Switching device for multichannel radio frequency product test and communication equipment test system

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a switching device for testing a multi-channel radio frequency product. The switch device comprises a control circuit and a switch matrix circuit, and the control circuit is used for receiving a first trigger signal and a clock signal of a device to be tested so as to be in time-frequency synchronization with the device to be tested, and is used for outputting a control signal to the switch matrix circuit. A plurality of input ends of the switch matrix circuit are used for being connected with the to-be-tested equipment, a plurality of output ends of the switch matrix circuit are used for being connected with an instrument, and the switch matrix circuit is used for controlling switching of any path from the plurality of input ends to the plurality of output ends according to the control signal. The embodiment of the invention further provides a communication equipment testing system. According to the embodiment of the invention, through time-frequency synchronization of the control circuit and the to-be-tested device, the switching time of the switch can be accurately controlled, the number of times of interaction with the terminal device is reduced, and the test efficiency is effectively improved.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application, the original application number is 202011027681.2, the original application date is September 25, 2020, and the entire contents of the original application are incorporated into the present application by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a switching device for multi-channel radio frequency product testing and a communication equipment testing system. BACKGROUND

[0003] At present, the whole machine radio frequency performance test of multi-channel radio frequency products mainly includes uplink test and downlink test of radio frequency channels. For the test of multi-channel radio frequency products, it is also necessary to switch the connection of different channels with instruments. Test personnel will generally use manual connection and cable removal during the test process, which will cause low test efficiency and accelerate the wear and tear of instruments and consumables, ultimately reducing the consistency and reliability of the performance test results of radio frequency products. However, considering that the number of samples for research and development testing is small, the test time and switching operation times are limited, and its impact can be accepted. However, because of the mass delivery in production, high-efficiency and rapid testing is required, and the authenticity and accuracy of the test results must be guaranteed, so a serial switch matrix is usually used to realize automatic switching of multiple channels. This technical solution greatly improves the test efficiency and avoids the influence of human factors on the accuracy of the test.

[0004] An existing switch matrix for radio frequency product testing is shown in Figure 1 The switch matrix includes a main control unit 201, a switch drive unit 202, a switch array 203, an EPLD 204, a power supply 210 and other functional units. The main control unit 201 can communicate and interact with the personal computer through the general-purpose interface bus (GPIB) 205, the main control unit 201 is connected with the FLASH 206 and the double data rate (DDR) 207 at the same time, and the operation instruction is converted into a switch switching command that can be recognized by the switch drive unit 202, and the switch drive unit 202 controls the switch array 203 to complete the switch switching action. The switch array 203 is connected with the radio frequency product and the instrument at the same time, and can complete automatic switching. The fan monitoring circuit 208 and the temperature monitoring circuit 209 are mainly composed of MCU, EPLD and related fans, temperature sensors and the like, and realize automatic output air volume control of the fan by the MCU according to the real-time environment temperature.

[0005] In the implementation process, the applicant finds that there are at least the following problems in the prior art: On the one hand, the above-mentioned switch matrix will be limited by the length and number of instruction interaction between the master control unit and the personal computer, and cannot realize accurate control of the switch closing; on the other hand, the personal computer is also needed to control the instrument for testing and sampling, so that the single-channel test time reaches seconds, and the multi-channel test time is multiplied, resulting in low test efficiency. In addition, its scalability and compatibility are poor, the number of supported radio frequency channels is fixed, and different series of radio frequency products need to be re-customized, which will increase the test cost. SUMMARY

[0006] The embodiment of the present application provides a switch device and a communication equipment test system for multi-channel radio frequency product testing. Time-frequency synchronization is realized between the control circuit and the device under test, the switching time of the switch in the switch matrix circuit can be accurately controlled, the number of interactions with the terminal device is reduced, and the test efficiency is improved.

[0007] In a first aspect, a switch device for radio frequency remote unit testing is provided, which includes a control circuit and a switch matrix circuit. The control circuit is connected to a device under test for receiving a synchronization signal of the device under test, so that the control circuit realizes time-frequency synchronization with the device under test, and outputs a control signal to the switch matrix circuit. A plurality of input terminals of the switch matrix circuit are used to connect the device under test and / or an instrument, and a plurality of output terminals of the switch matrix circuit are used to connect an instrument and / or a device under test. The switch matrix circuit is used to control the switching of any one path between the plurality of input terminals and the plurality of output terminals according to the control signal. The switch device provided by the embodiment of the present application realizes time-frequency synchronization between the control circuit and the device under test, has good compatibility and can quickly switch the switch matrix, so as to accurately control the switch closing time point. The time granularity of the control can reach milliseconds, the time switching accuracy and conversion time can reach microseconds, and the test efficiency can be greatly improved.

[0008] In a possible design, the control circuit includes a logic device connected to the device under test. The logic device is used to receive a first trigger signal in the synchronization signal to realize time synchronization with the device under test, and lock a clock signal in the synchronization signal through a phase-locked loop to realize frequency synchronization with the device under test. In this way, the logic device can realize time synchronization with the device under test by using the first trigger signal of the device under test, and realize the same frequency with the device under test by combining the internal phase-locked loop. After the logic device and the device under test are time-frequency synchronized, the switch matrix circuit can be accurately controlled.

[0009] In a possible design, the control circuit includes a master chip, which is configured to receive the test instruction and transmit the test instruction to the logic device. In this way, the master chip transmits the test instruction to the logic device, and the logic device can automatically generate the control signal according to the test instruction and the preset parameter, and control the switch matrix circuit to close the corresponding switch.

[0010] In a possible design, the control circuit is further configured to output a second trigger signal, where the second trigger signal is used to trigger the instrument to test the radio frequency signal of the device under test. In this way, the control circuit can automatically trigger the instrument to complete the relevant test according to the trigger signal required by the externally connected instrument, thereby reducing the time and frequency of interaction with the external terminal device.

