JP3833643B2 - Terminal tester - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal test apparatus that tests a mobile phone or the like adopting a CDMA system as a communication system, and more particularly to a terminal tester that can efficiently perform a function and performance test of a mobile terminal.

  With the remarkable progress of information communication technology such as mobile terminal represented by IT and the Internet, the communication speed in the information communication field, the broadband becomes wider, and the communication cost is further reduced. In addition, it has spread to every corner of personal life, and mobile terminals that can use the Internet as well as voice calls have begun to spread rapidly.

  As a mobile terminal communication system, a cellular system is used in which one radio base is provided for each cell of several to tens of kilometers, and a radio frequency is assigned to each cell in the zone for communication. Using this method, the number of car phones and mobile phones continues to explode, and in order to effectively use a finite frequency band, the first generation of the analog method to the second generation GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) ), The third-generation mobile phone W-CDMA (Wideband-) that transmits not only voice but also video for the purpose of providing a global standard system and high-speed, high-quality multimedia services following PDC (Personal Digital Cellular Communication System) IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications-20) with a focus on Code Division Multiple Access) 0) and CdmaOne2000 (R) (US CDMA Development Group (CDG (TM))) have been developed, the base station and mobile terminal is adapted to be developed and manufactured.

  Furthermore, in October 2001, DOCOMO started commercial service FOMA (registered trademark) by W-CDMA, and KDDI started cdma2000 1x (registered trademark) service in April 2002. As mobile terminals using the CDMA communication system become widespread to secure the number of channels, in the development and manufacture of mobile terminals used for mobile communications, tests to check whether mobile terminals operate correctly And it needs to be implemented quickly.

  Regarding the mobile terminal test, there is a technique relating to a measuring apparatus that is incorporated in a mobile test apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-165317 and measures a phase shift of a CDMA signal output from a mobile terminal to be tested. It has been published.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a terminal tester showing a loopback test with one mobile terminal. The terminal tester 10 in this one mobile terminal operates as a pseudo base station, and uses a CDMA signal obtained by performing spectrum spread on the test data from the determiner using a spread code, and a terminal under test UE (User) such as a mobile phone terminal. (Equipment) 1 through the RF circuit 3, and further, the CDMA signal output from the UE 1 is received by the RF circuit 3, and the despreading and decoding 12A are performed between the CDMA signal and the CDMA test signal. The deviation of the spread code phase from the phase specified by the communication standard is measured and determined by the determiner. The performance of the mobile terminal is measured by these measurements.

  A mobile terminal communicates by transmitting and receiving communication data wirelessly via a base station or an exchange. For this reason, the mobile terminal performs an incoming / outgoing call test for outgoing and incoming calls to confirm the communication quality. In order to perform a load test and a simultaneous incoming / outgoing call test of a mobile terminal, it is necessary to operate each mobile terminal, and a number of workers have been conventionally required for this purpose. In addition, there is a problem in that it is difficult to obtain a reliable test result because an operation error occurs in some workers due to variations in skill levels among workers.

  Therefore, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-142165, a technique for performing a function test between a mobile terminal and a switch by performing a call or call operation in a pseudo manner as a configuration in which a pseudo test apparatus is connected to an electronic switch. Is published. However, in this method, since the electronic exchange and the telephone are connected by wire, there is a problem that the mobile terminal cannot be tested in an actual wireless environment, as disclosed in JP-A-11-127102. There has been disclosed a mobile device control apparatus capable of testing a mobile device terminal in an environment where it is actually used.

JP 2000-165317 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-142065 JP-A-11-127102

  In a mobile terminal such as a cellular phone, a CDMA signal that is an uplink signal is generated using a spreading code (PN pattern) that is synchronized with the timing of spreading CDMA that is a downlink signal received from the base station. The timing shift between the CDMA signal spreading timing output from the mobile terminal and the spreading timing of the CDMA signal input to the mobile terminal is defined by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standard.

