Claims:1. An automated testing system (100) for VPX card comprising:
VPX Board (102);
a computing device (104) including one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors including a memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to analyze, configure, and optimize instructions and commands stored in the memory, and
a performance and functionality testing (PFT) card (106) operatively coupled to the VPX board (102), and wherein the PFT card (106), the VPX board (102), and the computing device (104) are coupled through one or more peripherals (202), wherein the PFT card (106) and the one or more processors facilitate testing of one or more peripherals (202), and enables supporting debugging and troubleshooting of the VPX board (102).
2. The automated testing system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more peripherals (202) include any or a combination of Gigabit LAN ports, PCIe x4, RS232, RS422, RS485, USB 2.0, multichannel ADC, multiple Digital inputs and Digital Output.
3. The automated testing system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PFT card (106) include one or more connectors for each of the one or more peripherals (202).
4. The automated testing system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system(100) supports monitoring, controlling, debugging and troubleshooting with application soft reset, and wherein the system (100) facilitates rebooting the VPX card in standalone mode.
5. The automated testing system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system (100) supports instantaneous reporting of testing, storing records in parallel in the computing device (104), and user selectable interface testing for rapid testing with reduced hardware.
6. The automated testing system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system (100) facilitates supporting simultaneous testing of the one or more peripherals (202) to emulate the testing to real time actual use cases of VPX board including high speed one or more peripherals (202).
7. The automated testing system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein Bit Error Rate (BER) performance associated with the one or more peripherals (202) is calculated without BER testing instrument.
8. The automated testing system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein system (100) facilitates testing of the one or more peripherals (202) when working of at least one of the peripheral from the one or more peripherals (202) fail, wherein the system (100) facilitates transmitting the commands from the processor to monitor, control, debug, and troubleshoot the VPX board.
9. The automated testing system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PFT card (106) includes an ADC interface, input switch, and a power source, wherein the ADC interface is tested for combination of input voltage by changing input switch position through the computing device(104) without changing power supply.
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to field of communication interface. More particularly, the present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card.

BACKGROUND
[0002] Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
[0003] VPX based add on cards or simply VPX cards are plugged into VPX backplane and interfaces from add on cards are connected to other VPX cards on the backplane or to RTM card connected on rear side of the VPX backplane. As most of VPX systems are closed chassis, VPX card testing during production is a tedious task. Traditionally, VPX extender card or VPX open chassis can be used for standalone testing of the VPX cards, with RTM cards and other VPX cards connector to the backplane. Testing the VPX card this way is a tedious, as type of hardware resources required for testing as well as testing time are more. Many times, different types of VPX cards used in system can be developed simultaneously; hence, 100% test coverage is not possible, if golden sample of any of the VPX board used in the system is not ready.
[0004] There is a need to overcome above mentioned problem of prior art by bringing solution that solves problem like complexity of testing VPX card in standalone, cost of one or more cables to probe, multiple test instruments for various interfaces and multiple protocols, and associated cables, required time to establish test set up, and time to complete the testing of each card. Therefore a solution is required that can be used to test each card in standalone mode and support debugging and troubleshooting the VPX Board (DUT).
[0005] As VPX is an open standard and interfaces of few of connectors are user defined. The solution is developed for specific user IO interface, but can be customized easily for any change in the IO connectivity.
OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[0006] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies are as listed herein below.
[0007] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card that helps in testing various interfaces on VPX Board without any VPX backplane, extender card or VPX Chassis.
[0008] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card that can connect to host Personal computer (PC) through PCIe interface
[0009] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card that has option to test PCIe interface as root complex and endpoint.
[0010] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card that has variable Analog voltage input generation on board using combination of switches.
[0011] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card where test program is loaded and running on the board under test, and ASUS running in PC.
[0012] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card that facilitates monitoring, controlling, debugging and troubleshooting with application soft reset and system reboot in standalone mode.
[0013] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card with on/off switches to test digital input and digital output.
[0014] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card that helps in providing loopback support for RS232, RS422, RS485, USB and Ethernet ports.
[0015] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card with instantaneous reporting of the ongoing testing, storing records in parallel in a PC / Computer where ASUS is running, and user selectable interface testing for rapid testing with reduced hardware.
[0016] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card with batch testing of all the interfaces to emulate testing to the real time / actual use cases.
[0017] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card where bit error rate (BER) performance is tested for all the interfaces without any BER testing instrument.
[0018] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automated testing system for VPX card where testing of each interface for all possible combination of configuration is done.

SUMMARY
[0019] The present disclosure relates generally to field of communication interface. More particularly, the present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card.