[0011] In a possible design, the control signal is multi-path, and is used to control the on-off of one or more switch matrix circuits. In this way, the switch device provided in this application can have multiple control signals output by the control circuit, and can be connected with multiple switch matrix circuits. That is, multiple switch matrix circuits can be replaced or used in parallel to adapt to the test requirements of radio frequency products with different channel numbers.

[0012] In a possible design, the switch device further includes a switch control line, and the logic device is configured to generate the control signal according to the test instruction and the preset parameter, and transmit the control signal to the switch matrix circuit through the switch control line. In this way, the logic device can transmit the control signal to the switch matrix circuit through the switch control line in the switch device provided in this application.

[0013] In a possible design, the switch device further includes a plurality of first connectors, which are configured to be connected with the instrument or the plurality of radio frequency interfaces to be tested, and are further configured to be connected with a plurality of input ends of the switch matrix circuit. In this way, the connection between the switch matrix circuit and the radio frequency input signal can be implemented.

[0014] In a possible design, the switch device further includes a plurality of second connectors, which are configured to be connected with the instrument or the plurality of radio frequency interfaces to be tested, and are further configured to be connected with a plurality of output ends of the switch matrix circuit. In this way, the connection between the switch matrix circuit and the radio frequency output signal can be implemented.

[0015] In one possible design, the switch device further includes a third connector and a fourth connector, where the third connector is configured to receive the first trigger signal and transmit the first trigger signal to the logic device, and the fourth connector is configured to receive the clock signal and transmit the clock signal to the logic device. In this way, the logic device can receive the first trigger signal and the clock signal via the third connector and the fourth connector, and implement time-frequency synchronization with the device under test using the first trigger signal and the clock signal.

[0016] In one possible design, the switch device further includes a fifth connector, where the fifth connector is configured to transmit the second trigger signal output by the logic device to the instrument. In this way, the logic device can output the second trigger signal to the instrument via the fifth connector to trigger the instrument to perform a related test.

[0017] In one possible design, the switch device further includes a sixth connector and a seventh connector, where the control circuit is configured to receive the test instruction via the sixth connector and the seventh connector. In this way, the control circuit can receive the test instruction and related parameters via the sixth connector and the seventh connector.

[0018] In one possible design, the control circuit includes a processing chip connected to the device under test, where the processing chip is configured to receive a first trigger signal in the synchronization signal to implement time synchronization with the device under test, and lock a clock signal in the synchronization signal via a phase-locked loop to implement frequency synchronization with the device under test. In this way, the processing chip can implement time synchronization with the device under test using the first trigger signal, and implement frequency synchronization with the device under test using an internal phase-locked loop. After the logic device and the device under test are time-frequency synchronized, the switching time of the switches in the switch matrix circuit can be accurately controlled.

[0019] In one possible design, the processing chip is further configured to output a second trigger signal to the instrument to trigger the instrument to test the radio frequency signal of the device under test, and receive a test instruction, and generate the control signal according to the test instruction and pre-set parameters, and transmit the control signal to the switch matrix circuit. In this way, the processing chip can automatically generate the control signal according to the test instruction and pre-set parameters, and control the switch matrix circuit to close the corresponding switch.

[0020] In a possible design, the switch device further includes an eighth connector, which is configured to receive the first trigger signal and the clock signal and transmit the first trigger signal and the clock signal to the control circuit. By replacing or merging strategies with appropriate interfaces and partial component replacement solutions, the surface interface of the switch device can be simplified to a certain extent, the panel can be simplified, and the device size can be reduced.

[0021] In a possible design, the control circuit includes a plurality of switch control line bundle interfaces, and the control circuit is connected to a plurality of switch matrix circuits through the plurality of switch control line bundle interfaces. The switch matrix circuit in this application is modular in design, replaceable and usable, and the compatibility of the switch device as a whole can be improved.

[0022] In a second aspect, a communication device test system is provided, including an instrument, a terminal device, and the switch device as described above, the switch device being configured to connect a device under test, the instrument, and the terminal device, the terminal device being configured to send an instruction to the switch device for control, and the switch device being configured to control, according to the instruction, a test radio frequency interface of the device under test to form a path with the instrument, so as to test a radio frequency channel corresponding to the test radio frequency interface. According to the above design, the test speed of the device under test can be accelerated, the production and test efficiency can be greatly improved, and manual wiring and manual operation of the instrument device in the operation process can be reduced, so as to avoid operation errors in the test process and affect the accuracy of the test.

[0023] The switch device and the communication device test system provided in the embodiments of this application can achieve time-frequency synchronization between the control circuit and the device under test, accurately control the switching time of the switches in the switch matrix circuit, reduce the interaction times with the personal computer, effectively improve the test efficiency, and the switch matrix circuit in the embodiments of this application is modular in design, which can be extended or replaced to adapt to the test requirements of different channel radio frequency products, and the cost is reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a switch matrix for radio frequency product testing in the prior art.

[0025] Figure 2 FIG. 4 is an application scenario diagram of the switch device in the embodiments of this application.

[0026] Figure 3 FIG. 5 is another application scenario diagram of the switch device in the embodiments of this application.

[0027] Figure 4 FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a switch device provided in the first embodiment of this application.

[0028] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a control circuit of a switch device connected with a plurality of switch matrix circuits provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0029] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a switch device provided by a second embodiment of the present application.

[0030] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a switch device provided by a third embodiment of the present application.

[0031] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a switch device provided by a fourth embodiment of the present application.

[0032] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a switch device provided by a fifth embodiment of the present application.

