Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide an active cable testing device, method and system suitable for multiple types of active cables, which can have different testing performances, and can quickly switch different testing items after changing different types of interface boards by adopting different testing schemes aiming at different active cables.
To achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:
an active cable testing apparatus adapted for use with multiple types of active cables, comprising:
the device comprises a low-speed test unit, a high-speed test unit, a control unit and a storage unit;
the control and storage unit is connected with the low-speed test unit and the high-speed test unit;
and responding to different cables to be tested, the control and storage unit sends out control signals, and the control signals enable the low-speed test unit and the high-speed test unit to execute test items corresponding to the cables to be tested.
Optionally, the power supply testing device further comprises a power supply testing unit with different power supply voltages and currents, and the power supply performance of the cable to be tested is tested in response to the control signal.
Optionally, the low-speed test unit is provided with a plurality of low-speed test channels, and responds to the control signal, and selects a low-speed signal corresponding to the cable to be tested for testing;
the high-speed testing unit comprises a high-speed performance testing unit and a high-speed optical channel testing unit;
the high-speed performance test unit is provided with a plurality of high-speed performance test channels, and responds to the control signals, and the high-speed performance test indexes corresponding to the cable to be tested are selected for testing;
the high-speed optical channel testing unit is provided with a multipath optical intensity testing unit, and responds to the control signal, and selects an optical intensity testing index corresponding to the cable to be tested for testing.
Optionally, the power supply voltage of the power supply test unit comprises 1.8V-12V, and the current is 0-330 mA.
Optionally, the system also comprises a pluggable public interface unit for providing a test interface of the cable to be tested,
the public interface unit comprises a public interface and a peripheral interface, the public interface is connected with the low-speed test unit, the high-speed test unit and the control and storage unit, the peripheral interface is used for connecting the cable to be tested, and the public interface and the signal channel of the peripheral interface are correspondingly connected with each other.
Optionally, the device further comprises a firmware control unit, wherein the firmware control unit is used for updating the firmware information in the cable in response to the fact that the firmware information of the cable to be tested is not matched with the firmware information of the control and storage unit.
Optionally, the system further comprises a custom function testing unit for testing the special custom function of the cable to be tested.
The invention also discloses a testing method based on the active cable testing device, which comprises the following steps:
test initiation step S110:
the control and storage unit sends control signals to each unit in response to different cables to be tested;
firmware upgrading step S120:
judging whether the firmware information of the cable to be tested is not matched with the firmware information of the control signal of the control and storage unit, if so, performing step S130, otherwise, upgrading the firmware information in the cable to be tested;
power supply test step S130:
the power supply test unit receives the control signal, judges whether to perform power supply test, if not, the next test step is turned to, otherwise, the power supply test is performed according to the control signal requirement, and the test result is stored;
signal testing step S140:
and the signal testing unit receives the control signal and performs signal testing on the cable to be tested.
Optionally, the signal testing step S140 includes: a low-speed signal testing step S141 and a high-speed signal testing step S142; wherein,
a low-speed signal testing step S141: the low-speed test unit receives the control signal, judges whether to test, if not, the next test step is turned to, otherwise, the test is carried out according to the control signal requirement and the test result is stored;
high-speed performance test step S142: and the high-speed performance test unit is used for receiving the control signal, judging whether to test or not, if so, performing high-speed performance test according to the control signal requirement, storing the test result, and if not, turning to the next test step.
Optionally, the testing method further includes a high-speed optical channel testing step S150, where the high-speed optical channel testing unit receives the control signal, determines whether to perform testing, performs the high-speed optical channel testing according to the control signal requirement and stores the testing result if the testing is performed, and switches to the next testing step if the testing is not performed.
Optionally, the testing method further includes a custom function testing step S160:
custom function test step S160: the customized function test unit receives the control signal, judges whether to test, if not, then step S170 is performed, otherwise, the test is performed according to the control signal requirement and the test result is stored;
and a result summarizing step S170, wherein the control and storage unit invokes the test results of each unit and saves the data after summarizing.