[0020] An aspect of the present disclosure pertains to an automated testing system for VPX card. The system may include a VPX Board, a computing device, and a performance and functionality testing (PFT) card. The computing device may include one or more processors, where the one or more processors can include a memory. The one or more processors may be configured to analyze, configure, and optimize instructions and commands stored in the memory. The PFT card may be operatively coupled to the VPX board, and where the PFT card, the VPX board and the computing device can be coupled through one or more peripherals , where the PFT card and the one or more processors facilitate testing of one or more peripherals, and enables supporting debugging and troubleshooting of the VPX board.
[0021] In an aspect, the one or more peripherals may include any or a combination of Gigabit LAN ports, PCIe x4, RS232, RS422, RS485, USB 2.0, multichannel ADC, multiple Digital inputs and Digital Output.
[0022] In an aspect, the PFT card may include one or more connectors for each of the one or more peripherals.
[0023] In an aspect, the system may support monitoring, controlling, debugging and troubleshooting with application soft reset, and where the system may facilitate rebooting the VPX card in standalone mode.
[0024] In an aspect, the system may support instantaneous reporting of testing, storing records in parallel in a computing device, and user selectable interface testing for rapid testing with reduced hardware.
[0025] In an aspect, the system may facilitate supporting simultaneous testing of the one or more peripherals to emulate the testing to real time actual use cases of VPX board including high speed one or more peripherals.
[0026] In an aspect, Bit Error Rate (BER) performance associated with the one or more peripherals may be tested without BER testing instrument.
[0027] In an aspect, the system may facilitate testing of the one or more peripherals when working of at least one of the peripheral from the one or more peripherals fail, and where the system may facilitate transmitting the commands from the processor to monitor, control, debug, and troubleshoot the VPX board.
[0028] In an aspect, the PFT may include an ADC interface, input switch, and a power source, where the ADC interface may be tested for combination of input voltage by changing input switch position through the computing device without changing power supply.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.
[0030] The diagrams are for illustration only, which thus is not a limitation of the present disclosure, and wherein:
[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a proposed automated testing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0032] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary view of functional components of the proposed automated testing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0033] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary view of functional component of performance and functionality testing (PFT) card of the proposed automated testing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0034] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary view of the PFT card block diagram and test setup of the proposed automated testing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION
[0035] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details.
[0036] The present disclosure relates generally to field of communication interface. More particularly, the present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card.
[0037] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a proposed automated testing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0038] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the proposed automated testing system (100) for a VPX card (also referred to as system (100), herein) can include a VPX Board (102), a computing device (104), user input (108), debug port (110), a performance functionality testing (PFT) card (106), Cables of PCIe, LAN, Serial Ports, and USB (112), and Board to Board - B2B VPX connection (114). In an embodiment, the computing device (104) can include one or more processors, where the one or more processors can include a memory. The one or more processors can be configured to analyze, configure, and optimize instructions and commands stored in the memory. In another embodiment, the PFT card (106) can be operatively coupled to the VPX board (102), and where the PFT card (106), the VPX board (102), and the computing device (104) can be coupled through one or more peripherals. The PFT card (106) and the processor can facilitate testing of the one or more peripherals, and enables supporting debugging and troubleshooting of the VPX board (102).
[0039] In an illustrative embodiment, the one or more peripherals can include any or a combination of Gigabit LAN ports, PCIe x4, RS232, RS422, RS485, USB 2.0, multichannel Analog to digital converter (ADC), multiple Digital input and Digital Output, and the likes. In another illustrative embodiment, the PFT card (106) can include one or more connectors for each of the one or more peripherals (202). In yet another illustrative embodiment, the system (100) can support monitoring, controlling, debugging and troubleshooting with application soft reset, and where the system (100) can facilitate rebooting the VPX card in standalone mode. The system (100) can support instantaneous reporting of testing, storing records in parallel in the computing device (104), and user selectable interface testing for rapid testing with reduced hardware.
[0040] In an embodiment, the system (100) can facilitate supporting simultaneous testing of the one or more peripherals (202) to emulate the testing to real time actual use cases of VPX board including high speed one or more peripherals (202). In another embodiment, the Bit Error Rate (BER) performance associated with the one or more peripherals can be tested without BER testing instrument. In yet another embodiment, the system (100) can facilitate testing of the one or more peripherals when working of at least one of the peripheral from the one or more peripherals (202) fail, where the system (100) can facilitate transmitting the commands from the processor to monitor, control, debug, and troubleshoot the VPX board.
[0041] In an illustrative embodiment, The automated testing system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PFT card (106) includes an ADC interface, input switch, and a power source , wherein the ADC interface is tested for combination of input voltage by changing input switch position through the computing device (104) without changing power supply.