[0033] Main element symbol explanation

[0034] Switch device 100

[0035] Device under test 101

[0036] Radio frequency cable 102

[0037] Signal source 104

[0038] Local area network 105

[0039] Spectrum analyzer 106

[0040] Personal computer 107

[0041] Instrument 108

[0042] Terminal device 109

[0043] Control circuit 10

[0044] FPGA chip 12

[0045] Phase-locked loop 13

[0046] MCU 14

[0047] Switch matrix circuit 20

[0048] Input end 21

[0049] Output end 22

[0050] Switch control line 30

[0051] First connector 40

[0052] Second connector 41

[0053] Eighth connector 42

[0054] Third connector 43

[0055] Fourth connector 44

[0056] Fifth connector 45

[0057] Sixth connector 46

[0058] Seventh connector 47

[0059] To-be-tested radio frequency interface 48

[0060] Switch control line cluster interface 49

[0061] Power module 50

[0062] Serial port 51

[0063] Network port 52

[0064] Logic device U1

[0065] Master control chip U2

[0066] Processing chip U3 DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0067] In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0068] The embodiments of the present application provide a switch device for multi-channel radio frequency product testing, which can be applied to the technical field of communication equipment testing and can meet the efficient testing requirements of future multi-channel radio frequency product indicators.

[0069] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 is a structural diagram of a communication equipment testing system to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied. As shown in Figure 2As shown, the communication device test system can include a switch device 100, an instrument 108, and a terminal device 109. The terminal device 109 can be a user equipment (UE), such as a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, or a personal computer (PC), and the like. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal device 109 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0070] Specifically, the switch device 100 is connected to a device under test (DUT) 101 through a radio frequency cable 102, and is also connected to the instrument 108 through the radio frequency cable 102. Specifically, the instrument 108 includes a signal source 104 and a spectrum analyzer 106. The signal source 104 is connected to the switch device 100 through the radio frequency cable 102, the spectrum analyzer 106 is connected to the switch device 100 through the radio frequency cable 102, and the terminal device 109 is connected to and controls the switch device 100 through a local area network (LAN) 105. Meanwhile, the terminal device 109 is connected to and controls the signal source 104 and the spectrum analyzer 106 through the LAN 105. Through the control of the terminal device 109, any one of the radio frequency interfaces in the DUT 101 can be connected to any one of the interface ends of the instrument 108.

[0071] It can be understood that the DUT 101 in the embodiments of the present application can be a multi-channel radio frequency product, such as a macro / micro base station, a smart phone, a router, or the like.

[0072] Please refer to Figure 3 In the embodiments of the present application, a more specific application scenario is also provided, as follows: the terminal device is a personal computer.

[0073] In the embodiments, the switch device 100 and a personal computer 107 can quickly switch a plurality of radio frequency channels and uplink / downlink signals, so as to perform multi-channel testing on the DUT 101, which can accelerate the testing speed, greatly improve the production and testing efficiency, and reduce manual wiring and manual operation of the instrument device in the operation process, so as to avoid operation errors in the testing process and affect the accuracy of the testing.

[0074] Specifically, in the embodiments of the present application, asFigure 3 As shown, in the present application, the personal computer 107 can be connected to and control the switch device 100 through the local area network 105. Meanwhile, the personal computer 107 can also be connected to and control the signal source 104 and the spectrum analyzer 106 through the local area network 105.

[0075] In the embodiment of the present application, the personal computer 107 can be used to send instructions to other devices for control, and can be used to obtain data from other devices for data processing.

[0076] In the embodiment of the present application, the switch device 100 is connected to each of the to-be-tested radio frequency interfaces of the to-be-tested device 101. In one embodiment, the switch device 100 can be used to trigger one of the to-be-tested radio frequency interfaces to form a path with the spectrum analyzer 106, so as to test the radio frequency channel corresponding to the to-be-tested radio frequency interface. Thus, the switch device 100 in the embodiment of the present application can quickly switch each signal, can simultaneously connect multiple radio frequency channels of a multi-channel radio frequency product, and can automatically switch to each radio frequency channel for testing, thereby reducing the testing time.

[0077] In the specific implementation process, the personal computer 107 sends a test instruction to the switch device 100, sends an uplink signal transmission instruction to the signal source 104, and sends a power test instruction to the spectrum analyzer 106. The test instruction is used to instruct the switch device 100 to trigger the current to-be-tested radio frequency interface to form a path with the spectrum analyzer. The uplink signal transmission instruction is used to instruct the signal source 104 to send an uplink signal to the to-be-tested device 101, so that the to-be-tested device 101 processes the uplink signal; and the power test instruction is used to instruct the spectrum analyzer 106 to measure the actual transmission power.

[0078] In one specific embodiment, the to-be-tested device 101 transmits a radio frequency signal, and then switches the multi-channel channel transmission signal to the spectrum analyzer 106 through the switch device 100 for downlink testing, so as to realize high-efficiency testing of the downlink radio frequency indicators of a multi-channel base station.

[0079] Meanwhile, the signal source 104 sends a multi-channel test signal, and then switches the multi-channel signal source test signal to the to-be-tested device 101 through the switch device 100, so as to realize high-efficiency uplink testing.

[0080] In the embodiment of the present application, at least one processor and at least one memory can be configured in the personal computer 107 to perform the above-mentioned analysis and processing functions, wherein the memory can be used to store software programs and modules, and the processor can execute various application functions and data processing of the personal computer by running the software programs and modules stored in the memory.

[0081] Referring to Figure 4 Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a switching device 100 for multi-channel radio frequency product testing.

[0082] In this embodiment, the switching device 100 can include a control circuit 10 and a switching matrix circuit 20.

[0083] The control circuit 10 in the embodiments of the present application is configured to receive a test instruction of the terminal device 109 (such as a personal computer), and output a control signal to the switching matrix circuit 20, where the control signal is used for switching control of the switching matrix circuit 20.