  In particular, in a mobile terminal under development, when timing adjustment is insufficient, the timing of spreading between the downlink signal and the uplink signal may deviate from the standard. As a result, in the base station, a phase shift occurs between the CDMA signal received from the mobile terminal and the despread code data output from the despread code (PN pattern) generator, and the spectrum despread cannot be performed correctly. .

  Therefore, quantitatively measuring the phase shift with respect to the output CDMA signal and the input CDMA signal and evaluating the phase shift at the mobile terminal is important in developing and testing a new mobile terminal. It is an important matter.

  In recent years, competition for new mobile device development has intensified, not only connecting with good sound, but also voice quality, incoming / outgoing call sound, video and various displays of mobile terminal with other mobile terminal Tests of various items such as are now required. However, there are several problems with performing these tests.

  FIG. 6 is a state transition diagram of the terminal tester showing a loopback test with one mobile terminal. In the conventional terminal tester, because of the loopback test by one mobile terminal, the next state transition of the standby (step S11) in FIG. 6 is two for voice transmission (step S13) or voice reception (step S14). Interconnection with mobile terminals cannot be performed simultaneously. Therefore, a test apparatus combining two test apparatuses for one mobile terminal shown in FIG. 5 is used, and a test is performed by setting voice transmission (step S13) and voice reception (step S14) for each.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a terminal tester showing an interconnection test using two mobile terminals. As shown in FIG. 7, two terminal testers for a loopback test are prepared. For example, the process of calling from UE1 (1A) and receiving by UE2 (1B) is synchronized with the call control unit (109, 209). The circuit 15 is used for control and testing.

  However, in this apparatus, the spread coding unit (111, 211), the despread decoding unit (112, 212), the call control unit (109, 209) composed of an RF circuit or a digital circuit composed of an analog circuit. Since the determiners (108, 208) are separate, there is a first problem that the measurement accuracy error cannot be corrected and the measurement accuracy is deteriorated as a result.

  Furthermore, in order to behave as a pseudo base station for UE1 (1A) and UE2 (1B), the two call control units (109, 209) are synchronized while the RF circuit (103, 203), the spreading coding unit (111, 211), a despreading decoding unit (112, 212), and sending a continuous command to the determiners (109, 209) are difficult to realize with the conventional test procedure description type control sequence. There was a problem.

  Furthermore, in order to connect a plurality of mobile terminal units, a tester having an individual RF circuit and other circuits and a switching device for switching signals from each tester are required, which increases the cost for performing the test. There was a third problem.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a terminal tester according to the present invention is a terminal tester for performing a performance test of a wireless communication terminal adopting a CDMA system, a distributor to which a plurality of wireless communication terminals are connected, and a distribution An RF circuit that transmits and receives RF signals from the terminal via a receiver, and an RF signal received from the RF circuit is despread using a despreading code, and is decoded to output a common channel signal and a dedicated channel signal. a decoding unit, a spreading coder for spreading the common channel signal and individual channel signal by coding and spreading code, and a call control unit for controlling the spreading coder despreading decoder, spreading coder giving a test signal to the output signal from one wireless communication terminal that is output from the despreading decoding unit, the output signal from the other wireless communication terminal, and a determination unit to compare the For example, it characterized the Rukoto.

In the terminal tester according to the present invention, a distributor is provided outside the terminal tester .

Furthermore, in the terminal tester according to the present invention, it is characterized in Rukoto a switching device for connecting by switching the spreading code unit and the despreading decoder.

Furthermore, the terminal tester according to the present invention is characterized by including a call controller and a determination unit that can perform a packet communication test and a videophone test in addition to a voice test of a wireless communication terminal .