Optionally, there is a pre-configuration step S100 before the test start step S110: configuring corresponding test index information of various different active cables;
in the test start step S110, the control and storage unit determines whether the test index information changes, and if so, sends new test index information to each test unit.
Optionally, in a test start step S110: in response to different cables to be tested, the test start step S110 includes:
autonomously selecting the type of cable to be tested, or
Obtaining the type of the cable to be tested according to the information of the current cable to be tested;
in a test start step S110, it is selected whether to replace the common interface unit in response to a different cable to be tested.
The invention further discloses an active cable testing system, which is characterized in that:
the active cable testing device comprises a testing host and a plurality of active cable testing devices;
the testing host is connected with the plurality of active cable testing devices and sends out control instructions to enable the plurality of active cable testing devices to execute the testing method respectively.
In summary, the invention has the following advantages:
1. the number of test equipment is reduced, and the production and operation cost is saved. As the number of active cable AOC types produced increases, the cost savings increases.
2. And the cost of engineers and manpower maintenance is reduced. When the project is newly added, technicians are not required to frequently modify test equipment codes, and production maintenance personnel are not required to frequently upgrade firmware.
3. The variety of accessories is reduced, equipment is standardized, and the possibility of error is reduced. The units of the invention are basically fixed and only the common interface unit needs to be replaced. The standardization of test equipment is realized, and the possibility of missing key materials is reduced; and all parameters are normalized, so that artificial careless mistakes are avoided.
Detailed Description
The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not limiting thereof. It should be further noted that, for convenience of description, only some, but not all of the structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings.
The invention is characterized in that: the testing device is provided with a low-speed testing unit and a high-speed testing unit, each testing unit integrates different testing items in the testing category, and the control and storage unit can select different testing schemes according to the information of the cable to be tested, so that each testing unit directly provides corresponding testing items without replacing the testing device; in addition, the testing device is also provided with a common interface unit, and when cables to be tested of different interfaces are faced, the common interface unit is simply replaced to adapt to the types of the cables. The testing device provided by the invention has the advantages that the equipment on the testing hardware is not required to be manually changed, and the change of the parameters of all testing equipment of the production line can be realized only by adjusting the parameters, so that the number of the testing equipment is reduced, the production operation cost is saved, and the types of accessories are reduced.
Referring specifically to fig. 1, 2, there is shown a block diagram of an active cable testing device according to the present invention, comprising:
a low-speed test unit 10, a high-speed test unit 11, and a control and storage unit 12;
wherein the control and storage unit 12 is connected with the low-speed test unit 10 and the high-speed test unit 11;
in response to different cables to be tested, the control and storage unit 12 sends out control signals that cause the low-speed test unit 10 and the high-speed test unit 11 to execute test items corresponding to the cables to be tested.
Since the low-speed test unit 10 and the high-speed test unit 11 can have a variety of test items, for example, a test scheme encompassing all active cables to be tested known so far, all information is normalized. In response to different cables to be tested, the control and storage unit 12 can call the testing scheme of the corresponding cable according to the different cables to be tested, so that the low-speed testing unit 10 and the high-speed testing unit 11 provide corresponding testing items, operate different testing parameters and execute different testing standards, thereby obtaining a conclusion of qualification or disqualification corresponding to the cable to be tested.
Because of the material and process change, the performance parameter index of part of the type of active cable may be changed, at this time, for the test equipment, the firmware or the adjustment parameters do not need to be manually changed, and the change of all the test equipment parameters of the production line can be realized only through the adjustment of the background.
Therefore, the invention improves the repeated use rate of the test equipment, does not additionally increase the equipment of the production line, reduces the number of the test equipment as much as possible, and reduces the maintenance cost of the equipment.
