Patent Application
20070162796
The invention relates to testing, and more particularly, to methods and devices for testing electronic device.
Electronic devices such as optical disk drives, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and similar, are tested via personal computers (PCs) incorporated with particular debugging interface.
Portable devices capable of testing an electronic device are provided. An embodiment of a portable device comprises a connection port, a memory device, such as a flash memory, and a processing unit. The memory device stores a test program describing a test flow including a series of test instructions. The processing unit, coupled to the memory device, acquires the test program, sequentially converts the test instructions into a series of test commands recognized by the electronic device, transmits the converted test commands to the electronic device to direct the electronic device to perform the test commands sequentially. The host of the electronic device may be disabled prior to transmission of the test commands.
An embodiment of a processing unit further receive a test result or an error message generated by the electronic device and store the received test result or error message in the memory device. The test result or error message comprises information regarding the execution status for the generated test commands. The processing unit may further examine the received test result or error message to control the test flow.
An embodiment of a portable device may further comprise an output module. An embodiment of an output module may comprise a small liquid crystal display (LCD) screen to display information about the received test result or error message in real-time. The output module may comprise two lamps or Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) of different color. The processing unit may further direct the output module to provide information about the received test result or error message. The processing unit may further direct at least a lamp or LED to emit light when the test result is received, and direct the other lamp or LED to emit light of a different color when the error message is received.
The processing unit may further sequentially generate a series of test messages respectively comprising a header comprising information regarding that the generated test message comprises a test command to be executed, and one of the converted test commands, and transmit the generated test messages to the electronic device.
The portable device may further comprise a connection port. The processing unit may further transmit the generated test messages to the electronic device via the connection port. The connection port is preferably compatible with RS232, Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), Universal Serial Bus (USB) or Small Computer System Interface (SCSI).
Methods for testing an electronic device, performed by a processing unit of a portable test device, are provided. An embodiment of a method for testing an electronic device comprises the following steps. A test program describing a test flow including a series of test instructions is acquired. The test instructions are sequentially converted into a series of test commands recognized by the electronic device in the course of the test flow. The converted test commands are transmitted to the electronic device to direct the electronic device sequentially execute the test commands. The host of the electronic device is disabled prior to transmission of the test commands.
The portable test device is preferably not a general-purpose workstation, desktop or laptop computer.
An embodiment of a method for testing an electronic device may further comprise the steps described in the following. A test result or an error message generated by the electronic device is received during execution of the test commands. The received test result or error message is stored in a memory device of the portable test device. The test result or error message comprises information regarding the execution status for the generated test commands, and may be further examined to control the test flow.
An embodiment of a method for testing an electronic device may further comprise directing an output module of the portable test device to provide information about the received test result or error message.
An embodiment of a method for testing an electronic device may further comprise directing a small liquid crystal display (LCD) screen of the portable test device to display information about the received test result or error message in real-time.
An embodiment of a method for testing an electronic device may further comprise directing one lamp or Light Emitting Diode (LED) of the portable test device to emit light when the test result is received, and directing another lamp or LED of the portable test device to emit different light when the error message is received.
An embodiment of a method for testing an electronic device may further comprise steps as described in the following. A series of test messages are sequentially generated, respectively comprising a header comprising information regarding that the generated test message comprises a test command to be executed, and one of the converted test commands. The generated test messages are transmitted to the electronic device
The generated test commands are preferably compatible with an Integrated Drive Electronics/AT Attachment Packet Interface (IDE/ATAPI) specification. The test message preferably comprises a checksum, utilized to ensure that the test message is transmitted without error.
The invention will become more fully understood by referring to the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The portable testing device 21 comprises a processing unit 31, a flash memory 33, a random access memory (RAM) 35, a connection port 37, and an output module 39. The connection port 37 may be a serial port compatible with RS232, Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394, or similar, or a parallel port compatible with Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), IEEE 1284, or similar. The portable testing device 21 establishes a connection with the electronic device 23 by the connection port 37, and then can transmit/receive signal to/from the electronic device 23 via the connection.