[0042] In an illustrative embodiment, the Automated Test System (ATS) for VPX add on card can include hardware PFT card to test the one or more peripherals covering Gigabit LAN ports, PCIe x4, RS232, RS422, RS485, USB 2.0, multichannel ADC, multiple Digital inputs and Digital Output present on VPX Board through an application Specific Utility Software (ASUS) configured with the processor of the computing device. In another illustrative embodiment, the computing device can be host Personal computer (PC), but not limited to the likes, where the ASUS can reside in the PC and the PFT card (106) along with the ASUS can support debugging and troubleshooting the VPX Board (102).
[0043] In an illustrative embodiment, the VPX card can include one or more VPX connectors. In another illustrative embodiment, the ASUS can facilitate instantaneous reporting, user selectable testing for the one or more peripherals listed for rapid testing, troubleshooting with application soft reset and system reboot, provision to support batch testing of the one or more peripherals to emulate the testing. In yet another illustrative embodiment, ATS (100) can have less hardware, with one active Direct current to direct current converter, but not limited to the likes and other components can be passive components, without costly Bit error rate (BER) tester for Gigabit Ethernet and PCIe interfaces. In yet another illustrative embodiment, ATS (100) can support the automated testing of each of the one or more peripherals for all possible combination of configuration.
[0044] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary view of functional components of the proposed automated testing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0045] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the proposed system (100) can include VPX board (102) or (DUT), a computing device (104), a performance functionality testing (PFT) card (106), one or more peripherals (202), set of data packets (204) associated with each of the one or more peripherals (202). In an illustrative embodiment, the computing device (104) can include one or more processors with memory, where the one or more processors can be configured with a test code, interface library, and the DUT patterns stored in the memory. In another illustrative embodiment, one or more peripherals (202) can include any or a combination of covering Gigabit LAN ports(202-3), PCIe x4 (202-5), RS232, RS422, RS485 (202-1), USB 2.0 (202-6), multichannel Analog to digital converter (ADC) (202-4), multiple Digital input and Digital Output (202-2), but not limited to the likes.
[0046] In an illustrative embodiment, the Automated Test System (ATS) for VPX add on card can include VPX card’s performance and functionality testing (PFT) card (106) and where the one or more processors can be configured with application Specific utility Software (ASUS) running on the computing device (104) like host personal computer (PC), but not limited to the likes to test the one or more peripherals (202) including Gigabit LAN ports(202-3), PCIe x4 (202-5), RS232, RS422, RS485 (202-1), USB 2.0 (202-6), multichannel ADC (202-4), multiple Digital input and Digital Output (202-2) present on the VPX board (102) and support debugging and troubleshooting of the VPX Board (DUT) (102) / VPX add on card. In another illustrative embodiment, the PFT card (106) can be developed for VPX add on card based on System on chip (SOC) with PCIe (202-5), LAN, USB (202-6), RS422, RS485, RS232 (202-1), Digital output channels (DOP) (202-2), Digital Input Channels (DIPs) (202-2) and ADC channels. The PFT card (106) can facilitate providing a platform to test the one or more peripherals (202) including Gigabit LAN ports(202-3),PCIe x4 (202-5), RS232, RS422, RS485 (202-1), USB 2.0 (202-5), multichannel ADC (202-4), Multiple Digital input (202-2) and Digital Output (202-2) present on VPX Board through application Specific Utility Software which can be customized based on application running on the host PC.
[0047] In an illustrative embodiment, complexity of testing VPX card in standalone, cost of one or more cables to probe, multiple test instruments for various interfaces and multiple protocols, and associated cables, required time to establish the test set up, and time to complete testing of each VPX card can be solved through the ATS (100). In another illustrative embodiment, ATS (100) can be designed, developed and used to test each VPX card in standalone with ASUS to support debugging and troubleshooting the VPX Board (DUT), where the ASUS can facilitate instantaneous reporting, user selectable testing for interface listed for rapid testing, troubleshooting with application soft reset and system reboot, testing history to trace development and to monitor quality of manufacturing process, provision to support simultaneous testing of the one or more peripherals (202) to emulate testing to real time actual use cases of the VPX board (102) including high speed one or more peripherals (202), and monitoring and control remotely. In yet another illustrative embodiment, ATS (100) can include less hardware, with only one active DC to DC converter, but not limited to the likes and other components can be passive components, without costly Bit error rate (BER) tester for Gigabit Ethernet and PCIe interfaces.
[0048] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary view of functional component of performance and functionality testing (PFT) card of the proposed automated testing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0049] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary view of the PFT card block diagram and test setup of the proposed automated testing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0050] As illustrated in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4, the PFT card (106) can include Analog to digital converter (ADC) test circuit designed to accommodate pre-determined range of voltage levels through a pre-defined number of switches, where the pre-defined number can be forty eight, but not limited to the likes, or three rows of sixteen switches each. In an illustrative embodiment, input voltage of pre-determined value like 312.5 microvolt can be fed, where any combination can be achieved by toggling selected switches, where the toggling of the selected switches can facilitate minimizing hardware complexity to derive voltage combination between +10V and -10V, but not limited to the likes.
