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Wi-Fi test equipment supplier Azimuth Systems Inc. has readied a solution that enables vendors to perform certification testing according to the new Wi-Fi Alliance test engine architecture. The AzCert Wi-Fi certification test suite for test engine-enabled devices will be used by Wi-Fi Alliance Authorized Test Laboratories (ATLs). This allows product vendors, device manufacturers and semiconductor suppliers to pre-test their station devices using the same approach. The new solution is expected to streamline the certification process for a broad range of diverse products with embedded Wi-Fi connectivity such as phones, handheld games, cameras, TVs and MP3 players, and also for standard Wi-Fi equipment such as laptops and network cards.

The Test Engine methodology was originally architected by the Wi-Fi Alliance task group for application-specific devices (ASDs), and Azimuth Systems was chosen by the alliance to develop tools required to execute the methodology. There are five primary components of the methodology for certification (see figure), which include:

1. Device under test (DUT) software that enables the DUT to generate traffic.

2. Control PC software that allows vendors to control their DUT.

3. Capture engine that captures the packets generated by the DUT for analysis.

4. A management tool that executes the test plan.

5. The Wi-Fi Alliance test bed verifies interoperability.

Sample source code for the DUT agent and the control agent are provided free-of-charge by the Wi-Fi Alliance to its members. Azimuth provides the AzCert Wi-Fi certification test suite for test engine-enabled devices as a basic certification package that includes the ADEPT-CE capture engine and the Azimuth test engine management Tool. Products successfully tested using this methodology at an ATL achieve the critical Wi-Fi Certified mark.

“We're excited to release the Wi-Fi Alliance Test Engine approach that will ultimately enable thousands of devices in emerging product categories to become Wi-Fi Certified,” said Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance. “The solution brings new efficiencies to authorized test labs, and now our members will have access to a standard set of tools that enables them to pre-test their products.”

In addition to providing some of the tools required to execute the methodology, Azimuth also offers test engine device developer tools, which help vendors ensure that they have ported the Wi-Fi Alliance code to their products correctly. A device validation tool performs a basic conformance test on every command in the Wi-Fi Alliance device specification so that a successful pass yields confidence that the DUT will operate properly during the certification process. The test engine device developer tools currently ship with Azimuth's basic certification package.

“The Azimuth Test Engine device development tools successfully accelerated our delivery of the TapRoot wireless LAN test engine,” said Glen Shelton, vice president of engineering at TapRoot Systems, a software company that provides embedded software and system integration services for the global smartphone marketplace. “As a result, we can now enable customers to automate their handset testing and to achieve the important ‘Wi-Fi Certified mark.”

The six key elements of the Azimuth approach include RadioProof enclosures that isolate the RF environment; SmartMotion technology to precisely control virtual motion between devices in the network; TestMAC technology to emulate clients and APs and to perform protocol behavior tests; a Real2Real architecture that enables interoperability testing between real world devices; DIRECTOR test executive to provide an easy-to-use console for test and device management; and STUDIO database management software for automated report generation and correlation of test results.

For more information, visit www.azimuthsystems.com.

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