In addition, different cables under test in the present invention, including structural differences and also including differences in firmware versions, for example, an active cable that performs USB2.0 and an active cable that performs USB3.0 are regarded as different cables under test, and an active cable that performs USB3.0 and an active cable that performs USB3.1 are also regarded as different cables under test.
The active cable testing device further comprises: and the power supply test unit 14 is provided with different power supply voltages and currents and is used for testing the power supply performance of the cable to be tested in response to the control signals.
In a specific example, the power supply voltage of the power supply test unit 14 includes 1.8V to 12V, and the current is 0mA to 330mA. Exemplary supply voltages include 1.8V, 3.3V, 5V, and 12V. Before the power supply test is started, the power supply test unit enables the corresponding power supply circuit according to the power supply index sent by the control and storage unit, starts the power supply power consumption test and feeds back the result to the control and storage unit
The power test unit 14 integrates a variety of different power supply circuits that can provide different voltage outputs for matching active cables of different power requirements. Before the power supply test is started, the power supply test unit enables the corresponding power supply unit according to the power supply index sent by the control and storage unit, starts the power supply power consumption test and feeds back the result to the control and storage unit. In a specific example, after the power supply test unit obtains the corresponding power supply index according to the control information, the programmable logic device may switch the selected power supply. When the user actively selects the cable type, the power supply specification and the power consumption threshold are configured in the current test project.
The low-speed test unit 10 has a plurality of low-speed test channels, and responds to the control signal, selects a low-speed signal corresponding to the cable to be tested for testing. In one specific example, the low-speed test unit includes a copper wire test unit 21. The copper wire testing unit 21 has a plurality of copper wire testing channels, and responds to the control signal to select a low-speed signal corresponding to the cable to be tested for testing, including starting the selected copper wire testing channel for testing and feeding back the result to the control and storage unit. It should be noted that, the low-speed test unit is used for testing the low-speed signal communication condition of the cable, and the cable used for transmitting the low-speed signal by the active cable is generally copper wire, however, other mediums, such as optical fiber, may be used to transmit the low-speed signal, and accordingly, the low-speed test unit 10 includes a copper wire test unit and a low-speed signal test unit.
Specifically, the low-speed signal of the copper wire test unit 21 includes: IIC, HPD, CEC, UT.
In one example, the copper wire testing unit 21 may set 20 low-speed copper wire testing interfaces, and provide the hardware connection interfaces to the user through the man-machine interface, and the user may freely select the testing interfaces according to the number of low-speed copper wires and the hardware connection of the testing cable, and save the information in the background. When the test cable is actively selected, the test equipment can call the corresponding low-speed copper wire test information through the background, so that quick configuration is realized. For example, the test equipment may present hardware connection information (i.e., pin correspondence) of the current test interface board, and the user may determine, according to the information, a corresponding connection on the test equipment IIC, HPD, CEC, UT when the test equipment is connected, so as to select whether to test the signal.
Further, the high-speed test unit 11 includes a high-speed performance test unit 22 and a high-speed optical channel test unit 23.
The high-speed performance testing unit 22 is provided with a plurality of high-speed performance testing channels, and responds to the control signals, and selects high-speed performance testing indexes corresponding to the cable to be tested for testing. Including starting selected high-speed performance test channels for testing and feeding results back to the control and memory unit.
The high-speed optical channel testing unit 23 is provided with a multi-path optical intensity testing unit, and responds to the control signal, and selects an optical intensity testing index corresponding to the cable to be tested for testing. Includes starting the selected light intensity test unit for testing and feeding back the result to the control and storage unit.
The high-speed performance test indicators of the high-speed performance test unit 22 include a test rate, a code pattern, and a high-speed signal amplitude. In a specific embodiment, the test rate ranges from 500MHz to 16Gbps, the code patterns are set to PRBS07, PRBS15, PRBS31, PRBS63, and Clock, and the high-speed signal amplitude ranges from 0 to 1000mV.
