Automotive Infotainment System Testing for Multi-Device Interference

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Solution Overview

Problem

Individual tests of automotive infotainment system components fail to detect interferences and malfunctions that arise from interactions between multiple devices, leading to incomplete quality assurance.

Innovation Solution

A comprehensive test arrangement and method that generates and analyzes test data across multiple components of the infotainment system, evaluating user experience parameters through bidirectional communication and processing of responses to assess the system's performance as a whole.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If individual components of the infotainment system are tested separately, then the testing process is simple and each component can be tested with dedicated tests, but interferences and malfunctions arising from interactions between multiple devices cannot be detected

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of testingVSAvoidquality assurance
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines multiple individual component tests into a single integrated system test. The test arrangement connects multiple infotainment components (audio device, video device, communication device, navigation device) together to perform comprehensive testing that detects interferences between devices, thereby resolving the contradiction between testing simplicity and quality assurance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Reliability

If a comprehensive integrated test of the entire infotainment system is performed, then interactions and interferences between components can be detected, but the testing complexity and resource requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvequality assuranceVSAvoidtesting complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the comprehensive system test into modular test components, each targeting specific interaction scenarios between infotainment devices. The test arrangement allows selective execution of different test sequences depending on which components are present, reducing overall testing complexity while maintaining comprehensive quality assurance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Measurement precision

If multiple user experience parameters are determined through comprehensive testing, then a holistic evaluation of system performance is achieved, but the measurement and analysis requirements become more complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveevaluation accuracyVSAvoidmeasurement complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a multi-functional test arrangement that can simultaneously measure multiple user experience parameters (audio quality, video quality, communication quality, navigation quality) using a single integrated system. This universal testing approach achieves holistic evaluation accuracy while reducing the complexity that would result from separate measurement systems for each parameter.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP3691297B1Test arrangement and test method
Publication Date: 2024.07.17 ROHDE & SCHWARZ GMBH & CO KG
  • EP3691297B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3691297B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP3691297B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

Arrangement and method for testing of an infotainment system, in particular an automotive infotainment system of a vehicle. For this purpose, test data are generated and applied to the infotainment system. A response to the applied test data is measured and a number of at least two user experience parameters are determined based on the measured response. In this way, an overall performance of the infotainment system comprising multiple infotainment devices may be evaluated.