TW201508285A - Wireless one-to-many testing system - Google Patents

Abstract

A wireless one-to-many testing system including plural testing-end modules and a host-end module is provided. The testing-end modules are capable of receiving wireless signals conforming to a wireless communication standard. The testing-end modules are also capable of being coupled to plural different devices under test, so as to deliver the wireless signals to the devices under test. The host-end module is used for respectively establishing wireless connections according to the wireless communication standard with the devices under test at the same time. The host-end module sends at least one testing command to the devices under test via the established wireless connections.

Description

Wireless one-to-many test system

The invention relates to test systems and, in particular, to wireless test techniques for electronic products.

Regardless of which kind of electronic product, how to ensure that the function of the product is normal at the time of shipment is always a concern of the manufacturer. For example, the test item of the image display device usually includes determining whether the television system can correctly receive the remote control signal and execute the corresponding program (power on, power off, turntable, etc.). Pre-screening defective products for repair can effectively avoid the problem of return after sales and improve consumer satisfaction.

Most of the current electronic product testing programs test a plurality of different devices to be tested one by one on the same test machine. Take the TV system that can receive test commands through the RS-232 interface as an example. The current test method is usually that the tester manually connects the RS-232 transmission line from the test machine to the RS-232 input of a TV system, and then controls the test. The machine begins to send test commands to the television system. After completing the test of a certain TV system, the tester must first unplug the RS-232 transmission line from the RS-232 input port of the TV system, and then insert the RS-232 input port of another TV system to the next TV. The system is tested. One of the main drawbacks of this approach is that only a single TV system can be tested at a time.

As far as the current test method is concerned, if a large amount of test manpower and test time cannot be afforded, the manufacturer of the electronic product usually can only randomly test a small number of products, and it is obviously difficult to achieve the test intention of comprehensively preventing the problem before.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes a new test system and test method. By using a wireless signal to simultaneously communicate with a plurality of devices under test, the test system and test method according to the present invention can test a plurality of devices under test at the same time. In the case where the device under test itself has a built-in wireless signal receiver, the test system and test method according to the present invention can greatly save manpower and time required for the test program.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a wireless one-to-many test system includes a plurality of test end modules and a host end module. The plurality of test end modules can receive one of the wireless signals conforming to a wireless communication standard, and can be respectively coupled to different plurality of devices to be tested to transmit the information carried by the wireless signal to the plurality of tested devices. Device. The host module is configured to simultaneously establish a wireless connection with the plurality of test end modules according to the wireless communication standard, and send at least one test command to the plurality of test end modules through the plurality of wireless links. .

Another embodiment of the present invention is a wireless one-to-many test method. The method includes the following steps: (1) simultaneously establishing a wireless connection with a plurality of devices to be tested according to a wireless communication standard; and (2) transmitting at least one test command to the plurality of devices to be tested through the plurality of wireless links .

The advantages and spirit of the present invention will be further understood from the following detailed description of the invention.

100‧‧‧Test system

120‧‧‧Test end module

140‧‧‧Host module

200‧‧‧Device under test

300‧‧‧ computer system

S22~S24‧‧‧ Process steps

120A‧‧‧UART interface

140A‧‧‧USB CDC interface

120B, 140B‧‧‧Zigbee wireless communication unit

Figure 1 (A) is a functional block diagram of a test system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 (B) is a detailed embodiment of a test system in accordance with the present invention.

2 is a flow chart of a test method in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

A specific embodiment of the present invention is a wireless one-to-many test system, and its functional block diagram is shown in FIG. 1(A). It should be noted that the term "the invention" is used herein to refer to the inventive concepts presented in the embodiments, but the scope of the invention is not limited by the embodiments themselves.

As shown in FIG. 1(A), the test system 100 includes a plurality of test end modules 120 and a host end module 140. The plurality of test end modules 120 can receive wireless signals conforming to a wireless communication standard, and can be respectively coupled to different plurality of devices to be tested 200 to transmit information carried by the received wireless signals to the plurality of Device under test 200. The host module 140 is configured to simultaneously establish a wireless connection with the plurality of test end modules 120 according to the wireless communication standard, and send at least one test command to the plurality of test end modes through the plurality of wireless links. Group 120.

For example, the wireless communication standard may be a Zigbee wireless network protocol, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. With the appropriate wireless communication standard, the host-side module 140 can be paired (establishing a connection relationship) simultaneously with the plurality of test-end modules 120, thereby achieving the purpose of simultaneously communicating with the plurality of devices to be tested 200. The number of devices to be tested 200 that the host module 140 can simultaneously connect to is related to the technical specifications of the wireless communication standard. The scope of the invention is not limited to a particular network architecture. In an embodiment, the host module 140 can be paired (establishing a connection relationship) at the same time by multiple test end modules 120, and a test for transmitting signals between the plurality of test end modules 120 can be achieved. For example, a test end module can be used as a transmitting end, and the data transmitted by the test end module can be sent to another test end module as a receiving end as a dynamic test command to simultaneously test the test end module. Different features.

