WO2022001991A1

WO2022001991A1 - Wireless communication tester based on open source architecture, and test method, electronic device and non-transitory computer storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2022001991A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/102870
Authority: WO
Inventors: 张建华; 张辰; 田磊; 唐盼; 张宇翔
Original assignee: 北京邮电大学
Priority date: 2020-06-29
Filing date: 2021-06-28
Publication date: 2022-01-06
Also published as: CN113938222B; CN113938222A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture, and a test method, an electronic device and a non-transitory computer storage medium. The wireless communication tester comprises a wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture. The wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture comprises: an open source architecture platform, which comprises an open source architecture processor, wherein the open source architecture platform is used for running one or more wireless test functional modules; and a radio-frequency module, which acquires configuration information from the open source architecture platform by means of a second standardized interface, so as to complete radio-frequency processing, and transmits a baseband signal with the open source architecture processor by means of a third standardized interface, wherein the one or more wireless test functional modules respectively call resources of the open source architecture processor and the radio-frequency module by means of a first standardized interface and the second standardized interface, so as to complete a predetermined communication test function. According to the wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture in the present invention, hardware and software decoupling is realized, thereby reducing the research and development cost and time.

Description

Wireless communication tester, test method, electronic device and non-transitory computer storage medium based on open source architecture

technical field

The invention belongs to the field of communication technologies, and in particular relates to a wireless communication tester, a test method, an electronic device and a non-transitory computer storage medium based on an open source architecture.

Background technique

Wireless communication test equipment is an important supporting force in the communication industry. It penetrates almost all industrial chain links such as communication chips, modules, terminals, base stations, and wireless networks, and runs through almost all aspects of design and development, certification and acceptance, generation, network construction and optimization. Complete industry life cycle. There are usually more than a dozen test instruments used, among which the most common test instruments are: oscilloscope, signal source, spectrum analyzer (signal analyzer), vector network analyzer, etc. Special high-end test instruments include: channel simulator, terminal simulation equipment, base station simulator, etc. The instruments used in the certification and acceptance stage include: RF conformance test system, protocol conformance test system, etc.

As shown in Figure 1, at present, the software and hardware of the communication test instrument are integrated, and software development is done according to the hardware, so the development of software needs to be limited by the hardware. The above wireless communication test instruments are all test instruments that integrate software and hardware. The communication test instrument that integrates software and hardware has the following shortcomings: 1. An instrument has only one specific function, and a single hardware architecture is difficult to meet the dimensional expansion. Achieve larger bandwidth frequency band span, smooth expansion of system performance, massive data exchange and transmission; 3. It is difficult to balance cost and performance; 4. Long research and development cycle and long product function iteration cycle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of this, the present invention proposes a wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture. In the wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture, the hardware entity and the software function are decoupled, and the software and hardware parts can be upgraded and updated independently. Flexible upgrade and expansion; the open source platform provides basic functional modules, which reduces the cost and time of research and development, the standardized connection of software and hardware, and the convenient migration between the platform and the instrument, which greatly improves the cost-effectiveness of the high-end tester.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture is provided, which includes:

an open source architecture platform including an open source architecture processor for running one or more wireless test function modules; and

a radio frequency module, which obtains configuration information from the open source architecture platform through a second standardized interface to complete radio frequency processing, and transmits baseband signals with the open source architecture processor through a third standardized interface;

Wherein, the one or more wireless test function modules respectively call the resources of the open source architecture processor and the radio frequency module through the first standardized interface and the second standardized interface to complete the predetermined communication test function.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a test method is provided, comprising:

One or more wireless test function modules invoke the resources of the open source architecture processor through the first standardized interface;

The one or more wireless test function modules invoke the resources of the radio frequency module through the second standardized interface;

The radio frequency module completes radio frequency signal processing according to the configuration of the one or more wireless test function modules;

The open source architecture processor completes digital signal processing according to the configuration of the one or more wireless test function modules,

Wherein, the one or more wireless test function modules run on an open source architecture processing platform.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an electronic device is provided, comprising:

processor; and

A memory storing computer instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method of the second aspect.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a non-transitory computer storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processors to perform the operations described in the second aspect. Methods.