Illustratively, the high-speed performance test unit 22 includes an 8-way high-speed interface, which may be enabled by a user depending on the hardware connection; the method can realize the independent test of each path, independently and automatically judge the result, and can also judge the test result in a multi-path combination way. And the threshold value of the test result is set, for example, the number of error codes, and the error rate can be selected through a man-machine interaction interface. When the user selects the cable type after the parameters are saved, the device automatically recalls the corresponding configuration and saves it in the device.
The high-speed optical channel testing unit 23 can select a commercially available testing scheme, has a plurality of optical intensity testing units, enables the corresponding testing units to perform testing according to the optical fiber channel corresponding relation and the testing requirement in the control signal sent by the control and storage unit, and feeds back the result to the control and storage unit.
Illustratively, the high-speed optical channel test unit 23 includes 8 individual optical channel strength test interfaces, and when the high-speed performance test interface is enabled, the high-speed optical channel strength test interface is enabled to be selected, and the user can actively select whether to enable the high-speed optical channel strength test unit of the path. For judging the threshold value, the human-computer interaction interface also provides rules input by a user, and the user can input and store the threshold value into the system according to own requirements. When the test is started, the high-speed optical channel test unit automatically tests according to the selected interface, displays specific numerical values and automatically judges the test result.
Further, since the active cable testing device of the present invention is suitable for different active cables to be tested, it may have different interfaces. In order to adapt to different interfaces, the stability of the connection of the active cable to be tested of the testing device is improved, and a jig is added at the connection position of the testing equipment and the active cable. The purpose of increasing the tool is for better fixed connector changes the board, increases test equipment's life.
Further, referring to fig. 3, the device further has a pluggable public interface unit 13 for providing a test interface of the cable to be tested, where the public interface unit includes a public interface and a peripheral interface, the public interface is connected with the low-speed test unit, the high-speed test unit and the control and storage unit, and the peripheral interface is used to connect the cable to be tested, and signal channels of the public interface and the peripheral interface are correspondingly connected with each other.
Further, the public interface units are multiple and are used for connecting different types of cables to be tested; the circuit boards of the various public interface units have the same size, the public interfaces of the various public interface units also have the same size, the peripheral interfaces of the various public interface units can be the same or different, and specifically, the peripheral interfaces comprise the direction of inserting and pulling the cable to be tested, which extends along the public interface units, and the direction of inserting and pulling the cable to be tested is perpendicular to the direction of the public interface units.
Further, the active cable test device further includes: the jig is used for fixing the public interface unit; the jig comprises a lower jig and an upper jig; the lower jig is suitable for fixing each of the plurality of common interface units; the upper jig and the lower jig are respectively positioned on two sides of a circuit board of a public interface unit fixed by the upper jig and the lower jig, and peripheral interfaces of the public interface unit fixed by the upper jig and the lower jig are positioned in a space between the upper jig and the lower jig and face to the outside; the upper jig may be removed to provide additional space for the peripheral interfaces of the secured common interface unit to connect with the cables under test.
The PCB board size design of public interface unit is unanimous, disassembles the high-speed of different kinds, different interface type's active cable through the peripheral hardware interface, and signal line after disassembling is connected to public interface on, and public interface is again with low-speed test unit, high-speed test unit, control and memory cell connection, by control and memory cell allotment, send instruction completion order functional test.
The common interface unit is adapted to active cable of all connector types and needs to be changed when being matched with cables to be tested of different interfaces.
In a specific embodiment, the common interface is a PCIe interface, and the peripheral interface is one or more of Type C, HDMI, USB, DP, and PCIe.
The testing device further has a firmware control unit 15 for updating the firmware information in the cable in response to the mismatch between the firmware information of the cable to be tested and the firmware information of the control and storage unit 12.
The firmware information mismatch includes a firmware download protocol, a firmware version, or a firmware content inconsistency. Upgrading the firmware information includes performing firmware-related actions such as downloading firmware.
