No abstract

The wireless network evolution has allowed that the handset technology provides a broad and new set of resources and facilities to their users. However, this evolution is also increasing the number and complexity of testing prior to handsets deployment, so that test automation is an essential need to deal with this recent scenario. This paper presents all the steps toward the development of an architecture for handsets network test automation, from the test cases specification to the generation of final reports. Then, we evaluate the efficiency of this architecture via the performance of a sample of test cases, comparing the use of this full-automated approach to other methods of evaluation according to a set of pre-defined criteria.

More thorough testing prior to deployment and a reduced time to market are competing objectives that handset manufacturers must try to optimize. Thus, the evolution of test methodologies, with the use of simulation environments, is an essential requirement to accelerate the product realization process. One important issue for test simulation environments is to specify the test data that is going to be used during the simulation. Such data can be classified into two groups: the test case batteries and the set of cells parameters that compose a scenario. Currently, however, we have neither a standard for a test suite that covers all the required tests for handsets certification, nor a default benchmark of real world test scenarios. This paper presents our approach to deal with both issues. First we discuss our proposal to classify and specify tests cases so that we could generate a proper test suite for handsets network tests. Then, we present our experience in creating a database with real information about handsets network scenarios of several Brazilian sites.