Patent Application
20090287964
The present invention relates generally to communication test systems, and more particularly to a system for remote testing of communication networks.
Communication network testers may be used to provide detection, characterization, or other data that may be related to virtually any type of physical process, operation, or environment. For example, communication network testers may be deployed at a variety of locations across an enterprise, and may be used, to name just a few examples, to monitor bandwidth utilization, analyze failure points, or to monitor bit error rate.
In providing these and many other types of functionalities, communication network testers may each be provided with local processing power, memory, and communication capabilities, in addition to being provided with desired tester functions and/or output elements. Such communication network testers may be relatively expensive to support, and may require a skilled local operator to yield informative results. As such, communication network testers may be deployed within and across a large and diverse geographical region or they may be used in a more concentrated area such as a metropolitan area. In each case a skilled operator must transport, connect, and interpret the results of the communication network tester.
The cost and size of such communication network testers, however, generally imply a premium being placed on some or all of the included processing power, memory, or communication capabilities, or use thereof. For example, analysis of a wireless communication base station executed by such communication network tester may impose a relatively large burden on an operator. Typically the skill of the operator will determine how effective the communication network tester will be in the field. A highly skilled operator may be very effective at understanding the information provided by the communication network tester. He may be able to quickly identify and repair field problems in the communication network, but most of his time will be utilized traveling from one problem site to another.
When the cost of support of the communication network is analyzed, the most expensive aspect is the operator inefficiency due to travel between communication network nodes. Much effort has been put into making the communication network tester more sophisticated in order to allow less expensive resources to operate and transport them. The most ingenious testers may be operated by an unskilled operator, but must still be transported from node to node within the communication network. This aspect of communication network support has thwarted every effort to improve the efficiency and response time for communication network analysis and repair.
Thus, a need still remains for an Internet accessible test system that may be permanently installed and operated by a highly skilled operator without wasting the operator's time in travel between nodes. In view of the ever-increasing growth of communication networks, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to save costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures, adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.
The present invention provides an Internet accessible test system including: providing a remote client having an Internet connection; and exercising a tester function across the Internet connection by the remote client.
Certain embodiments of the invention have other aspects in addition to or in place of those mentioned above. The aspects will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description when taken with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The following embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the invention. It is to be understood that other embodiments would be evident based on the present disclosure, and that process or mechanical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
In the following description, numerous specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In order to avoid obscuring the present invention, some well-known circuits, system configurations, and process steps are not disclosed in detail. Likewise, the drawings showing embodiments of the system are semi-diagrammatic and not to scale and, particularly, some of the dimensions are for the clarity of presentation and are shown greatly exaggerated in the drawing FIGs. Where multiple embodiments are disclosed and described, having some features in common, for clarity and ease of illustration, description, and comprehension thereof, similar and like features one to another will ordinarily be described with like reference numerals.
The term “system” as used herein means and refers to the method and to the apparatus of the present invention in accordance with the context in which the term is used. The term “processing” as used herein includes stamping, forging, patterning, exposure, development, etching, cleaning, and/or removal of the material or laser trimming as required in forming a described structure.
The terms keys and buttons are used interchangeably and should be construed broadly. The term physical buttons and hard keys may be used interchangeably. The term soft key may be thought of as a key on a touch screen that is activated by contacting the touch screen in the designated area of the soft key. The term soft key is to be in contrast with the term hard key. Hard keys may be thought of as physical three dimensional keys as opposed to virtual keys on the touch screen. Soft keys, i.e., a corresponding icon, for example, can be located at different positions on a display screen depending on the mode of operation or the actual operation being performed. Hard keys, by contrast, are generally fixed in a specific location, although the function associated with the hard key may be reassigned via various methods. Thus, the terms soft keys and hard keys have relative meaning and soft keys are generally associated with a display and hard keys are generally not.
Referring to
While test equipment is discussed for this application, other uses will be apparent from the teachings disclosed herein. The layout arrangement and the number of the hard keys 102 may vary depending on the function of the equipment. The touch screen 104 is a tactile display screen and it may be divided into sections. In this embodiment example, there are four of the soft keys 110. Each of the soft keys 110 is labeled on the touch screen 104 for its particular function.
The menu bar 112 may constantly be displayed on the touch screen 104. The menu bar 112 may have the menu soft keys 116, such as file open, file save, screen capture, print, toggle background, full screen, mode selection, system settings, default settings, or exit program; or may include specific keys related to the set of tests to be performed by the instrument. The menu soft keys 116 may be used to perform higher level functions in the Internet accessible test system 100.
Referring now to
The operating system 212, the web server 214, the client interface 216 and the support daemon 218 may operate by utilizing the facilities of the hardware platform 202. The operating system 212 may provide file management capabilities and coordination of system assets. The web server 214 may provide access to the tester function 220 for both the client interface 216 and the remote client 224. The client interface 216 may support the local hardware electronics 208. Since the web server 214 provides all of the access to the tester function 220 through a browser interface (not shown), the client interface 216 and the remote client 224 may see the same content and actions.