The wireless communication tester, test method, electronic device and non-transitory computer storage medium based on open source architecture according to the present invention have the following advantages:

First, it is convenient for dimension expansion, with a larger bandwidth frequency band span, not only a single function, but also functions can be added and switched as needed.

Second, the performance and accuracy are higher than the existing software and hardware integrated test instruments, which can transmit and exchange massive data, smoothly expand the system performance, and have low-latency performance.

Third, the hardware architecture and software functions are matched and balanced, the software functions can be flexibly expanded, and the hardware components can be combined as needed.

Fourth, the open source architecture (for example, the X86 architecture) is currently mature in technology, which is conducive to research and development, the research and development platform is convenient, and the research and development cycle is short.

Description of drawings

To further clearly explain the features and technical content of the present invention, please refer to the following detailed description of the present invention and the accompanying drawings, however, the accompanying drawings are provided for reference and illustration only, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

In the attached image below:

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a wireless communication tester in the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of signal processing of the radio frequency receiving module.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of signal processing of the radio frequency sending module.

FIG. 6 is a test method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a structural diagram of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

The embodiments disclosed in the present invention are described below through specific specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art can understand the advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. The present invention can be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and various details in this specification can also be modified and changed based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the concept of the present invention. In addition, the drawings of the present invention are merely schematic illustrations and are not drawn in actual size. The following embodiments will further describe the related technical contents of the present invention in detail, but the disclosed contents are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2 , the open source architecture-based wireless communication tester includes an open source architecture platform and a radio frequency module, wherein the open source architecture platform includes an open source architecture processor, and the open source architecture platform is used to run one or more wireless test function modules The radio frequency module obtains configuration information from the open source architecture platform through a second standardized interface to complete radio frequency processing, and transmits baseband signals with the open source architecture processor through a third standardized interface. The one or more wireless test function modules respectively invoke the resources of the open source architecture processor and the radio frequency module through the first standardized interface and the second standardized interface to complete a predetermined communication test function.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the wireless communication tester may be an oscilloscope, a signal source, a spectrum analyzer, a vector network analyzer, a channel simulator, a terminal simulator, a base station simulator, etc., or a combination of these devices or instrument functions . The open source architecture platform includes an X86 architecture platform, the open source architecture processor includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit, central processing unit) and/or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit, graphics processor), and the open source architecture processor completes one or more wireless tests Baseband signal processing tasks corresponding to functional modules. The resources of the open source architecture processor include other hardware resources such as memory and processor interface, and the resources of the radio frequency module include a radio frequency module processor, ADC (Analog Digital Converter, analog-to-digital converter) and DAC (Digital Analog Converter, digital converter) . analog-to-analog converter) and other hardware resources. The specific interface forms of the first standardized interface, the second standardized interface and the third standardized interface are not limited, for example, it may be an SDR (Software Defined Radio, software defined radio) standard interface. In addition, the first standardized interface, the second standardized interface and the third standardized interface may be the same standardized interface or different standardized interfaces. Generally speaking, the first and second vertebralized interfaces belong to software interfaces, and the third vertebralized interface belongs to hardware interfaces.

According to a specific embodiment, invoking the resources of the radio frequency module by the one or more wireless test function modules through the second standardized interface includes that the one or more wireless test function modules use the second standardized interface to The parameters of the radio frequency module are configured.

In the wireless communication tester provided by the present invention, the communication between the wireless test function module running on the open source architecture platform, the open source architecture processor and the radio frequency module adopts a standardized interface. The adoption of the standardized interface requires that the communication between the wireless test function module, the open source architecture processor and the radio frequency module satisfy the protocol of the standardized interface. In this way, as long as the protocol of the standardized interface is satisfied, the wireless test function module, open source architecture processor and radio frequency module can all run on the open source architecture platform or be adapted to the open source architecture platform. The performance, type and quantity of RF modules are specially limited, so as to facilitate the research and development of technicians or users based on the open source architecture platform.

