TWI690171B - Communication test device and communication test method - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication test device and a communication test method thereof are provided. The communication test device includes a test base station, at least one test equipment and at least one switch module. The test base station has a plurality of input/output ports, and the switch modules are respectively coupled to corresponding input/output ports. Each test equipment includes a plurality of test antennas. The test base station controls each switching module to switch and select a test antenna in the corresponding test equipment to perform wireless signal transmission and reception for communication test.

Description

Communication test device and communication test method

The invention relates to a test device, and in particular to a communication test device and a communication test method thereof.

Generally, the factory produces wireless communication device products. The test station will be connected to the flat antenna in the shielding box through a simulated base station. The flat antenna will transmit wireless communication with the device under test (such as mobile phones, laptops or tablets) or Receive performance verification tests for transmission. Generally, the test equipment used on the factory side is paired for one-to-one testing. In order to meet the production test requirements of the customer's unit per hour (UPH), when more test stations need to be added for testing At the factory, a lot of test equipment needs to be added to carry out the communication test, which greatly increases the production cost.

The invention provides a communication test device and a communication test method thereof, which can reduce the cost of test equipment on the premise of meeting production test requirements.

The communication testing device of the present invention includes a first testing base station, at least one first switching module, and at least one testing device. The first test base station has multiple input and output ports. The first switching modules are respectively coupled to the corresponding input and output ports. The test equipment is coupled to the corresponding first switching module, and each test equipment includes a plurality of test antennas. The first test base station controls each first switching module to switch and select the test antenna in the corresponding test equipment for wireless signal transmission and reception to perform Communication test.

In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the above test equipment includes a shielding box, a test antenna and a device under test are accommodated, and the test antenna is placed corresponding to the antenna position of the device under test.

In an embodiment of the invention, the above-mentioned multiple test antennas include a first flat antenna and a second flat antenna. The first flat antenna is coupled to the first switching module. The second panel antenna is coupled to the first switching module, and the first panel antenna is opposite to the second panel antenna and is arranged in a misaligned manner.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned first patch antenna has a left-hand circular polarization, and the second patch antenna has a right-hand circular polarization.

In an embodiment of the invention, the above-mentioned communication test device further includes a control device, a second test base station and a second switching module. The second test base station has multiple input and output ports and is coupled to the first switching module. The second switch module is coupled to the control device, the first test base station, and the second test base station. The control device controls the second switch module to switch between the first test base station and the second test base station to perform the communication test.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first test base station is a wireless tester, and the second test base station is a wireless sharer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned first test base station controls each first switching module to alternately switch and select the test antenna in the corresponding test equipment for wireless signal transmission and reception.

The invention also provides a communication test method of the communication test device. The communication test device includes at least one test device and at least one switching module, and each test device includes a plurality of test antennas. The communication test method of the communication test device includes the following steps. Control each switch module to switch and select the test antenna in the corresponding test equipment. Send and receive wireless signals through the test antenna selected by the switch module for communication test.

In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the above test equipment includes a shielding box, a test antenna and a device under test are accommodated, and the test antenna is placed corresponding to the antenna position of the device under test.

In an embodiment of the invention, the above-mentioned multiple test antennas include a first flat antenna and a second flat antenna. The first flat antenna is coupled to the first switching module. The second panel antenna is coupled to the first switching module, and the first panel antenna is opposite to the second panel antenna and is arranged in a misaligned manner.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned first patch antenna has a left-hand circular polarization, and the second patch antenna has a right-hand circular polarization.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned communication test method of the communication test apparatus includes controlling each first switching module to alternately switch and select the test antenna in the corresponding test equipment.

Based on the above, the test base station of the embodiment of the present invention has a plurality of input and output ports, and can control each switching module to switch and select the test antenna in the corresponding test equipment for wireless signal transmission and reception, so as to respond to each input and output port. The test device performs communication test, which can reduce the cost of test equipment on the premise of meeting production test requirements.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the embodiments are specifically described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings for detailed description as follows.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication test device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 1. The communication test device includes a test base station 102, switching modules SW1, SW2, and test equipment 202 and 204, wherein the test base station 102 includes input and output ports P1 and P2, and the input and output ports P1 and P2 are respectively coupled to the switching modules SW1 and SW2 The switching modules SW1 and SW2 are also coupled to the test equipment 202 and 204, respectively. The test equipment 202 may include a shielding box B1 and test antennas AT1 and AT2. In this embodiment, the test antennas AT1 and AT2 are planar antennas, but this is not limited thereto. The shielding box B1 has a shielding effect and can accommodate the test antennas AT1, AT2 and the device under test SB1, where the test antennas AT1, AT2 can be placed corresponding to the antenna position of the device under test B1, and the shielding box B1 can reduce external electromagnetic interference and avoid Affect the test result of the device under test SB1.