It has been discovered that the Internet accessible test system 200, of the present invention, may be accessed and operated by any compute platform that supports a browser capable of executing JavaScript. This aspect of the invention represents a dramatic change in the maintenance and support of communication networks. A skilled operator may access a resident tester from anywhere in the world, using an instrument as simple as the latest generation of cell phone or Personal Data Assistant (PDA), running a JavaScript enabled browser. No additional software is required to support the operation of the Internet accessible test system 200.
Referring now to
The instrumentation interface 306 provides all of the control to exercise the tester function 220. The same controls are available through the remote server 304 and the client server 302. The remote server 304 may compile HTML and JavaScript messages, stored in the file memory 308, for communicating with the remote client 224. The JavaScript messages display a graphical user interface (GUI) on the remote client 224. The same GUI is made available to the client interface 216 by the client server 302. An aspect of the present invention is that the same GUI is available from the touch screen 104, of
Referring now to
A software interpreter 410, such as a Python of Java interpreter, may be used to code and manage the client server 302, the remote server 304, and the instrumentation interface 306. The software interpreter 410 may be an object-oriented, interactive, and extensible programming language that executes under the operating system 212. The software interpreter 410 may be used to implement the client server 302, the remote server 304, and the instrumentation interface 306 in order to assure that there is a common response to operations from the remote client 224 and the client interface 216. Most of the communication between the software interpreter 410, the remote client 224 and the client interface 216 utilizes the TCP/IP stack 402.
It has been discovered that this software structure may provide a substantially similar interface response from the Internet accessible test system 100, of
Referring now to
The interface electronics 210 may receive the message from the Internet connection 226 and pass it to the TCP/IP stack 402 for accounting. The message may then be passed to the web server 214 for decoding. The decoded message may be in the form of a JavaScript which is passed to the instrumentation interface 306 for execution by the tester function 220, of
A response message or the result from the tester function 220 may be passed in the opposite direction. Each of the levels of communication has their own link to the corresponding block. While the actual message may only be transferred across the Internet connection 226, each of the blocks has layered a communication layer for its corresponding function. The client TCP/IP stack 506 may include a transfer control protocol (TCP) link 510 which is removed and accounted for by the TCP/IP stack 402. The web browser 504 may add a hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) layer 512 which may be received and interpreted by the web server 214. The original message compiled by the graphical user interface (GUI) input 502 may be a JavaScript object notation (JSON) 514 which is finally received and interpreted by the instrumentation interface 306.
It is understood that while the dashed arrows may link functions in the remote client 224 with functions in the Internet accessible test system 100 this is an example only. The actual layered message only moves between the remote client 224 and the Internet accessible test system 100 by way of the Internet connection 226.
Referring now to
The watchdog daemon 602 may be a modular set of software instructions that refresh a one-shot timer in the hardware to prevent a hardware watchdog timer (not shown) from resetting the system. The hardware monitor daemon 604 may be a modular set of software instructions that monitor the temperature of the system, a battery level, power utilization, and power saving features of the system. The logger daemon 606 may be a modular set of software instructions that accept logging messages and stores them in a log file. The audio daemon 608 may be a modular set of software instructions that accept audio packets that may be sent to the audio player of the system. The global positioning system (GPS) daemon 610 may be a modular set of software instructions that return the time and global position information obtained from an on-board GPS chip. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) file server daemon 612 may be a modular set of software instructions that transfers files to or from the universal serial bus. The test module daemon 614 may be a modular set of software instructions that provide access to any of the aspects of the tester function 220.
The current list of daemons is an example only and is not intended to limit or restrict the number or type of daemons available on the actual system. The above description of the daemons is intentionally brief for simplicity of this document. Other functions may be possible and are likely under the listed daemons.
Referring now to
It has been discovered that the present invention thus has numerous aspects.
An aspect that has been unexpectedly discovered is that the present invention allows a user to manipulate the Internet accessible test system from anywhere in the world. This aspect represents a cost reduction and a simplification of the maintenance of a communication network.
Another aspect of the present invention is that it valuably supports and services the historical trend of reducing costs, simplifying systems, and increasing performance.
These and other valuable aspects of the present invention consequently further the state of the technology to at least the next level.
Thus, it has been discovered that the Internet accessible test system of the present invention furnishes important and heretofore unknown and unavailable solutions, capabilities, and functional aspects for maintaining and repairing communication networks. The resulting processes and configurations are straightforward, cost-effective, uncomplicated, highly versatile and effective, can be surprisingly and unobviously implemented by adapting known technologies, and are thus readily suited for efficiently and economically manufacturing network test devices fully compatible with conventional manufacturing processes and technologies. The resulting processes and configurations are straightforward, cost-effective, uncomplicated, highly versatile, accurate, sensitive, and effective, and can be implemented by adapting known components for ready, efficient, and economical manufacturing, application, and utilization.
While the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific best mode, it is to be understood that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the aforegoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the included claims. All matters hithertofore set forth herein or shown in the accompanying drawings are to be interpreted in an illustrative and non-limiting sense.