The method of testing terminal tester according to the present invention is a test method of a terminal tester performing test of the wireless communication terminal adopting the CDMA system, a distribution step of signal of the radio communication terminal is dispensed through said distributor An RF transmission / reception step for transmitting / receiving an RF signal from the terminal, a despreading step of despreading the received RF signal with a despreading code, and outputting a common channel signal and an individual channel signal by decoding the RF signal; A spreading coding step for spreading the common channel signal and the individual channel signal by coding and spreading code; a call control step for controlling the spreading coding step and the despreading coding step according to a preset processing procedure; and a spreading code The test signal is given to the conversion process, the signal of the reference wireless communication terminal and the signal of the comparison communication wireless communication terminal are obtained, and output from the despread decoding process No. and comparison with the test signal and characterized in that it comprises a determination step is then compared with the radio communication terminal as a reference, the.

  According to the present invention, as a first effect, an apparatus configuration capable of correcting an accuracy error using an RF circuit, a spread encoding unit, a despread decoding unit, a call control unit, and a determiner of the same device is provided. This makes it possible to perform an interconnection test without degrading measurement accuracy.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, as a second effect, as an RF circuit of the same apparatus, a spread coding unit having a plurality of spread coding circuits and a despread decoding circuit, a despread coding unit, and at least a 3GPP standard The call control unit having the protocol processing function operates as a pseudo base station, and the input / output result can be determined by the determiner.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, as a third effect, the call control unit and the determiner can perform the mutual communication test by controlling the performance test, the protocol test, and the call test of the mobile terminal. It is possible to simultaneously perform performance difference evaluations of other mobile terminal with respect to the mobile terminal to be performed, and it is possible to shorten the test in the development and manufacture of the mobile terminal. In addition, it is possible to perform tests for evaluation repeatedly for a long time, not limited to mutual communication, and test work of a defined procedure can be performed more accurately than conventional tests that require human intervention. , Increase the reliability of the results.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a terminal test apparatus in which a small-sized terminal tester connecting two mobile device terminals and a monitor PC are connected via a LAN according to an embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment of the present invention, the two-input distributor 2 is installed outside the casing of the test machine 4 in order to provide a small terminal tester. The distributor 2 is connected to the antenna terminals of the mobile terminal 1A and the mobile terminal 1B by a mobile unit connection cable. The testing machine 4 includes a LAN interface terminal, and is connected to a monitor PC (output / display / print) 6 and an Internet network (not shown) via a HUB 5.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an overview of a terminal tester for an interconnection test and a comparative test in which two mobile terminal units according to an embodiment of the present invention are connected, and FIG. 3 shows two units in the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a state transition diagram of a terminal tester for an interconnection test and a comparative test in which the mobile terminal is connected. Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  In the activation process (step S1) in FIG. 3, a preset operation mode is read from the test mode setting unit 14, and the call control unit 9 transmits pseudo base station information called broadcast information transmission to the mobile terminal. It is processing to do. The call control unit 9 moves the system information, the allocation of individual channels to the mobile terminal UE1 and UE2 (1A, 1B), and the notification of the spread code and the despread code (codes of A, B, and C) using the common channel signal Perform to machine terminals UE1 and UE2 (1A, 1B). In FIG. 2, the call control unit 9 behaves as a pseudo base station in these processes, and the common channel signal passes from the spread coding circuit 11C of the spread coding unit 11 through the adder 13 to the RF circuit 3 at 2 GHz. It is converted into a frequency signal and transmitted to the mobile terminals UE1 and UE2 (1A, 1B) via the distributor 2, and thereafter, the common channel used by the codes of A, B and C, the dedicated channel for UE1 ( A channel) is despread and spread coded using the UE 2 dedicated channel (B code). These despread decoding / spread coding circuits are provided in the same number as the number of common channels and the number of individual channels. The individual channel has user data including an audio signal or a packet signal and individual control data for controlling the individual channel.

  Next, the process proceeds to the standby (step S2) in FIG. 3, and the position registration (step S3) is processed. The pseudo base station (call control unit 9) always informs its location information to the mobile terminal by radio waves. These are sent on a common channel, and the mobile terminal UE1 and UE2 (1A, 1B) receive their location information and send their ID numbers and area numbers back to the base station. Similarly, in FIG. 2, the mobile terminals UE1 (1A) and UE2 (1B) respectively spread their own ID numbers and area numbers, convert them into RF signals, and transmit them to the RF circuit 3 via the distributor 2. The transmitted signals are separately processed by the despread decoding circuits 12A and 12B of the despread decoding unit 12 and sent to the call control unit 9 as individual control data.