The switching module SW1 can be controlled by the test base station 102 to switch the test antenna connected to the input/output port P1 so that the test antenna selected by the test base station 102 through the switching module SW1 (eg, test antenna AT1 or test antenna AT2 ) Carry out the transmission performance verification test of the wireless signal reception and transmission with the device under test SB1. For example, the test base station 102 may first control the switching modules SW1 and SW2 to select the test antennas AT1 and AT3 for communication test. After the test antennas AT1 and AT3 are tested, the switching modules SW1 and SW2 may be controlled to select the test antennas. AT2 and AT4 perform communication test. In this way, different test antennas are alternately selected in each shielding box for communication test to avoid mutual interference of the test antennas and affect the test results. In addition, the test equipment 204 and the test equipment 202 are also implemented in the same manner, and therefore will not be repeated here.

In this way, by switching the switch modules SW1 and SW2, the test antennas in the corresponding test equipment 202 and 204 are selected to send and receive wireless signals, and at the same time, the communication test is performed on the devices SB1 and SB2 corresponding to the input and output ports P1 and P2, which can be improved In the prior art, the low-efficiency test method of performing one-to-one communication test reduces the number of test base stations required, reduces the cost of test equipment under the premise of meeting production test requirements, and can also be used for devices with multiple antennas under test test.

For example, FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a testing device according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the device to be tested SB1 may be, for example, a mobile phone or a tablet computer, which has a main antenna M1 and an auxiliary antenna M2 arranged oppositely (for example, disposed above and below the device to be tested SB1). As shown in FIG. 2, the test antennas AT1 and AT2 (which may be flat antennas, for example) are respectively disposed at positions corresponding to the main antenna M1 and the auxiliary antenna M2, wherein the test antennas AT1 and AT2 may be left-handed circularly polarized and right-handed respectively Circular polarization. The test antennas AT1 and AT2 are relatively arranged and are offset from each other by a certain distance. For example, in FIG. 2, the test antennas AT1 and AT2 are offset at a distance d1, which can reduce the coupling effect between the test antennas AT1 and AT2 and avoid affecting the communication test results. In addition, a switch with better isolation can be selected as the switch modules SW1 and SW2, so as to further avoid the coupling effect between the test antennas AT1 and AT2 from affecting the test results. It is worth noting that the misalignment between the test antennas AT1 and AT2 is not limited to the left and right misalignment of the embodiment of FIG. 2. As shown in the schematic side view of the test equipment in FIG. 3, the test antennas AT1 and AT2 can also be up and down, for example. Misalignment to reduce the coupling effect between the test antennas AT1 and AT2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication test device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the communication test device includes a control device 402, test base stations 404, 406, switching modules SW3, SW4, and flat antennas 408, 410 used as test antennas. The flat antennas 408 and 410 are similar to the above-mentioned embodiments, and are configured to be arranged in a shielded box for communication testing. The flat antennas 408 and 410 can be connected to the test base station 404 or the test base station 406 through the switching module SW4. The test base station 404 or the test base station 406 controls the switching module SW4 to switch and select the plate antennas 408 and 410 to perform the communication test in the same manner as in the foregoing embodiment, and therefore will not be described in detail here.

The difference between this embodiment and the above-mentioned embodiment is that the control device 402 (which can be, for example, a computer, but not limited to this) of this embodiment can control the switching module SW3 to switch the test base station 404 or test base selection The station 406 performs the communication test, wherein the test base station 404 and the test base station 406 can be, for example, a wireless tester (such as MT8870A) and a wireless sharing device (such as ASUS RT-AC66U), and the switching module SW3 can be, for example, hardware ( Such as a switch) or software (for example, the control device 402 executes a program to select a test base station to be controlled). In this way, in addition to the effect that the test base station 404 and the test base station 406 are shared by multiple test equipment (such as the above-mentioned test equipment 202, 204), different test base stations can also be selected for communication test of each test equipment And make more choices of executable communication tests, further improve the convenience of use of communication test devices, reduce the cost of test equipment and labor costs, and improve the efficiency of communication tests.

It is worth noting that the number of test base stations, switching modules, and test equipment included in the communication test device is not limited to the number exemplified in the above embodiment. The number of test base stations, switching modules, and test equipment The number can be increased or decreased according to the actual application situation, so that each test base station can realize one-to-one or one-to-many communication test, and the control device can select a variety of test base stations for communication test.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a communication test method of a communication test device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 5. It can be known from the above embodiment that the communication test method of the communication test device may include the following steps. First, each switching module is controlled to switch and select the test antenna in the corresponding test device (step S502). Next, a wireless signal is transmitted and received through the test antenna selected by the switching module to perform a communication test (step S504). For example, each switching module can be controlled to switch and select test antennas in the corresponding test equipment in turn, so as to use different test antennas to perform communication tests in turn. The test antenna may be, for example, a flat antenna, but it is not limited thereto. In addition, when the test antennas are relatively arranged, the test antennas can be configured in a misaligned manner to avoid the coupling effect between the test antennas from affecting the communication test results. In addition, in some embodiments, the switching module can be coupled to a plurality of test base stations, and the test base station that performs the communication test can be selected through another switching module, which can further improve the convenience of use of the communication test device, Reduce test equipment costs and labor costs, and improve the efficiency of communication testing.

