Automated testing of communication systems in motion: Adding realistic testing

The art of test is being able to anticipate and replicate the stresses of a product´s intended end use. This paper is an overview of a range of test options for wireless transmitter-receiver pairs; in particular those that will ultimately experience separation distance, or relative motion, thereby introducing a wide range of additional Radio Frequency (RF) effects, not typically found in indoor wireless applications. The paper includes an underlying discussion of the range of choices engineers make, from using simple substitute tests to represent the final RF environment, all the way to sophisticated simulations and channel models that strive to accurately mimic the end users´ complete RF operating environment.