  A case will be described in which UE1 (1A) of the mobile terminal transmits to UE2 (1B) and UE2 (1B) makes an incoming call.

  When the operator inputs a telephone number to make a call to UE2 (1B) using mobile terminal UE1 (1A), UE1 call / UE2 call (step S4) in FIG. 2 is transmitted from the mobile terminal UE1 (1A) in FIG. 2 to the call control unit 9 via the distributor 2, the RF circuit 3, and the despread decoding circuit 12A. In order to call UE2 corresponding to the inputted telephone number, the call control unit 9 calls the mobile terminal UE2 (1B) through the spread coding circuit 11B, the adder 13, the RF circuit 3, and the distributor 2 with the individual control data. The operator responds. As a result, the communication (voice / packet) (step S5) in FIG. 3 is started, and the voice information is transferred from the despreading decoding unit 12 and the spreading coding unit 11 to the mobile terminal through the changeover switch 7. A call is established between UE1 (1A) and UE2 (1B). Thereafter, various tests are executed, and the obtained results are displayed on the output / display / print unit.

  When terminating a voice call, there are two possible processes as shown below. For example, when disconnecting from the mobile terminal UE1 (1A) that is the calling side, it moves to the calling side disconnection (step S6) in FIG. 3, and similarly when disconnecting from the mobile terminal UE2 (1B) that is the incoming side It moves to the arrival side cutting (step S7) of FIG. However, all these signals are processed by the call controller 9 and the voice call is terminated.

  Next, the performance test according to the first embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, when the program recorded in the test mode setting device in FIG. 4 is read and the loopback test mode by one mobile terminal is selected as the test mode, the following test is possible.

  The following nine items can be measured as performance measurements. (1) Maximum transmission power, (2) Frequency error test, (3) Open loop power control test, (4) Inner loop power control test, (5) Minimum transmission power test, (6) Output power test when transmission is off, (7) Modulation accuracy test, (8) Minimum reception sensitivity test, (9) Current consumption measurement.

  In IMT-2000, AMR (Adaptive Multi Rate) is adopted as an essential speech coding method, and the following four items can be measured as a protocol test. (1) Location registration, (2) Call origination (AMR), (3) Incoming call (AMR), (4) Fixed end call, end of movement. Furthermore, the following one item can be measured as a call test. (1) Call test by tester loopback (AMR).

  In the first embodiment, when the program recorded in the test mode setting device of FIG. 4 is read and the mutual communication test mode with two mobile terminals is selected as the test mode, the following tests are possible.

  As performance measurement, (1) minimum reception sensitivity test, protocol test (1) location registration, (2) outgoing call (AMR), (3) incoming call (AMR), (4) fixed end call, moving end call.

  Furthermore, the following one item can be measured as a call test. (1) A call test by mutual communication (AMR) using two mobile terminals.

  Further, since the user data of the individual channel can be output to the external terminal by the changeover switch 7, it can be monitored as a voice signal by connecting a COREC terminal to the outside, and the data of voice call or packet communication can be transmitted to the external device. Can be recorded.

  Hereinafter, a second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of a terminal tester for an interconnection test and a comparative test in which three mobile terminal units according to the second embodiment are connected.

  In new development and manufacture of a mobile terminal, simultaneous comparison between a mobile terminal having a standard performance and the other two mobile terminals is an effective means for finding a malfunction of the mobile terminal. FIG. 4 shows three mobile terminal testing machines in which the distributor 2 is arranged outside the terminal tester 10 and 1 to 3 mobile terminals can be freely set.

  UE1 (1A) and UE2 (1B), which are mobile terminals, are connected to a distributor 2A, and UE3 (1C) and a 50Ω termination resistor are connected to the distributor 2B. In the terminal tester 10, a despreading composite circuit and a spread encoding circuit are configured by a total of four common channels and individual channels.