[0051] In an illustrative embodiment, PFT card (106) can interface to a computing device (104) like host Personal computer (PC) through one or more peripherals (202) like PCIe (202-5). The ATS (100) can support testing of end point configuration as well as host / root complex mode of configuration. When VPX card is configured to work in end point mode PCIe cable (202-5) can be connected between the PFT card (106) and the computer (104). When the VPX card is configured to work in root complex mode, a PCI2.0 compatible memory card can be inserted on the PFT card (106).
[0052] In an illustrative embodiment, the PFT card (106) can support testing of multiple RS232 /RS485/RS422 (202-1) ports. Ports can be configurable in terms of baud rate, no of stop bits, parity bit, no of data bits, where ports can be tested simultaneously, either through loopback, without using any external hardware or by connecting to the host PC (104). In another illustrative embodiment, if ports are to be tested simultaneously, then the computer (104) can have the support for that many number of ports or an adapter can be used. In another illustrative embodiment, multiple USB (202-6) ports can be available in PC / Computer (104), and USB (202-6) based adapters can be used to connect the PFT card (106) to the PC (104). In yet another illustrative embodiment, laptop can also be used to test the one or more peripherals (202) except PCIe (202-5) directly, where the PCIe (202-5) also can be tested even in laptop with help of USB (202-6) to PCIe (202-5) adapter converter.
[0053] In an illustrative embodiment, PFT card (106) can support testing of multiple digital input (202-2) and multiple output (202-2), where input and output signals upto 28V level can be tested, but not limited to the likes. In another illustrative embodiment, digital input can be operated through toggle switches and digital output can be tested through Light emitting diode (LED). In yet another illustrative embodiment, two Ethernet (202-3) ports can be extended from the VPX board (102), where the ports can be connected to the host PC (104) and tested for throughput and data rate.
[0054] In an illustrative embodiment, a pre-determined number of dual in line package (DIP) channels and analog to digital converter (ADC) channels can facilitate setting different test conditions, where the pre-determined number of DIP channel can be twenty eight and ADC channel can be six, but not limited to the likes.
[0055] In an illustrative embodiment, the automated test system (ATS) (100) for VPX card can include the hardware PFT card (106) to test the one or more peripherals (202) including Gigabit LAN ports, PCIe x4 (202-5), RS232, RS422, RS485 (202-1), USB 2.0 (202-6), multichannel analog to digital converter (ADC) (202-4), multiple digital input and digital output (202-2) present on the VPX Board (102) through application Specific Utility Software (ASUS) running on the computing device (104) like host Personal computer (PC) to support debugging and troubleshooting of the VPX Board (102). The ATS (100) does not have any programmable chip, but extends the one or more peripherals (202) at VPX connectors designed for custom requirement with above mentioned one or more peripherals interfaces. In another illustrative embodiment, the ASUS can facilitate instantaneous reporting, user selectable testing for interface listed for rapid testing, troubleshooting with application soft reset and system reboot, provision to support batch testing of each of the one or more peripherals (202) to emulate testing to real time actual use cases of the VPX board (102) including the high speed one or more peripherals (202), monitoring and controlling remotely. In yet another illustrative embodiment, the ATS (100) can include less hardware, with only one active DC to DC converter, but not limited to the likes and other components are passive components, without costly Bit error rate (BER) tester for Gigabit Ethernet and PCIe interfaces. The ATS (100) can enable supporting the automated testing of each interface for all possible combination of configuration of the interface.
[0056] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow. The invention is not limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[0057] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card that helps in testing various interfaces on VPX Board without any VPX backplane, extender card or VPX Chassis.
[0058] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card that can connect to host Personal computer (PC) through PCIe interface
[0059] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card that has option to test PCIe interface as root complex and endpoint.
[0060] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card that has variable Analog voltage input generation on board using combination of switches.
[0061] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card where test program is loaded and running on the board under test, and ASUS running in PC.
[0062] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card that facilitates monitoring, controlling, debugging and troubleshooting with application soft reset and system reboot in standalone mode.
[0063] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card with on/off switches to test digital input and digital output.
[0064] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card that helps in providing loopback support for RS232, RS422, RS485, USB and Ethernet ports.
[0065] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card with instantaneous reporting of the ongoing testing, storing records in parallel in a PC / Computer where ASUS is running, and user selectable interface testing for rapid testing with reduced hardware.
[0066] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card with batch testing of all the interfaces to emulate testing to the real time / actual use cases.
[0067] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card where bit error rate (BER) performance is tested for all the interfaces without any BER testing instrument.
[0068] The present disclosure provides an automated testing system for VPX card where testing of each interface for all possible combination of configuration is done.