[0084] The switching matrix circuit 20 in the embodiments of the present application can be configured as an MxN switching matrix. For example, the switching matrix circuit 20 in the embodiments of the present application can be configured to have M radio frequency input terminals 21 and N radio frequency output terminals 22. Wherein M and N are both integers greater than 1.

[0085] The M radio frequency input terminals 21 of the switching matrix circuit 20 can be used to connect the device under test 101, and the M radio frequency input terminals 21 of the switching matrix circuit 20 can also be used to connect the instruments 108, such as the signal source 104. The N radio frequency output terminals 22 of the switching matrix circuit 20 can be used to connect the instruments 108, such as the spectrum analyzer 106, and the N radio frequency output terminals 22 of the switching matrix circuit 20 can also be used to connect the device under test 101. The switching matrix circuit 20 can control the switching of any one path between the M radio frequency input terminals 21 and the N radio frequency output terminals 22 according to the control signal output by the control circuit 10.

[0086] For example, the switching matrix circuit 20 can control the switching according to the control signal, so that the radio frequency input terminal 21 of the 8th channel is in communication with the radio frequency output terminal 22 of the 3rd channel, or the switching matrix circuit 20 can also control the switching according to the control signal, so that the radio frequency input terminal 21 of the 7th channel is in communication with the radio frequency output terminal 22 of the 2nd channel.

[0087] In some embodiments of the present application, the radio frequency input terminals 21 of the switching matrix circuit 20 can be connected to the device under test 101 and the signal source 104 through the radio frequency cable 102, and the radio frequency output terminals 22 of the switching matrix circuit 20 can be connected to the spectrum analyzer 106 and the device under test 101 through the radio frequency cable 102.

[0088] It can be understood that the number of ports (i.e. the radio frequency input and the radio frequency output) of the switch matrix circuit 20 can be set according to actual needs, so that the embodiments of the present application can simultaneously access the test of multiple devices or the test of a single device, without affecting the test results. In the specific implementation process, the switch matrix circuit 20 is configured to receive the control signal transmitted by the control circuit 10 through the switch control line 30, and is configured to complete the switching of the channel according to the control signal, that is, the switching of any one path between the M radio frequency inputs 21 and the N radio frequency outputs 22 can be completed according to the control signal of the control circuit 10.

[0089] It can be understood that the control signal controls the switching of the switch in the switch matrix circuit 20, so that any one radio frequency interface in the device under test 101 can be connected to any one interface of the signal source 104 or the spectrum analyzer 106.

[0090] In one embodiment, the switch matrix circuit 20 can include a controller for receiving the control signal of the control circuit 10, and the controller can control the closing of the switch according to the control signal, thereby controlling the switching of any one path between the M radio frequency inputs 21 and the N radio frequency outputs 22.

[0091] In one embodiment of the present application, the control signal can be transmitted to the switch matrix circuit 20 through the switch control line 30. The control signal can be multi-path, used for on-off control of one or more switch matrix circuits.

[0092] In some specific application scenarios, the switch control line 30 can be a 4-way serial control line, that is, the control circuit 10 can control the on-off combination of four arbitrary switch matrix circuits 20 through the 4-way serial control line.

[0093] In a more specific application scenario, the switch matrix circuit 20 can include an 8-channel x 3-channel solid-state switch matrix. Among them, 8 channels can be used to connect the radio frequency channels of the device under test 101 or the instrument, and 3 channels can be used to connect the instrument or the device under test. The switch matrix circuit 20 can be built-in in the switch device 100, and connected to the control circuit 10 through the serial control line (such as the switch control line 30), so that the number of test connection cables in the embodiments of the present application is small, and the components are flexible and compact.

[0094] In other embodiments, the switch matrix circuit 20 can also include solid-state switch matrices of other specifications and combinations of channels. It can be understood that those skilled in the art can select the specific specifications and combinations of the switch matrix according to actual needs, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations.

[0095] In a specific example of an embodiment of this application, the control circuit 10 can be configured to interact with the terminal device 109 by means of instructions, and can be used to output control signals to the switch matrix circuit 20 according to the test instructions issued by the terminal device 109 and the preset parameters, and control it to complete the closing of the corresponding switch.

[0096] It is understood that the test instructions and preset parameters issued by the terminal device 109 can be used to set the switching of the switch matrix circuit, establish a physical path for the test link of any device under test, and then perform the test.

[0097] In an optional embodiment of this application, the control circuit 10 is configured to receive a synchronization signal from the device under test 101 to achieve time-frequency synchronization between the control circuit 10 and the device under test 101. It can be understood that the synchronization signal is the trigger input signal and reference clock signal (Ref CLK) output by the device under test.

[0098] It is understood that time-frequency synchronization means using the same time base and reference frequency clock between different systems. The time-frequency synchronization mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be achieved between the switching device 100 and the device under test 101 using a pulse signal with a specific period and pulse width (time alignment) and a reference clock with a specific frequency (frequency alignment). However, this application does not limit the specific signal parameters.

[0099] Therefore, the control circuit 10 in this embodiment can control the switching time of the switch matrix circuit 20 according to the transmission time of the device under test 101 or the signal source 104. The control circuit 10 can also output a trigger output signal to the instrument 108, thereby triggering the instrument to automatically complete data acquisition or transmission at the switching closing time of the switch matrix circuit 20, to complete the relevant tests on the uplink / downlink signals of the device under test 101. It can be understood that the trigger output signal output by the control circuit 10 can serve as a second trigger signal and be used to trigger the instrument 108 to begin the relevant tests on the uplink / downlink signals.

[0100] It is understood that the "transmission count" mentioned in this article can refer to the device under test (DUT) or signal source being configured to transmit radio frequency (RF) signals. The "acquisition count" mentioned in this article can refer to the spectrum analyzer or other test instrument or DUT being configured to receive RF signals and perform relevant tests on the RF signals.