For the wireless test function module running on the open source architecture platform, it includes one or more basic function modules, and the basic function modules are the function modules preset in the wireless communication tester. That is to say, the basic function modules are developed based on the open source architecture platform, and can be preset in the wireless communication tester to complete some basic or commonly used functions. In this way, users can directly use or call these basic function modules when using the wireless communication tester for testing, without the need for separate development. The basic functional modules are preset by users or technicians according to actual needs, for example, convolution modules, spectrum analysis modules, spectrum analysis modules, and the like.

Further, the wireless test function module running on the open source architecture platform may further include an expandable function module, wherein the expandable function module is a function module added to the wireless tester according to the needs of the test function. For a specific test function requirement, if there is no basic function module to complete the test function in the wireless communication tester or the preset basic function module cannot meet the test function requirement, the user can develop it on the open source architecture platform. Some functional modules, and then realize the specific test function through these separately developed functional modules (and by means of the preset basic functional modules). The scalable function modules are developed by users or technicians according to the needs of test functions, such as signal acquisition modules, basic signal generation modules, time-domain signal analysis modules, and spectrum display modules.

In this way, the wireless communication tester provided by the present invention will provide basic functional modules, and technicians can use and develop on the basis of the basic functional modules, thereby reducing research and development costs and time.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture according to another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3 , the wireless communication tester includes a basic function module (represented by a solid line frame), the basic function module includes a spectrum analysis module, and the spectrum analysis function can be realized by using the basic function module. The wireless communication tester also includes an expandable function module (represented by a dashed box), the expandable function module includes a spectrum display module, and a spectrum analyzer can be realized by using a combination of the basic function module and the expandable function module. In this way, if the user needs to realize the spectrum analysis function, he can directly use the preset spectrum analysis module of the wireless communication tester of the present invention; and if the user needs to realize the spectrum analyzer, he only needs to develop the spectrum display module, and then combine the wireless communication tester with the preset spectrum analysis module. A spectrum analyzer can be implemented with a built-in spectrum analysis module, thereby reducing R&D costs and reducing R&D time.

It should be noted that the basic functional modules and scalable functional modules shown in FIG. 3 are just an example, and those skilled in the art can preset different numbers and functions according to actual needs, inspired by the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 . The basic functional modules and the development of scalable functional modules with different numbers and functions fall within the scope of this application.

In this application, the types of radio frequency modules include radio frequency receiving modules and radio frequency transmitting modules. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of signal processing of the radio frequency receiving module. The RF receiving module completes the demodulation of the RF signal received by the RF input port, realizes the conversion of the RF signal to the baseband analog signal, and then completes the sampling and quantization conversion into the baseband digital signal by the analog-digital converter. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 , the radio frequency receiving module includes an ADC, a downconverter and a downsampling filter bank. The ADC is used to convert the analog signal into a digital intermediate frequency signal, and the downconverter is used to convert the digital intermediate frequency signal into a digital baseband signal. For example, the downconverter can be an fs/4 downconverter, where fs is the sampling frequency; The down-sampling filter bank is used for down-sampling the digital baseband signal. Due to the ADC sampling rate, the data volume of the baseband signal sampled by the ACD is too large, and a downsampling filter bank needs to be used to reduce the data volume. After downsampling, the baseband data is processed.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of signal processing of the radio frequency sending module. After the radio frequency output module completes the digital-to-analog conversion of the baseband signal, the baseband analog signal is modulated into a radio frequency signal by the radio frequency transmission module, and then the radio frequency signal is sent to the radio frequency port. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5 , the radio frequency sending module includes an up-sampling filter bank and a DAC, wherein the up-sampling filter bank is used to up-sample the digital signal to improve data accuracy; the DAC is used to The upsampled digital signal is converted to an analog signal.

In further embodiments, the number of open source architecture processors and the number and type of radio frequency modules are determined based on radio frequency performance and/or predetermined communication test functions, wherein radio frequency performance includes bandwidth, transmission rate, frequency range of the signal , input/output power, etc. In a specific embodiment, a set of radio frequency modules can only support 32 channels, and now to perform channel simulation with 64 channels, then it is calculated according to the number of channels that two sets of radio frequency modules are required, so the two sets of radio frequency modules are configured separately. Good general interface, and allocate the number of channels that each RF module undertakes. In another specific embodiment, the predetermined communication test function is a signal generator, and the type of the radio frequency module may only be a radio frequency transmission module, and if the predetermined communication test function is a channel simulator, the type of the radio frequency module includes a radio frequency transmission module and a radio frequency module. receive module. In yet another specific embodiment, an open source architecture processor (for example, CPU) can only support channel simulation with a bandwidth of 500M, and now to perform channel simulation with a bandwidth of 1G, the open source architecture processors are cascaded according to the required bandwidth , so that the cascaded open source architecture processors as a whole can support digital signal processing with 1G bandwidth.