The invention can provide a man-machine interaction interface for a user to download the firmware file into the test equipment, and the user can input the firmware name, the firmware version number and the firmware content. The firmware communication download protocols may be different, such as Uart, IIC, etc., and the user may choose different protocols depending on the specific design of the cable. When the test is started, the device can preferentially read the firmware content or the firmware version in the cable, and when the firmware version is consistent with the recorded firmware, the downloading action is not performed, and the current firmware version is prompted to be up to date; when the firmware version is inconsistent with the recorded firmware, the testing device downloads the firmware to the cable to be tested, the firmware is written into the cable to be tested after the firmware is downloaded, the firmware version is read out and compared with the recorded firmware, if the firmware version is consistent with the recorded firmware, the success of the firmware download is prompted, and otherwise, the firmware download fails.
For example, when a cable of USB3.0 is executed to access the test system, and the test system executes the USB3.2 protocol test item, the signal test cannot obtain the actual result of the cable because the specific protocol executed by the cable cannot be confirmed from the appearance. When the cable for executing the USB3.0 is connected with the test system for executing the USB3.2, the equipment identifies that the cable is inconsistent with the recorded firmware version, downloads the firmware of the USB3.2 and writes the firmware into the cable, compares the current firmware version of the cable with the recorded firmware again, and prompts successful downloading of the firmware if the current firmware version of the cable is consistent with the recorded firmware, otherwise prompts failure of downloading the firmware and updates the firmware version of the cable again.
The invention further comprises a custom function test unit 16 for testing a specific custom function of the cable to be tested.
The custom function test unit 16 is an additional test function for a particular custom active cable that is required to be used in testing the custom active cable. When a particular function becomes normalized, it may be placed in other low-speed or high-speed test units.
For example, the Emark chip firmware of the Type C cable is programmed, that is, the exclusive function of the customized Type C cable can be tested by the customized function test unit. When the function is newly added by a designer and becomes normalized, the function can be applied to the subsequent test of all Type C cables.
In summary, the control and storage unit 12 can send the performance parameter indexes to each test unit through the bus when selecting the corresponding active cable type according to the prestored parameter information. The pre-storage of the parameters can be placed on public platforms such as a server, a database, a public disk and the like, and can be modified through the background, so that the condition that the parameters of each test device are inconsistent, and the parameters are forgotten to be updated when modified or changed, so that the test indexes are inconsistent is avoided.
According to the invention, all information can be normalized to the background, and when different projects are matched, the test of the active cable of the type can be completed by only calling the information of the corresponding project.
In one exemplary hardware design, power test unit 14, copper wire test unit 21, firmware test unit 15 are integrated into a single board, the order, function, decision criteria of which are controlled by control and storage unit 12.
The high-speed performance test unit 22 and the high-speed optical channel test unit 23 are combined and integrated into a single board card, and the board card completes all the tests related to the high-speed performance. The sequence, function and decision criteria of the board test are controlled by the control and memory unit 12.
The control and memory unit 12 is connected to different boards to connect each test unit with a high-speed connector having a multiple pin angle, and transfers the low-speed signal line, the high-speed signal line, the download signal line, the power supply signal line, and the like in the common interface unit to each other circuit unit.
Referring to fig. 4, the invention further discloses a testing method for the active cable testing device of the invention, which comprises the following steps:
test initiation step S110:
the control and storage unit sends control signals to each unit in response to different cables to be tested;
firmware upgrading step S120:
judging whether the firmware information of the cable to be tested is not matched with the firmware information of the control signal of the control and storage unit, if so, performing step S130, otherwise, upgrading the firmware information in the cable to be tested;
power supply test step S130:
and the power supply test unit receives the control signal, judges whether to perform power supply test, and if not, switches to the next test step, otherwise, performs the power supply test according to the control signal requirement and stores the test result.
Signal testing step S140:
and the signal testing unit receives the control signal and performs signal testing on the cable to be tested.