It should be noted that the test terminal module 120 may be a wireless transceiver originally built in the device under test 200, or may be an input interface of the test device 200 through the test device, such as an internal integrated circuit (Inter- The Integrated Circuit, I ² C) interface or a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) interface is connected to a pluggable external device of the device under test 200. More specifically, if the device under test 200 is not equipped with a transceiver conforming to the wireless communication standard, the tester module 120 can be externally connected to the device under test 200 by the tester. If the test end module 120 is an external device, the test end module 120 is designed to convert a signal conforming to the wireless communication standard into a signal conforming to the specification of the communication interface (eg, an I ² C interface or a UART interface).

One of the benefits of transmitting the test signal wirelessly is that the physical position of the device under test 200 and the host-end module 140 can be unrestricted by the length of the transmission line. Taking the Zigbee wireless network protocol as an example, the distance between the device under test 200 and the host module 140 can be up to fifty meters.

The content of the test command sent by the host module 140 and the criteria for judging the test result are related to the type of the device under test 200 and the test item. In a practical application, the host module 140 can send the same or different test commands to each test end module 120 according to actual needs.

In this embodiment, the host module 140 is coupled to a computer system 300; the tester can control the host module 140 through the computer system 300. In practice, the host module 140 can be connected to the computer system 300 through a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. It should be noted that the test command and related test flow can be written as a code and written into the memory in the host module 140, and executed by the microprocessor (non-essential component) of the host module 140 itself. To achieve semi-automated or fully automated testing.

FIG. 1(B) is a detailed implementation example of the test system 100. In this example, the host-side module 140 simulates a plurality of communication ports of the computer system 300 using a USB communications device class (USB CDC) interface 140A, thereby emulating the test commands as a computer. A plurality of communication ports of system 300 are passed to the test end modules 120, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1(B), in this example, the host module 140 and the test terminal modules 120 communicate through respective Zigbee wireless communication units (120B, 140B), and each test end module 120 It is connected to its corresponding device under test 200 through the UART interface 120A.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a wireless one-to-many test method. First, step S22 is to establish a wireless connection with each of the plurality of devices under test according to a wireless communication standard. Next, step S24 is to send at least one test command to the plurality of devices under test through the plurality of wireless links. Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can understand that various operational changes previously described in the introduction of the test system presented in FIG. 1(A) can also be applied to the test method presented in FIG. 2, and details thereof will not be described again.

As described above, the present invention proposes a new test system and test method. By using a wireless signal to simultaneously communicate with a plurality of devices under test, the test system and test method according to the present invention can test a plurality of devices under test at the same time. In the case where the device under test itself has a built-in wireless signal receiver, the test system and test method according to the present invention can greatly save manpower and time required for the test program.

The features and spirit of the present invention will be more apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments. On the contrary, the intention is to cover various modifications and equivalents within the scope of the invention as claimed.

100‧‧‧Test system

120‧‧‧Test end module

140‧‧‧Host module

200‧‧‧Device under test

300‧‧‧ computer system

Claims (10)

A wireless one-to-many test system comprising: a plurality of test end modules capable of receiving a wireless signal conforming to a wireless communication standard and capable of being coupled to a device to be tested to carry the information carried by the wireless signal Passing to the plurality of devices to be tested; and a host-side module for simultaneously establishing a wireless connection with the plurality of test-end modules according to the wireless communication standard, and transmitting at least one through the plurality of wireless links Test instructions to the plurality of test end modules. The wireless one-to-many test system of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication standard is a Zigbee wireless network protocol. The wireless one-to-many test system of claim 1, wherein each test end module is connected through an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I ² C) interface or a universal non-synchronous transceiver (Universal) The Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) interface is coupled to the corresponding device to be tested. The wireless one-to-many test system of claim 1, wherein the host module is coupled to a computer system through a universal serial bus (USB) interface, and a tester can pass through The computer system controls the host module. The wireless one-to-many test system according to claim 4, wherein the host terminal module simulates a plurality of communications of the computer system by using a universal serial communication device class (USB CDC) interface. port. The wireless one-to-many test system of claim 1, wherein the at least one test command can be written as a code that is executed by the host module to implement semi-automated or fully automated test. The wireless one-to-many test system according to claim 1, wherein the host module The data of the corresponding test end module can be received through one of the plurality of wireless links, and the data is sent to another test end module as a dynamic test command. A wireless one-to-many test method includes: simultaneously establishing a wireless connection with a plurality of devices to be tested according to a wireless communication standard; and transmitting at least one test command to the plurality of devices to be tested through the plurality of wireless links. The wireless one-to-many test method of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication standard is a Zigbee wireless network protocol. The wireless one-to-many test method of claim 8, wherein the at least one test command conforming to the wireless communication standard is further transmitted to the plurality of test devices, and further converted into a local test command, The local test instructions conform to an internal integrated circuit (I ² C) interface specification or a general asynchronous transceiver (UART) specification.