[0101] As an example of a specific application of this application, such as Figure 4As shown in the figure, the switch device 100 can be configured to have M first connectors 40, i.e., the radio frequency input interfaces of the switch device 100.

[0102] In a specific implementation process, the M first connectors 40 can be configured to be arranged on the panel of the switch device 100, so that the radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested in the device under test 101 or the signal source 104 can be connected to some of the M first connectors 40. Meanwhile, the M first connectors 40 are used to be connected to the M radio frequency input terminals 21 in the switch matrix circuit 20 one by one.

[0103] In the embodiments of the present application, the first connector 40 can be an SMA connector female head, which has the advantages of long service life, superior performance, and high reliability, i.e., the switch device in the embodiments of the present application can include one or more SMA connector female heads, and these SMA connector female heads can all be installed on the front panel of the switch device 100.

[0104] As an example, the radio frequency input terminals 21 in the switch matrix circuit 20 can be connected to the one or more SMA connector female heads through semi-flexible radio frequency cables. In some specific embodiments, the number of SMA connector female heads can be multiple, for example, 11 radio frequency input terminals 21 in the switch matrix circuit 20 can be used to be connected to 11 SMA connector female heads through semi-flexible radio frequency cables, and 9 SMA connector female heads in the switch matrix circuit 20 can be reserved for non-use.

[0105] Therefore, the switch device 100 in the embodiments of the present application can be used in cooperation with the switch matrix circuit 20 by arranging multiple first connectors 40 (such as SMA connector female heads) on the front panel of the switch device 100, so that the replacement or use of the switch matrix circuit can be facilitated to meet different RRU test requirements, thereby improving the compatibility of the switch device 100.

[0106] It can be understood that in other preferred embodiments, the first connector 40 can also be other radio frequency interfaces, such as N-type, DIN-type, TNC-type, etc., and the number thereof is generally greater than the total channel number supported by the switch matrix circuit 20, for which the present application will not be specifically limited.

[0107] Further, in some embodiments, the switch device 100 can also be configured to have N second connectors 41, i.e., the radio frequency output interfaces of the switch device 100.

[0108] The N second connectors 41 can also be configured to be arranged on a panel of the switch device 100, and the N second connectors 41 can be configured to be connected to the spectrum analyzer 106 or the device under test 101.

[0109] Exemplarily, the N second connectors 41 are configured to be connected to the N output terminals 22 of the switch matrix circuit 20 one by one.

[0110] In some embodiments, the switch device 100 can further include a third connector 43, a fourth connector 44, and a fifth connector 45.

[0111] In embodiments of the present application, the third connector 43 can be configured to receive a trigger input signal of the device under test 101 and transmit the trigger input signal to the control circuit 10. The fourth connector 44 can be configured to receive a clock signal of the device under test 101 and transmit the clock signal to the control circuit 10. In one embodiment, the fifth connector 45 can be connected to the instrument 108 through a radio frequency cable 102, for example, the fifth connector 45 can be connected to the spectrum analyzer 106 through the radio frequency cable 102, and the fifth connector 45 is configured to receive a trigger output signal output by the control circuit 10 and transmit the trigger output signal to the instrument (such as the spectrum analyzer 106).

[0112] In specific embodiments of the present application, the third connector 43, the fourth connector 44, and the fifth connector 45 can all be BNC connectors. The third connector 43, the fourth connector 44, and the fifth connector 45 can all be mounted on the rear panel of the switch device 100.

[0113] As an example of a specific application of the present application, the switch device 100 can further include a sixth connector 46 and a seventh connector 47.

[0114] In some embodiments, the sixth connector 46 and the seventh connector 47 are communication interfaces used by the switch device 100 to interact with the terminal device 109, i.e., the control circuit 10 can be configured to communicate with the terminal device 109 through the sixth connector 46 and the seventh connector 47. Among them, the sixth connector 46 and the seventh connector 47 can communicate with the terminal device 109 through the local area network 105 and receive some related instructions of the terminal device 109, for example, the sixth connector 46 and the seventh connector 47 can receive test instructions of the terminal device 109 through the local area network 105, transmit the test instructions to the control circuit 10, and control the on-off of the switch matrix circuit 20 accordingly.

[0115] When testing, the channel, instrument selection of uplink or downlink test can be determined by the connection position of the switch matrix circuit 20, and the connection position of the switch matrix circuit 20 can be automatically controlled by the terminal device 109 according to the test item.

[0116] When uplink testing, the terminal device 109 controls the connection position of the switch matrix circuit 20, so that one to-be-tested radio frequency interface of the to-be-tested device 101 is connected to the signal source 104, and at this time, the connection of the to-be-tested channel of uplink testing is completed.

[0117] When downlink testing, the terminal device 109 controls the connection position of the switch matrix circuit 20, so that one to-be-tested radio frequency interface of the to-be-tested device 101 is connected to the spectrum analyzer 106.

[0118] Compared with the traditional manual wiring test mode, the embodiment of the application can reduce the misjudgment caused by manual operation errors, thereby ensuring the outgoing good product rate and the qualified rate. Moreover, while ensuring the reliability of the test item and the test result, the test efficiency can be greatly improved. In addition, by introducing the switch matrix circuit, the flexibility of the system can be improved, and the system can be suitable for various production test schemes. That is, the embodiment of the application can quickly switch multiple channels and uplink and downlink signals, reduce manual wiring and switching time, and thus realize rapid testing.

[0119] Please refer to Figure 5 In one embodiment, the control circuit 10 can be configured to have a plurality of switch control line bundled interfaces 49.

[0120] In the embodiment of the application, the switch control line 30 can have multiple paths and can be connected to multiple switch matrix circuits 20. These switch control line bundled interfaces 49 can be used to connect multiple switch matrix circuits 20.