The above embodiments are only specific examples of determining the number of open source architecture processors and the number and type of radio frequency modules based on radio frequency performance and/or predetermined communication test functions. Inspired by the above examples, those skilled in the art can also think of other specific implementations for determining the number of open source architecture processors and the number and types of radio frequency modules based on radio frequency performance and/or predetermined communication test functions, all of which belong to this application. coverage.

It can be seen that, in the wireless communication tester provided by the present invention, the communication between the wireless test function module running on the open source architecture platform, the open source architecture processor and the radio frequency module adopts a standardized interface. The required wireless test function modules can be arbitrarily added as needed. For example, the above-mentioned scalable function modules can be added according to the needs of the test functions, so that the open source architecture processors and radio frequency modules that meet the requirements of the standardized interface can be increased or decreased in number as required, so that the combination of hardware way more flexible. In this way, the same wireless communication tester can choose radio frequency modules and processor modules with different performances and numbers, and it is easier to adapt to the wireless test function modules running on the open source architecture platform. Therefore, according to the architecture of the wireless communication tester provided by the present invention, the software part and the hardware part can be separately developed and used separately according to the needs, so as to realize the decoupling of the software and the hardware.

On the basis of the above wireless communication tester, the present invention also provides a test method. As shown in Figure 6, the method includes:

Step S601, one or more wireless test function modules invoke the resources of the open source architecture processor through the first standardized interface.

The one or more wireless test function modules run on an open source architecture processing platform, and the open source architecture platform includes an X86 architecture platform. The open source architecture processor includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit, central processing unit) and/or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit, graphics processor), and the open source architecture processor completes the digital signal processing tasks corresponding to one or more wireless test function modules. The resources of open source architecture processors include other hardware resources such as memory and processor interface.

Step S602, one or more wireless test function modules invoke the resources of the radio frequency module through the second standardized interface.

Among them, the resources of the radio frequency module include other hardware resources such as the radio frequency module processor, ADC and DAC. According to a specific embodiment, invoking the resources of the radio frequency module by one or more wireless test function modules through the second standardized interface includes that the one or more wireless test function modules use the second standardized interface to Configure the parameters of the RF module.

Step S603, the radio frequency module completes radio frequency signal processing according to the configuration of one or more wireless test function modules.

Step S604, the open source architecture processor completes digital signal processing according to the configuration of one or more wireless test function modules.

Further, according to an embodiment, the method further includes: the radio frequency module performs baseband signal transmission with the open source architecture processor through a third standardized interface.

The specific interface forms of the first standardized interface, the second standardized interface and the third standardized interface are not limited, for example, it may be an SDR (Software Defined Radio, software defined radio) standard interface. In addition, the first standardized interface, the second standardized interface and the third standardized interface may be the same standardized interface or different standardized interfaces. Generally speaking, the first and second vertebralized interfaces belong to software interfaces, and the third vertebralized interface belongs to hardware interfaces.

Referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 provides an electronic device, including a processor; and a memory, where the memory stores computer instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to execute the computer instructions When the method shown in Figure 6 and the refinement scheme are realized.

It should be understood that the above device embodiments are only illustrative, and the device disclosed in the present invention can also be implemented in other ways. For example, the division of units/modules described in the above embodiments is only a logical function division, and other division methods may be used in actual implementation. For example, multiple units, modules or components may be combined, or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not implemented.

In addition, unless otherwise specified, each functional unit/module in each embodiment of the present invention may be integrated into one unit/module, or each unit/module may exist physically alone, or two or more units/modules may be integrated in one unit/module. Together. The above-mentioned integrated units/modules can be implemented in the form of hardware, or can be implemented in the form of software program modules.