In one embodiment, at least one test program for a specific test scenario is stored in the flash memory 33 or RAM 35. For example, when a DVR is tested, three test programs respectively for scenarios of reading, writing and seeking data on an optical storage medium may the stored. In another embodiment, the memory directly stored at least one test code/instruction to be executed. The test program provided by a client or an operator is preferably stored in the flash memory 33 capable of retaining the program after power-down to eliminate extra loading effort. The test program describes a test flow including a series of test instructions. The test instruction means a set of codes or words can be interpreted to a specific test process.
The processing unit 31 such as a microprocessor or custom-designed chip receives a selection signal, selects one test program from multiple stored test programs contingent upon the selection signal. In one embodiment, said selection signal could be hardware, such as a jumper or a switch, that can be detected by the processing unit 31 and the processing unit 31 make a selection accordingly. In another embodiment, the selection signal could be generated from firmware. The processing unit 31 sequentially acquires a test instruction in the selected test program and converts the acquired test instruction into a test command, typically a hardware instruction code, in the course of the test flow. In this embodiment, the electronic device is an optical recording/reproducing device, so the converted test commands are preferably compatible with a well-known Integrated Drive Electronics/AT Attachment Packet Interface (IDE/ATAPI) specification. And then, the processing unit 31 generates a test message comprising the converted test command, a header comprising information regarding that this test message comprises a test command to be executed, and a checksum. The checksum is utilized to ensure that the test message is transmitted without error.
Intermediary and final test results may be generated by the electronic device 23 (as shown in
The processing unit 31 directs the output module 39 to provide information about the received test results or error messages to notify an operator. The output module 39 may comprises a small liquid crystal display (LCD) screen to display information about the received test results and/or error messages in real-time. The output module 39 may comprise two lamps or Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) utilized respectively to indicate test states such as normal and abnormal. For example, when a test result is received, the processing unit 31 directs a green lamp or a green LED to emit green light, notifying an operator that a test result is received. Alternatively, once an error message is received, the processing unit 31 directs a red lamp or a red LED to emit red light, notifying an operator that an error message is received. Besides, the output module 39 may also alarm when the processing unit 31 receives an error message.
In step S2111, a selection signal is received. In step S2113 one test program from multiple test programs is selected contingent upon the received selection signal. The test program describes a test flow including a series of test instructions. It will be understood one specific test flow among multiple predefined test flows is determined by the received selection signal, increasing test flexibility.
In step S2131, a test instruction is acquired in the course of the test flow described in the selected test program. In step S2133, the acquired test instruction is converted into a test command, typically a hardware instruction code. The converted test commands are preferably compatible with a well-known (IDE/ATAPI) specification when the portable testing device is used for testing the optical storage apparatus.
In step S2135, a test message comprising the converted test command is generated. Referring to
In step S2331, the electronic device 23 receives a test message. In step S2333, a test command therein is acquired. Before acquiring the test command, the electronic device 23 validates the accuracy of the received test message via a checksum therein and determines that the message is a test message via the header information. In step S2335, the electronic device 23 executes the acquired test command. In step S2337, if required, a test result/error message is transmitted to the portable test device 21. Intermediary and final test results may be generated during and/or after execution of a test command. Error message may also be generated when error are occurred during execution of a test command.
In step S2141, the portable test device 21 receives the test result/error message. In step S2143, the received test result/error message is stored, preferably in a non-volatile memory device for further analysis. In step S2145, it is determined whether the test instructions in the selected test program are completely processed, and, if so, the process ends, and otherwise, the process proceeds to step S2131.
Systems and methods, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMS, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer system, mobile station, projector, displayer, mp3 player and the like, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. The disclosed methods and apparatuses may also be embodied in the form of program code transmitted over some transmission medium, such as electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via any other form of transmission, wherein, when the program code is received and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer or an optical storage device, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatus that operates analogously to specific logic circuits.
Certain terms are used throughout the description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, consumer electronic equipment manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function.
Although the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiment, it is not limited thereto. Those skilled in this technology can make various alterations and modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention shall be defined and protected by the following claims and their equivalents.