  In the second embodiment, the test mode setting unit 14 sets all three mobile terminals as incoming calls, and measures the performance of the other mobile terminals UE2 to UE3 using, for example, the mobile terminal UE1 (1A) as a reference device. Intuitive that the antenna sensitivity of UE1 (1A) serving as the reference device is three, but the antenna sensitivity of other mobile terminals UE2 (1B) to UE3 (1C) is not stable. Needless to say, it is possible to perform various comparative tests and is effective for failure analysis in the development process.

  In the second embodiment, one end of the distributor 2B is connected to the terminating resistor in order to connect three mobile terminal units. However, in a configuration including four despreading decoding circuits and spreading coding circuits, FIG. It is possible to connect UE4 (1D) shown in FIG.

It is the schematic diagram showing the outline | summary of the small terminal tester which connected two mobile station terminals in one Embodiment of this invention, and PC for monitoring via LAN. It is a block diagram showing the outline | summary of the terminal tester for an interconnection test and a comparative test which connected two mobile station terminals in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a state transition diagram of the terminal tester for an interconnection test and a comparative test in which two mobile station terminals in one embodiment are connected. It is a block diagram showing the outline | summary of the terminal tester for an interconnection test and a comparative test which connected three mobile station terminals in 2nd Embodiment. It is the block diagram of the terminal tester which showed the return | turnback test by one mobile terminal. It is a state transition diagram of a terminal tester showing a loopback test by one mobile terminal. It is the block diagram of the terminal tester which showed the interconnection test by two mobile terminal.

Explanation of symbols

  1 UE, 2 distributor, 3 RF circuit, 4 tester, 5 HUB, 6 PC for monitor (output / display / print), 7 changeover switch, 8 decision unit, 9 call control unit, 10 terminal tester, 11 spreading code Unit, 12 despread decoding unit, 13 adder, 14 test mode setting unit.

Claims (5)

In a terminal tester that performs a performance test of a wireless communication terminal adopting the CDMA method ,
A distributor to which a plurality of wireless communication terminals are connected;
An RF circuit for transmitting and receiving an RF signal from the terminal via a distributor;
A despreading decoder that despreads the RF signal received from the RF circuit using a despreading code and outputs a common channel signal and a dedicated channel signal by decoding the RF signal;
A spreading coding unit for spreading the common channel signal and the dedicated channel signal by coding and spreading code;
A call control unit for controlling the spreading coder despreading decoding unit,
Giving a test signal to spreading coding unit, the output signal from one wireless communication terminal that is output from the despreading decoding unit, the output signal from the other wireless communication terminal, and a determination unit to compare the ,
Terminal tester, wherein the obtaining Bei a. The terminal tester according to claim 1,
A terminal tester comprising the distributor outside the terminal tester. The terminal tester according to claim 1,
A terminal tester comprising a switch for switching and connecting the despreading decoding unit and the spreading coding unit . The terminal tester according to claim 1 ,
A terminal tester comprising a call controller and a determination unit capable of performing a packet communication test and a videophone test in addition to a voice test of a wireless communication terminal . In a test method of a terminal tester for testing a wireless communication terminal adopting a CDMA method,
A distribution step in which the signal of the wireless communication terminal is distributed;
An RF transmission / reception step for transmitting / receiving an RF signal from the terminal via a distributor;
A despread decoding step of despreading the received RF signal with a despreading code, and outputting a common channel signal and an individual channel signal by decoding;
A spreading coding step of spreading the common channel signal and the dedicated channel signal by coding and spreading code;
A call control step for controlling the spreading coding step and the despreading coding step according to a preset processing procedure;
A test signal is given to the spread encoding process, the signal of the reference wireless communication terminal and the signal of the wireless communication terminal for comparison test are obtained, the comparison between the signal output from the despread decoding process and the test signal, and A determination process for performing a comparison determination with a reference wireless communication terminal;
A test method for a terminal tester, comprising:

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