. The number of slots per Faraday cage may vary from implementation to implementation)
- 4 servers (the embodiments not restricted to 4 servers per rack. The number of servers per rack may vary from implementation to implementation).
- keyboard and mouse
- computer screen
- 4 PDUs (power distribution unit with multiple outputs to distribute electric power to the equipment in the universal tester station
As can be seen from
According to certain embodiments, the compact footprint of the rack 101 allows for the set up of multiple similar racks in the testing area of a room. According to certain embodiments, each rack 101 is approximately 7 feet in height and 3 feet in width and has a depth that can accommodate the Faraday cages as described herein. Each rack 101 can be assembled using standard 19 inch rack rails and rack shelves that are approximately 3 feet in width and with a depth that can accommodate the Faraday cages as described herein. Further, rack 101 is not restricted to 4 Faraday cages, 4 servers, and 4 PDUs. Since rack 101 is modular in nature, rack 101 can be easily expanded to support an increased number of MOCA harnesses and/or Faraday cages and/or servers and/or PDUs, etc., depending on the floor space available and/or the needs or business objectives or technical objectives of the test facility or of the associated enterprise. Similarly, modular rack 101 can be easily reduced to support a reduced number of MOCA harnesses and/or Faraday cages and/or servers and/or PDUs, etc.
As a non-limiting example, each universal test station 100 is supplied with Internet connectivity for remote management and technical support of the universal test station 100. As a non-limiting example, Internet access for the universal test station 100 comprises a static public IP address. As another non-limiting example, each universal test station 100 has two “20A” outlets.
According to certain embodiments, as a non-limiting example, each server in the universal test station 100 is of a 3U rackmount size (e.g., 17.1″×5.1″×25.5″) and supports the testing of 4 devices under test (DUTs) simultaneously. Each DUT when undergoing tests are installed in a given test slot of a given Faraday cage of universal test station 100.
According to certain embodiments, as a non-limiting example, the computer screen, keyboard and mouse (not shown in
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- 7×Quad Ethernet card: Network interface cards are used to test the LAN/WAN functionality of the device under test (DUT). The ports include cables that connect to the connector plate of a given test slot of a given Faraday Cage (there are 4 test slots in a Faraday cage, according to certain embodiments). The DUT is connected to the server ports through the connector plate.
- 4×Dual Band Wireless adapter: The adapter cards are used to test the WiFi functionality of the DUT. Each adapter card supports 2 bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac standard. The SMA (SubMiniature version A connectors or semi-precision coaxial RF connectors) cables run from the adaptor card ports to the connector plates of a given Faraday Cage where WiFi antennas are connected.
According to certain embodiments, there are total of 4 Faraday (RF) cages per universal test station 100. Each RF cage supports 4 test slots to support a total of 16 slots. Two of the RF cages are on right side of Rack 101 and the other two RF cages are on left side of Rack 101. The RF cages help protect the DUT from WiFi interference from nearby devices and DUTs. The WiFi signal strength and reverse/forward bandwidth of signals are improved to great extent through the use of RF cages, according to certain embodiments.
Claims
1. A test station for testing electronic devices, comprising:
- a rack having first and second sides, the first and second sides being opposite each other;
- a first faraday cage located on the first side of the rack, the first faraday cage including at least one test slot, each of the at least one test slots having an opening for receiving an electronic device for testing, the openings facing the first side of the rack; and
- a second faraday cage located on the second side of the rack, the second faraday cage including at least one test slot, each of the at least one test slots having an opening for receiving an electronic device for testing, the openings facing the second side of the rack.
2. The test station for testing electronic devices of claim 1, wherein the electronic devices comprise wireless devices.
3. The test station for testing electronic devices of claim 2, wherein the wireless devices comprise wireless routers.
4. The test station for testing electronic devices of claim 2, wherein the wireless devices comprise set top boxes.
5. The test station for testing electronic devices of claim 2, wherein the wireless devices comprise cable modems.
6. The test station for testing electronic devices of claim 1, further comprising at least one MoCA chassis for testing MoCA functionality associated with the electronic devices.
7. The test station for testing electronic devices of claim 1, further comprising at least one server located in the rack.
8. The test station for testing electronic devices of claim 1, further comprising a computer display affixed to the rack.
9. The test station for testing electronic devices of claim 1, further comprising a keyboard shelf affixed to the rack.
10. A universal test station for testing devices in the presence of radio frequency interference, comprising:
- a modular rack having a front side, a rear side, and right side, and a left side;
- a first faraday cage located on the right side of the modular rack, the first faraday cage including a plurality of test slots, each of the plurality of test slots having a door assembly for receiving a wireless device for testing, the door assemblies facing to the right of the modular rack; and
- a second faraday cage located on the left side of the modular rack, the second faraday cage including a plurality of test slots, each of the plurality of test slots having a door assembly for receiving a wireless device for testing, the door assemblies facing to the left of the modular rack.
11. The universal test station of claim 10, wherein the devices comprise wireless devices.
12. The universal test station of claim 11, wherein the wireless devices comprise wireless routers.
13. The universal test station of claim 10, further comprising at least one MoCA chassis for testing MoCA functionality associated with the devices.
14. The universal test station of claim 10, further comprising a plurality of MoCA chassis, wherein at least one of the plurality of MoCA chassis is mounted on the front side of the modular rack and at least one of the plurality of MoCA chassis is mounted on the rear side of the modular rack.
15. A universal test station for testing wireless devices in the presence of radio frequency interference, comprising:
- a modular rack having a front side, a rear side, and right side, and a left side; and
- a plurality of faraday cages, each of the faraday cages including a plurality of test slots, each of the test slots having an opening for receiving a wireless device for testing,
- wherein
- at least one of the plurality of faraday cages is located on the right side of the modular rack and the test slots open toward the right side of the modular rack, and
- at least of the plurality of faraday cages is located on the left side of the modular rack and the test slots open toward the left side of the modular rack.
16. The universal test station of claim 15, wherein the wireless devices comprise wireless routers.
17. The universal test station of claim 15, wherein the wireless devices comprise set top boxes.
18. The universal test station of claim 15, wherein the wireless devices comprise cable modems.
19. The universal test station of claim 15, further comprising a plurality of MoCA chassis wherein at least one of the plurality of MoCA chassis is mounted on the front side of the modular rack and at least one of the plurality of MoCA chassis is mounted on the rear side of the modular rack.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 21, 2017
Publication Date: Mar 15, 2018
Inventors: Samant Kumar (San Jose, CA), Shivashankar Diddimani (Bangalore), James Christopher Collip (Sunnyvale, CA), Mrinal Mathur (San Jose, CA), Hemanth Chandra Nekkileru (San Jose, CA), Naresh Chandra Nigam (San Jose, CA)
Application Number: 15/818,803