Mesh Connectivity Testing

Emulate a multi-node mesh RF network

This test environment allows you to test for common real-world situations where the numbers of radios and of peer-to-peer connections increase exponentially. Wtih this test you can recreate the real world fading and multipath scenarios that can occur in a mesh setting.

The Spectrum Control mesh network test environment enables you to examine:

• Test Mesh Node Placements and the formation of dynamic routing connections for point-to-point or end-to-end environments ensuring that data and applications can be securely delivered and controlled across a wide range of environments.
• Station Moving Patterns moving between nodes sequentially, jumping out of sequence etc.
• Load Patterns – looking at fixed and mobile devices moving around in the business premises handing over between nodes running data, confirming data and applications can be securely delivered and controlled across the mesh network environments.

This test environment is a 5-port mesh network test system with a full fan-out architecture. Every user device is connected to every other user device, with an independently-controlled programmable attenuator in each path. In the case of a mesh network, each user device will need to connect to each other via a multiport power splitter/combiner. Between each connection on each splitter, a programmable attenuator is being connected. Varying the signal levels in each programmable attenuator will recreate the real world fading and multipath scenarios that can occur in a mesh setting. The entire setup is bidirectional and hence each user device can be used to receive and transmit signals.

This RF environment includes Spectrum Control’s digital Lab assistant to help manage test automation for “out of the box” testing of mesh network performance:

• Data Plane Performance per Hop
• Performance in Different Mesh Configurations
• Station Load Balancing
• Fast Roaming – 802.11k/v/r
• Auto Channel Selection
• Link Failover / Self-Healing
• Video Performance
• Mobile Client Performance / Handover Scenarios