[0121] Exemplarily, Figure 5 The control circuit 10 shown in FIG. 3 can correspond to three switch matrix circuits 20. It can be understood that a person skilled in the art can adjust the number of switch matrices according to actual needs, and the embodiment of the application does not make specific limitations thereto.

[0122] Since the switch matrix circuit in the embodiment of the application can adopt a modular design, it can be expanded or replaced to adapt to the test requirements of different to-be-tested devices 101, thereby reducing some production costs.

[0123] In some embodiments of the present application, the switch device 100 interacts with the terminal device 109 twice to complete the multi-channel test sampling, and the multi-channel sampling time can reach seconds, which can also be equal to the sampling time of a single channel. Thus, the terminal device does not need to control the instrument, thereby reducing the interaction times between the instrument and the terminal device, and further improving the test efficiency.

[0124] In one embodiment, the device under test 101 can include a plurality of radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested. The radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested in the device under test 101 can be connected with the first connector 40, and the radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested in the device under test 101 can also be connected with the second connector 41. Specifically, the first connector 40 can connect the radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested in the device under test 101 through the radio frequency cable 102, and the second connector 41 can also connect the radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested in the device under test 101 through the radio frequency cable 102.

[0125] The switch matrix circuit 20 can trigger a path between any one of the first connectors 40 and any one of the second connectors 41 according to the control signal of the control circuit 10. That is, the radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested in the device under test 101 can be connected with the spectrum analyzer 106 through the first connector 40 and the second connector 41 in turn, and the radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested in the device under test 101 can also be connected with the signal source 104 through the second connector 41 and the first connector 40 in turn. The switch matrix circuit 20 is configured to control a path between one of the first connectors 40 and one of the second connectors 41 according to the control signal of the control circuit 10, thereby realizing the connection between the radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested and the instrument 108.

[0126] The embodiments of the present application can set the specific structure and type of the switch matrix circuit 20 according to the actual number of the radio frequency interfaces 48 to be tested, thereby realizing the on-off control of the switch matrix circuit 20 on each radio frequency interface 48 to be tested, which can be used to switch on different radio frequency interfaces to complete the test of each radio frequency channel of the device under test 101.

[0127] Please refer to Figure 6 , which shows a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of a switch device for multi-channel radio frequency product testing.

[0128] The switch device 100 of the present embodiment is different from the switch device 100 of the first embodiment in that:

[0129] In the embodiments of the present application, the control circuit 10 can be further configured to have a logic device U1 and a master control chip U2.

[0130] The logic device U1 in the embodiment of the present application is configured to receive the first trigger signal input by the DUT 101 and synchronize with the DUT 101 in time, and lock the input reference clock signal through the internal phase-locked loop (PLL) 13 to achieve frequency synchronization.

[0131] Therefore, after the logic device U1 and the DUT 101 are time-frequency synchronized, the logic device U1 can be configured to accurately control the time point of switching of the switch matrix circuit 20 according to the time point of the DUT 101, and the time granularity of control can reach the millisecond level.

[0132] In addition, the logic device U1 in the embodiment of the present application can be further configured to generate one or more second trigger signals according to the actual needs of the externally connected instruments, for automatically triggering the instruments to complete sampling or sending after the switching of the switch matrix circuit 20, thereby breaking through the limitation of the terminal device controlling the action of the instruments in the prior art.

[0133] In the embodiment, the master control chip U2 can be configured to interact with the personal computer through the seventh connector 47, and is used to output the test instruction output by the personal computer to the logic device U1.

[0134] Therefore, the master control chip U2 in the embodiment can realize multi-channel self-sampling by simple interaction with the personal computer. The logic device U1 is configured to generate a control signal according to the test instruction and the pre-set parameter, and transmit the control signal to the switch matrix circuit 20 via the switch control line 30, to control the closure of the corresponding switch.

[0135] Then, the switch matrix circuit 20 is configured to receive the control signal transmitted by the logic device U1, thereby completing the switching of any one of the M radio frequency input channels to the N radio frequency output channels.

[0136] Therefore, through the control circuit in the embodiment of the present application, the program modification of the logic device and the master control chip can be reduced, and the compatibility of the system is improved.

[0137] Please refer to Figure 7 , which shows a third embodiment of a switching device for multi-channel radio frequency product testing.

[0138] The difference between the switching device 100 of the embodiment and the switching device 100 of the second embodiment is that:

[0139] Specifically, in one embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 7As shown, the logic device is a field programmable gate array (FPGA) chip 12, and the master control chip can be a microcontroller unit (MCU) 14.

[0140] It can be understood that the master control chip U2 can also be a commonly used single-chip microcomputer, an Arm chip, an STM32 chip, or a digital signal processing (DSP) chip in other embodiments, as long as its functions can meet the needs of the present application.

[0141] The logic device U1 can also be a commonly used Xilinx chip, Altera chip, or complex programmable logic device (CPLD) chip or Erasable Programmable Logic Device (EPLD) chip in other embodiments, as long as its logic resources can meet the needs of the present application.

[0142] The FPGA chip 12 is used to receive the first trigger signal input by the device under test 101 to synchronize with the device under test 101 in time, and to lock the input reference clock signal through the internal phase-locked loop 13 to synchronize with the device under test 101 in frequency.

[0143] Therefore, after the FPGA chip 12 and the device under test 101 are synchronized in time and frequency, the FPGA chip 12 can accurately control the switching time point of the switch matrix circuit according to the time point of the device under test 101.

[0144] As a specific application of the present application, the sixth connector can be a serial port 51, such as a DB9 connector female head, and the seventh connector can be a network port 52, such as an RJ45 connector.

