Universal tester hardware

Abstract

A universal testing system platform with a modular and symmetrical design that provides faraday cages in a flexible, efficient and space saving architecture for testing wireless devices.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A universal test station comprising:
 a rack comprising a plurality of shelves, the rack having a front, a rear, a first side, and a second side;   a first Faraday cage stored on the first side of the rack, the first Faraday cage comprising a first plurality of test slots, each test slot in the first Faraday cage defining an internal chamber;   a corresponding first plurality of door assemblies partially defining the first plurality of test slots, each door assembly of the first plurality of door assemblies when opened exposing an opening in a test slot of the first Faraday cage, each opening configured to provide access to an internal chamber from the first side of the modular rack;   a second Faraday cage stored on the second side of the rack, the second Faraday cage comprising a plurality of test slots, each test slot in the second Faraday cage defining an internal chamber; and   a corresponding second plurality of door assemblies partially defining the second plurality of test slots, each door assembly of the second plurality of door assemblies when opened exposing an opening in a test slot of the second Faraday cage, each opening configured to provide access to an internal chamber from the second side of the rack.   
     
     
         2 . The universal test station of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of power distribution units. 
     
     
         3 . The universal test station of  claim 1 , further comprising a computer screen affixed to the modular rack. 
     
     
         4 . The universal test station of  claim 1 , further comprising a keyboard and mouse shelf affixed to the modular rack. 
     
     
         5 . The universal test station of  claim 1 , wherein each test slot of the first and second plurality of test slots includes a connector plate, the connector plate including a plurality of RJ45 coupler holes, a plurality of RJ12 coupler holes, a plurality of F-Jack to F-Jack adapters, a plurality of SubMiniature version A (SMA) connectors, and a power harness. 
     
     
         6 . The universal test station of  claim 1 , further comprising a first Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) harness stored on the front of the modular rack, and a second MoCA harness stored on the rear of the modular rack, wherein each MoCA harness comprises:
 a plurality of router brackets that are associated with a corresponding plurality of wireless routers configured as MoCA local area network (LAN) Bridges and MoCA wide area network (WAN) Bridges; and   a plurality of splitter assemblies wherein each splitter assembly of the plurality of splitter assemblies includes a corresponding plurality of 3-way splitters.   
     
     
         7 . The universal test station of  claim 6 , wherein each MoCA harness further comprises:
 a harness chassis, the harness chassis comprising a bottom plate, side walls extending upwardly from sides of the bottom plate, end plates extending upwardly from ends of the bottom plate, and a top plate contacting ends of the side walls opposite the bottom plate, the harness chassis defining a harness chamber;   wherein the plurality of router brackets and the plurality of splitter assemblies are received in the harness chamber.   
     
     
         8 . The universal test station of  claim 6 , wherein each splitter assembly in the plurality of splitter assemblies further comprises a plurality of wire tabs, each wire tab in the plurality of wire tabs spaced from a corresponding 3-way splitter. 
     
     
         9 . A universal test station comprising:
 a modular rack comprising a plurality of shelves, the modular rack having a front, a rear, a first side, and a second side;   a first set of Faraday cages stored on the first side of the modular rack, each Faraday cage in the first set of Faraday cages defining a first internal chamber;   a corresponding first set of door assemblies partially defining the first set of Faraday cages, each door assembly of the first set of door assemblies when opened exposing an opening in each Faraday cage of the first set of Faraday cages, each opening configured to provide access to each first internal chamber from the first side of the modular rack;   a second set of Faraday cages stored on the second side of the modular rack, each Faraday cage in the second set of Faraday cages defining a second internal chamber; and   a corresponding second set of door assemblies partially defining the second set of Faraday cages, each door assembly of the second set of door assemblies when opened exposing an opening in each Faraday cage of the second set of Faraday cages, each opening configured to provide access to each second internal chamber from the second side of the modular rack.   
     
     
         10 . The universal test station of  claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of power distribution units. 
     
     
         11 . The universal test station of  claim 9 , further comprising a computer screen affixed to the modular rack. 
     
     
         12 . The universal test station of  claim 9 , further comprising a keyboard and mouse shelf affixed to the modular rack. 
     
     
         13 . The universal test station of  claim 9 , wherein each Faraday cage of at least a subset of the first and second sets of Faraday cages comprises:
 a plurality of test slots, wherein each test slot of the plurality of test slots includes a connector plate, the connector plate including a plurality of RJ45 coupler holes, a plurality of RJ12 coupler holes, a plurality of F-Jack to F-Jack adapters, a plurality of SubMiniature version A (SMA) connectors, and a power harness.   
     
     
         14 . The universal test station of  claim 9 , further comprising a first Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) harness stored on the front of the modular rack, and a second MoCA harness stored on the rear of the modular rack, wherein each MoCA harness comprises:
 a plurality of router brackets that are associated with a corresponding plurality of wireless routers configured as MoCA local area network (LAN) Bridges and MoCA wide area network (WAN) Bridges; and   a plurality of splitter assemblies wherein each splitter assembly of the plurality of splitter assemblies includes a corresponding plurality of 3-way splitters.   
     
     
         15 . The universal test station of  claim 14 , wherein each MoCA harness further comprises:
 a harness chassis, the harness chassis comprising a bottom plate, side walls extending upwardly from sides of the bottom plate, end plates extending upwardly from ends of the bottom plate, and a top plate contacting ends of the side walls opposite the bottom plate, the harness chassis defining a harness chamber;   wherein the plurality of router brackets and the plurality of splitter assemblies are received in the harness chamber.   
     
     
         16 . The universal test station of claim  146 , wherein each splitter assembly in the plurality of splitter assemblies further comprises a plurality of wire tabs, each wire tab in the plurality of wire tabs spaced from a corresponding 3-way splitter.