If the integrated unit/module is implemented in the form of hardware, the hardware may be a digital circuit, an analog circuit, or the like. Physical implementations of hardware structures include, but are not limited to, transistors, memristors, and the like. Unless otherwise specified, the processor or chip may be any suitable hardware processor, such as CPU, GPU, FPGA, DSP, ASIC, and so on. Unless otherwise specified, the on-chip cache, off-chip memory, and memory may be any suitable magnetic storage medium or magneto-optical storage medium, such as resistive random access memory (RRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM) Dynamic Random Access Memory), Static Random Access Memory SRAM (Static Random-Access Memory), Enhanced Dynamic Random Access Memory EDRAM (Enhanced Dynamic Random Access Memory), High-Bandwidth Memory HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory), Hybrid Storage Cube HMC (Hybrid Memory Cube) and so on.

The integrated unit/module, if implemented in the form of a software program module and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable memory. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a memory, Several instructions are included to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of the present disclosure. The aforementioned memory includes: U disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), mobile hard disk, magnetic disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a non-transitory computer storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by one or more processors, the processor is made to execute the method and details shown in FIG. 6 . ization plan.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments. The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. For the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, it should be It is considered to be the range described in this specification.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention. within.

Claims

A wireless communication tester based on an open source architecture, comprising:

an open source architecture platform including an open source architecture processor for running one or more wireless test function modules; and

a radio frequency module, which obtains configuration information from the open source architecture platform through a second standardized interface to complete radio frequency processing, and transmits baseband signals with the open source architecture processor through a third standardized interface;

Wherein, the one or more wireless test function modules respectively invoke the resources of the open source architecture processor and the radio frequency module through the first standardized interface and the second standardized interface to complete the predetermined communication test function.
The wireless communication tester of claim 1, wherein the one or more wireless test function modules include basic function modules, wherein the basic function modules are function modules preset in the wireless communication tester .
The wireless communication tester of claim 1, wherein the one or more wireless test function modules include an expandable function module, wherein the expandable function module is added to the wireless test function according to the needs of the test function Functional modules in the tester.
The wireless communication tester of claim 1, wherein the radio frequency module comprises a radio frequency receiving module.
The wireless communication tester of claim 4, wherein the radio frequency receiving module comprises:

ADC, used to convert analog signals to digital intermediate frequency signals;

a downconverter for converting the digital intermediate frequency signal to a digital baseband signal; and

A downsampling filter bank, used for downsampling the digital baseband signal.
The wireless communication tester of claim 1, wherein the radio frequency module comprises a radio frequency transmission module.
The wireless communication tester of claim 6, wherein the radio frequency sending module comprises:

an upsampling filter bank for upsampling the digital signal, and

DAC for converting upsampled digital signals into analog signals.
The wireless communication tester of claim 1, wherein the number of the open source architecture processors and the number and type of the radio frequency modules are determined based on radio frequency performance and/or the predetermined communication test function.
The wireless communication tester according to claim 1, wherein the one or more wireless test function modules invoking the resources of the radio frequency module through the second standardized interface comprises that the one or more wireless test function modules pass through The second standardized interface configures the parameters of the radio frequency module.
The wireless communication tester according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the open source architecture platform includes an X86 architecture platform, and the open source architecture processor includes a CPU and/or a GPU.
The wireless communication tester according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the resources of the open source architecture processor include a memory and a processor interface, and the resources of the radio frequency module include a radio frequency module processor, an ADC and a DAC.
A test method comprising:

One or more wireless test function modules invoke the resources of the open source architecture processor through the first standardized interface;

The one or more wireless test function modules invoke the resources of the radio frequency module through the second standardized interface;

The radio frequency module completes radio frequency signal processing according to the configuration of the one or more wireless test function modules;

The open source architecture processor completes digital signal processing according to the configuration of the one or more wireless test function modules,

Wherein, the one or more wireless test function modules run on an open source architecture processing platform.
The method of claim 12, further comprising:

The radio frequency module performs baseband signal transmission with the open source architecture processor through a third standardized interface.
An electronic device comprising:

processor; and

A memory storing computer instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method of claim 12 or 13.
A non-transitory computer storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processors to perform the method of claim 12 or 13.