[0145] It can be understood that the RJ45 connector, as an important conversion connection point of the information link line, can adapt to complex working environments and can ensure the safety and stability of signal transmission. That is, the switch device 100 in the embodiment of the present application can be configured to include one or more RJ45 connectors and one or more DB9 connector female heads.

[0146] Therefore, the control circuit 10 can be connected to one or more RJ45 connectors and one or more DB9 connector female heads, respectively, and then communicate with a personal computer through the RJ45 connector or the DB9 connector female head.

[0147] As an example of the specific application of the present application, the one or more RJ45 connectors, one or more DB9 female connectors can be installed on the front panel of the switch device 100 respectively.

[0148] It can be understood that in other preferred embodiments, the switch device 100 can only include one of the network port and the serial port, and is the only interface for the interaction of instructions between the switch device 100 and the terminal equipment 109.

[0149] In the embodiment, the micro control unit 14 interacts with the personal computer through the network port 52 and transmits the test instructions issued by the personal computer to the FPGA chip 12.

[0150] Therefore, the micro control unit 14 in the embodiment can realize multi-channel self-sampling by simple interaction with the personal computer. The FPGA chip 12 is also used to automatically generate control signals according to the test instructions and the pre-set parameters, and transmits the control signals to the switch matrix circuit 20 through the switch control line 30 to control the switch matrix circuit 20 to complete the closing of the corresponding switch.

[0151] The switch matrix circuit 20 receives the control signals transmitted by the FPGA chip 12, thereby completing the switching of any one of the M radio frequency input channels to the N radio frequency output channels.

[0152] In the embodiment, the control circuit 10 can also include MCU related circuit and FPGA related circuit.

[0153] The MCU related circuit can include the circuit between the micro control unit 14 and the network port 52, the circuit between the micro control unit 14 and the serial port 51, and the circuit between the micro control unit 14 and the FPGA chip 12.

[0154] The FPGA related circuit can include the circuit between the FPGA chip 12 and the switch matrix circuit 20, and the circuit between the FPGA chip 12 and the third connector 43, the fourth connector 44 and the fifth connector 45.

[0155] In the embodiment, the switch device 100 can also include a power module 50.

[0156] Specifically, the power module 50 in the embodiment is used to provide direct current voltage for the switch matrix circuit 20, the FPGA chip 12 and the micro control unit 14. In an embodiment of the present application, the power module 50 specifically adopts an AC-DC power supply, so that direct current voltage can be provided for the switch matrix circuit 20 and the control circuit 10.

[0157] Further, the power module 50 can adopt AC-DC power supply which converts AC 220V to DC 12V, 5V or 3.3V, so that the power module 50 can be configured to provide the required DC voltage to the switch matrix circuit, the logic device and the master chip.

[0158] In some other preferred embodiments, the switch matrix circuit 20 can also be connected with the logic device U1 through a set of RapidIO control lines.

[0159] It can be understood that RapidIO is a high-performance, low-pin-count, packet-switched-based interconnection architecture, which is an open interconnection technology standard designed to meet the needs of future high-performance embedded systems. RapidIO is mainly applied to the internal interconnection of embedded systems, supports communication between chips and boards, and can be used as the backplane connection of embedded devices.

[0160] Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, the switch matrix circuit 20 and the logic device U1 are interconnected through chips conforming to the RapidIO protocol, and control instructions are exchanged through data packets.

[0161] Please refer to Figure 8 , which shows a fourth embodiment of a switching device for multi-channel radio frequency product testing according to the present application.

[0162] The switching device 100 of the present embodiment is different from the switching device 100 of the second embodiment in that:

[0163] In the present embodiment, the control circuit 10 is configured to include a processing chip U3. Compared with the second embodiment, the processing chip U3 in the present embodiment needs to complete the work of the logic device and the master chip at the same time.

[0164] That is, the processing chip U3 in the present embodiment is not only configured to interact with the terminal device 109 and generate a control signal to the switch matrix circuit 20 according to the test instruction issued by the terminal device 109, but also configured to receive the synchronization signal of the device under test 101, i.e. the first trigger signal and the reference clock signal, to realize time-frequency synchronization with the device under test 101, and output the second trigger signal to the instrument 108 to complete the related test items.

[0165] Please refer to Figure 9 , which shows a fifth embodiment of a switching device for multi-channel radio frequency product testing according to the present application.

[0166] The switching device 100 of the present embodiment is different from the switching device 100 of the second embodiment in that:

[0167] In the embodiments of the present application, the switch device 100 can further comprise an eighth connector 42, and in a specific embodiment, the eighth connector 42 can be a universal serial bus (USB) interface 42.

[0168] Specifically, the first trigger signal and the reference clock signal can share one eighth connector 42 as an input interface to replace one or more BNC connectors, that is, the control circuit 10 receives the synchronization signal of the device under test 101 through the eighth connector 42, and at this time, the control circuit 10 needs to separate the first trigger signal and the reference clock signal from the input signal of the eighth connector 42.

[0169] Therefore, by adopting appropriate interface replacement or combination design and partial component replacement scheme, the surface interface of the switch device of the present application can be simplified to a certain extent, the panel can be simplified, and even the volume of the entire switch device can be reduced.

[0170] In the prior art, the switch matrix must be controlled by the terminal device to sample or transmit data, which results in a large number of interactions between the instrument and the terminal device, increases the test time, and relative to the automatic test scheme using the traditional serial matrix switch, in the switch device 100 provided in the embodiments of the present application, the time and frequency synchronization between the logic device and the device under test is achieved, thereby achieving accurate control of the closing time point of the switch, the time granularity of the control reaches the millisecond level, the time switching precision and conversion time reach the microsecond level, the single-channel sampling time is greatly reduced, and the efficiency is improved by 4 to 5 times, further improving the test efficiency.