In summary, the test base station of the embodiment of the present invention has multiple input and output ports, and can control each switching module to switch and select the test antenna in the corresponding test equipment for wireless signal transmission and reception to correspond to each input and output port. The device under test performs communication test, which can reduce the cost of test equipment under the premise of meeting production test requirements. In some embodiments, the switching module can be coupled to a plurality of test base stations, and the test base station for performing communication tests can be selected through another switching module to further improve the convenience of use of the communication test device and reduce the test equipment Cost and labor costs, and improve the efficiency of communication testing.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above with examples, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention shall be subject to the scope defined in the appended patent application.

102, 404, 406‧‧‧ Test base 202, 204‧‧‧ Test equipment 402‧‧‧Control device 408, 410‧‧‧ Flat antenna SW1~SW4‧‧‧Switch module P1, P2‧‧‧ I/O Port B1, B2‧‧‧Shielding boxes AT1~AT4‧‧‧Test antenna SB1, SB2‧‧‧ Device under test M1‧‧‧Main antenna M2‧‧‧Auxiliary antenna d1‧‧‧Distance S502, S504‧‧‧Communication Steps of communication test method of test device

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication testing device according to an embodiment of the invention. 2 is a schematic top view of a testing device according to an embodiment of the invention. 3 is a schematic side view of a testing device according to an embodiment of the invention. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication test device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart of a communication test method of a communication test device according to an embodiment of the invention.

102‧‧‧Test base station

SW1~SW2‧‧‧Switch module

202, 204‧‧‧ test equipment

P1, P2‧‧‧I/O port

B1, B2‧‧‧Shielding box

AT1~AT4‧‧‧Test antenna

SB1, SB2‧‧‧ device to be tested

Claims (10)

A communication test device includes: a first test base station with multiple input and output ports; at least one first switching module, respectively coupled to the corresponding input and output ports; and at least one test device, coupled to the corresponding first Switching modules, each of the test equipment includes a plurality of test antennas, and the first test base station controls each of the first switching modules to switch and select the test antennas in the corresponding test equipment for wireless signal transmission and reception for communication testing, The test antennas include: a first flat antenna coupled to the first switching module; and a second flat antenna coupled to the first switching module, the first flat antenna is opposite to the second flat antenna And dislocation configuration. The communication test device as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein each of the test equipment includes: a shielding box accommodating the test antennas and a device under test, the test antennas corresponding to the antenna position of a device under test put. The communication test device according to item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the first plate antenna is a left-hand circular polarization and the second plate antenna is a right-hand circular polarization. The communication test device as described in item 1 of the patent application scope further includes: a control device; a second test base station with multiple input and output ports, coupled to the at least one first switching module; and A second switching module coupled to the control device, the first test base station and the second test base station, the control device controls the second switching module to switch between the first test base station or the second test The base station performs the communication test. The communication test device as described in item 4 of the patent application scope, wherein the first test base station is a wireless tester and the second test base station is a wireless sharing device. The communication test device as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the first test base station controls each first switching module to alternately switch and select the test antennas in the corresponding test equipment for wireless signal transmission and reception. A communication test method for a communication test device. The communication test device includes at least one test device and at least one switch module. Each test device includes a plurality of test antennas. The communication test method of the communication test device includes: controlling each switch mode Group switching selects the test antennas in the corresponding test equipment; and transmits and receives wireless signals through the test antenna selected by the at least one switching module for communication test, wherein the test antennas include: a first flat antenna, coupled Connected to the first switching module; and a second panel antenna, coupled to the first switching module, the first panel antenna and the second panel antenna are opposite and arranged in a misaligned manner. The communication test method of a communication test device as described in item 7 of the patent scope, wherein each of the test equipment includes: a shielding box, accommodating the test antennas and a device under test, the test antennas corresponding to a device under test Position of the antenna. The communication test method of the communication test device as described in item 7 of the patent application scope, wherein the first plate antenna is a left-hand circular polarization and the second plate antenna is a right-hand circular polarization. The communication test method of the communication test device as described in item 7 of the patent application scope includes: controlling each of the first switching modules to alternately switch and select the test antennas in the corresponding test equipment.

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