The signal testing step S140 includes: a low-speed signal testing step S141 and a high-speed signal testing step S142; wherein,
a low-speed signal testing step S141: the low-speed test unit receives the control signal, judges whether to test, if not, the next test step is turned to, otherwise, the test is carried out according to the control signal requirement and the test result is stored;
high-speed performance test step S142: and the high-speed performance test unit is used for receiving the control signal, judging whether to test or not, if so, performing high-speed performance test according to the control signal requirement, storing the test result, and if not, turning to the next test step.
The testing method of the active cable testing device further comprises a high-speed optical channel testing step S150, wherein the high-speed optical channel testing unit receives the control signal and judges whether to test or not, if so, the high-speed optical channel testing is carried out according to the control signal requirement, and the testing result is stored, and if not, the next testing step is carried out.
The testing method of the active cable testing device further comprises a customizing function testing step S160:
custom function test step S160: the customized function test unit receives the control signal, judges whether to test, if not, then step S170 is performed, otherwise, the test is performed according to the control signal requirement and the test result is stored;
and a result summarizing step S170, wherein the control and storage unit invokes the test results of each unit and saves the data after summarizing.
In addition, there is a pre-configuration step S100 before the test start step S110: configuring corresponding test index information of various different active cables;
in the test start step S110, the control and storage unit determines whether the test index information changes, and if so, sends new test index information to each test unit.
For example, whether one test device or a plurality of test devices, the test device can use the name of the AOC type or item as a key field, so that test information corresponding to the key field can be searched in the background, and all parameter indexes of all test devices are consistent when all test devices test the same AOC type or item.
In a test start step S110: the test start step S110 includes, in response to different cables to be tested
Autonomously selecting the type of cable to be tested, or
And obtaining the type of the cable to be tested according to the information of the current cable to be tested.
The type of the cable to be tested is selected autonomously, that is, the key field information in a background (a database or a server) is searched in a man-machine interaction interface, all AOC types or projects are traversed and then displayed on the man-machine interface, production personnel select the corresponding projects autonomously, and when the corresponding projects are selected, a control and storage unit acquires the relevant test information of the AOC types or projects.
According to the information of the current cable to be tested, the type of the cable to be tested can be obtained by attaching a cable following identification code to the cable, wherein the code follows the whole process flow of the cable. The method can be used for testing according to the AOC type or preset and unique identification codes in advance, the identification codes can be scanned during testing, and corresponding testing information is acquired from the background (a server or a database) according to unique characteristic information of the identification codes during scanning of the identification codes and is transmitted to the control and storage unit.
In a test start step S110, it is selected whether to replace the common interface unit in response to a different cable to be tested.
Referring to fig. 5, the invention further discloses an active cable testing system, which comprises a testing host 200 and a plurality of active cable testing devices 100 according to the invention;
the test host 200 is connected to the plurality of active cable test devices 100, and issues a control instruction to enable the plurality of active cable test devices to execute the test method of the present invention.
Therefore, the control and upgrading of a plurality of test devices are realized by using the test host.
In summary, the invention has the following advantages:
1. the number of test equipment is reduced, and the production and operation cost is saved. As the number of active cable AOC types produced increases, the cost savings increases.
2. And the cost of engineers and manpower maintenance is reduced. When the project is newly added, technicians are not required to frequently modify test equipment codes, and production maintenance personnel are not required to frequently upgrade firmware.
3. The variety of accessories is reduced, equipment is standardized, and the possibility of error is reduced. The units of the invention are basically fixed and only the common interface unit needs to be replaced. The standardization of test equipment is realized, and the possibility of missing key materials is reduced; and all parameters are normalized, so that artificial careless mistakes are avoided.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the elements or steps of the invention described above may be implemented in a general purpose computing device, they may be concentrated on a single computing device, or they may alternatively be implemented in program code executable by a computer device, such that they may be stored in a storage device for execution by the computing device, or they may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or a plurality of modules or steps in them may be fabricated into a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with specific preferred embodiments thereof, it is not to be construed as limited thereto, but rather as a result of a simple deduction or substitution by a person having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is to be construed as falling within the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.