[0171] In the switch device 100 provided in the embodiments of the present application, by modularizing the switch matrix circuit 20 and reserving a plurality of switch control line bundled interfaces in the control circuit 10, the extension or replacement of a plurality of switch matrix circuits can be achieved to meet the needs of compatibility with different multi-channel radio frequency products and multiple test scenarios. In addition, the radio frequency part and the digital control part of the switch device 100 are isolated, thereby improving the scalability of the device, and at the same time, a highly integrated embedded control system is adopted, which can further reduce the volume and cost of the device.

[0172] In the embodiments of the present application, after time-frequency synchronization is achieved between the switch device 100 and the device under test 101, precise control of the switch device 100 can be achieved, and the control time granularity can reach milliseconds according to the time-frequency synchronization. Therefore, it can be applied to various application scenarios that require precise control of switches. For example, the radio frequency switch matrix in the switch matrix circuit 20 is replaced by a gas valve switch matrix, and the radio frequency interface of the first connector 40 is replaced by a gas pipe interface. Similarly, the first trigger signal and the reference clock signal come from the gas source system. After the FPGA chip 12 acquires the first trigger signal and the reference clock and synchronizes with the gas source system in time and frequency, the switch device 100 of the present application can be used for precise control of gas flow. Other extended application scenarios include LED array switch control and multi-power quick switching.

[0173] The switch device 100 provided by the embodiments of the present application has good compatibility and can accurately control the closing time point of the switch. The time granularity of the control can reach milliseconds, and the time switching accuracy and conversion time can reach microseconds. At the same time, it can also reduce the communication frequency between the personal computer and the switch matrix and the instrument, greatly reduce the single-channel sampling time, and further improve the production and test efficiency of multi-channel radio frequency products.

[0174] It is obvious for those skilled in the art that the present application is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and the present application can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present application. Therefore, any appropriate changes and modifications made to the above embodiments within the scope of the essential spirit of the present application should fall within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A switching device, characterized by The switching device includes a control circuit and a switching matrix circuit; The control circuit is used to receive the synchronization signal of the device under test, the synchronization signal is used to synchronize the control circuit with the device under test in time and frequency, and the control circuit is also used to output control signals to the switch matrix circuit. The multiple input terminals of the switch matrix circuit are used to connect to at least one of the device under test and the instrument, and the multiple output terminals of the switch matrix circuit are used to connect to at least one of the instrument and the device under test. The switch matrix circuit is used to control the switching of any one of the multiple input terminals to the multiple output terminals according to the control signal.

2. The switching device of claim 1, wherein The control circuit includes a logic device connected to the device under test (DUT). The logic device is used to receive a first trigger signal in the synchronization signal to synchronize with the time of the DUT, and to lock the clock signal in the synchronization signal through a phase-locked loop to synchronize with the frequency of the DUT.

3. The switching device of claim 2, wherein The control circuit includes a main control chip, which is used to receive test commands and transmit the test commands to the logic device.

4. The switching device as described in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The logic device is also used to output a second trigger signal, which triggers the instrument to test the radio frequency signal of the device under test.

5. The switching device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The control signal is multi-channel and is used to control the on / off state of one or more switch matrix circuits.

6. The switching device as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The switching device further includes a switch control line, and the logic device is used to output the control signal according to the test command and transmit the control signal to the switch matrix circuit through the switch control line.

7. The switching device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The switching device further includes a plurality of first connectors, the device under test includes a plurality of radio frequency interfaces to be tested, the plurality of first connectors are used to connect to the plurality of radio frequency interfaces to be tested or the instrument, and the plurality of first connectors are also used to connect to a plurality of input terminals of the switching matrix circuit.

8. The switching device as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that, The switching device also includes a plurality of second connectors for connecting to the instrument or the plurality of radio frequency interfaces to be tested, and the plurality of second connectors are also used for connecting to a plurality of output terminals of the switching matrix circuit.

9. The switching device according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that, The switching device further includes a third connector and a fourth connector. The third connector is used to receive the first trigger signal and to transmit the first trigger signal to the logic device. The fourth connector is used to receive the clock signal and to transmit the clock signal to the logic device.

10. The switching device according to any one of claims 4 to 9, characterized in that, The switching device further includes a fifth connector, which is used to transmit the second trigger signal output by the logic device to the instrument.

11. The switching device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that, The switching device further includes a sixth connector and a seventh connector, and the control circuit is used to receive the test command through the sixth connector and the seventh connector.

12. The switching device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The control circuit includes a processing chip connected to the device under test (DUT). The processing chip is used to receive a first trigger signal in the synchronization signal to synchronize with the time of the DUT, and to lock the clock signal in the synchronization signal through a phase-locked loop to synchronize with the frequency of the DUT.

13. The switching device as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that, The processing chip is also used to output a second trigger signal to the instrument to trigger the instrument to test the radio frequency signal of the device under test. The processing chip is also used to receive test instructions and output the control signal according to the test instructions, and transmit the control signal to the switch matrix circuit.

14. The switching device according to any one of claims 1, characterized in that, The switching device further includes an eighth connector, which is used to receive the first trigger signal and the clock signal in the synchronization signal, and to transmit the first trigger signal and the clock signal to the control circuit.

15. The switching device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that, The control circuit includes multiple switch control line bundle interfaces, and the control circuit is connected to multiple switch matrix circuits through the multiple switch control line bundle interfaces.

16. A communication equipment testing system, characterized in that, The device includes an instrument, a terminal device, and a switching device as described in any one of claims 1 to 15. The switching device is used to connect the device under test (DUT), the instrument, and the terminal device. The terminal device is used to send instructions to the switching device for control. The switching device is used to control the DUT's radio frequency interface to form a path with the instrument according to the instructions, so as to test the radio frequency channel corresponding to the DUT's radio frequency interface.

Images