Hardware

We design and print custom-made, standardized hardware, produced individually and tailored to the requirements of a project. Some items can be purchased separately, while others are more useful in combination.

Hardware in the remote lab

You find the hardware items in the remote lab, where real devices are positioned for test case execution. If a new project requires devices, which are not presented in the remote lab, it is expanded accordingly.

Combined with our test automation framework intaQt, the hardware items enable testers and developers to get remote access to the devices such as mobile phones, SNOM phones, or routers and use them to run test cases from anywhere.

Videos: Remote lab introduction

Telecom setup

A telecom expert guides you through the remote lab for telecom.

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What you see here is our acceptance test environment. We have different tables with different functionality.

Let´s start here with our analogue and ISDN infrastructure.

As you know telecom operators don’t need analogue and ISDN telephony any more. But there are a lot of CPEs in the market which still have this technology inside and people use it. In order to test it end to end, we would need to connect an analogue phone to this CPE and automatically dial, but unfortunately these old phone types don’t support remote control.

Therefore, we have implemented analogue cards and ISDN cards in this tower PC. This is connected to our test infrastructure and from there we can control this PC and these cards. This emulates an analogue telephone and an ISDN telephone.

So, we can do everything with this PC and these cards that a human being can do with an analogue phone or ISDN phone.

And we can test the CPE. We can also connect some Voice over IP phones and so on and we can test everything.

There are also some configuration activities which can be done here on this CPE. Therefore, we have a UI automation of web services where we can also control the graphical user interface.

Here, as you see, we have iPhones and Mac minis. This is the Apple environment, the Apple infrastructure.

Here we also remotely control these devices and can make calls and send SMS and this kind of stuff.

This table is used for Android phones. Here we have Android phones. They have an open interface, and we can do everything a human being can do with these phones.

We can automate everything. We can run apps, we can make basic calls, we can send SMS, we can do the USSD activities. Everything that is possible can be automated.

We have an IPS here, this is the intaQt phone service.

Like the Mac mini there, we can control this environment via the gateway. We can also connect some IT systems to this box and then remotely control and do something with the IT infrastructure as well.

Then we have here our own phone hub. This is our own hardware. With this we connect to the audio jacks of the phones so that we can inject audio, or we can record announcements and tones in order to validate the speech channel on one side, and on the other side we have the capability to control the charging of these phones.

We can control the signal, the charging strength and limit it, so the phones do not permanently charge, and the batteries are not destroyed.

The newer models of Android don’t support an audio jack, they don’t have it any more. They work purely with Bluetooth.

In order to overcome the missing audio jack, we have also developed a small box which we call Bluetooth adapter where we have three Bluetooth antennas inside, so we can connect to three different Android phones.

We don’t need the audio jack any more; we can do the audio via Bluetooth.

Finally, this is the environment which we use for Voice over IP testing. Fix network functionality is covered here.

All these phones also have an HTTP interface and via this interface we can control these phones.

We have a Raspberry Pi-USB combination in order to record announcement, tones in the same way we did with Android. So, we can call from here to a mobile device and verify the speech channel in both directions.

And finally, we have here our SIM array. This is a box where the SIM cards are stored in these boards and the SIM information is mapped via internet to one of these boxes and from these boxes it goes into this phone. The phone thinks there is a SIM card inside one time rebooting and the phone is available for service. Without touching the phone, we can change the SIM cards inside these boxes.

And here you also see some Bluetooth modules. These are single adapters where you can also connect it with one single phone and do audio exchange.

So, this is basically our acceptance test environment.

Interested in more? Visit us online! www.qitasc.com

IoT setup

The lab for remote acceptance testing includes door openers, smart bulbs, smoke detectors, and more.

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Remote lab: IoT setup

Acceptance Test Environment for IoT Tests

This is our test acceptance environment for the IoT testing.

Here we have several devices which are connected to hardware which is developed by us. We have four different devices.

Here we have a smoke detector. On the back you see the hardware which we have developed.

We have a microphone which is installed here. This part is also connected to the servo motor which can press some buttons on the smoke detector.

And what we also do is we have real oil inside and we burn it. We generate temperature here which burns real oil and this goes into the detector and an alarm is generated immediately.

On top we have a fan. With this fan we take the smoke out and then we expect that the alarm vanishes. We can trigger all the conditions which are necessary in order to handle these devices.

Here we generate smoke. We detect, we have a microphone inside, we record the signal strength, and everything is then automatically controlled by our test infrastructure.

On the bulb here, we have an RGB-sensor connected to this, so we can measure the colour of this bulb. Automatically, it changes. We can trigger it from our test infrastructure. So we change the colour, we measure it, and then we compare the measurement if it really fits to what had happened here.

Here we have movement detection. We generate with this bulb some infrared signals and with the servo motor we can move it.

And here is the detector. If it detects motion in combination with heat, it also generates an alarm. And here we have a magnetic sensor which acts on a window. If the window is opened, the magnetic contact is broken and then it generates an alarm.

We can trigger all these events independently. And you also see here the place for the battery. This is also one of ours.

With this thing we can control the current in the battery. If we have a low battery status – or we can trigger it as if it has a low battery status – then these sensors have also some specific tones. There is also a microphone integrated here in the bottom. We measure then the low battery signal. We can create any use case a customer normally has with these devices.

We can generate and emulate it with our environment.

Interested in more? Visit us online!

Hardware overview

Items for Telecom | Items for IoT | Holders | Casings

IPS

Audio hub

Bluetooth triple adapter

SIM MUS adapter

Single phone adapter

Phone hub v2

Phone hub v3

SIM multiplexer

Cyrus phone

IoT platform board

Phone holder

Phone claw

Phone hub holder

Shielded box tower

Fan case

Phone case

Items for Telecom

IPS – intaQt phone service

The IPS is a computer that fulfils the requirements necessary to run the IPS software 24/7. It is locally positioned close to the phones, i.e. in the lab.

The computer has the IPS software preinstalled. It serves as the connecting element between intaQt^® and the phones, transmitting data and helping to simulate the UI of android devices. It allows you to see the phone interfaces on your screen and interact with the phones during the testing process.

Telecom use case of test automation company QiTASC

IPS

Audio hub

The audio hub is a device which carries audio signals to selected VoIP phones directly via the headset connector. A cable connects the phones to the audio hub. You can connect up to 4 VoIP phones to 1 audio hub.

Audio hub

Bluetooth triple adapter

This device establishes a Bluetooth audio connection between the phone hub and the phone. It manages audio between phones, making it possible to record and play back audio.

The Bluetooth triple adapter can establish an audio connection with up to 3 phones.

Bluetooth triple adapter

SIM MUS adapter

Connects the phone hub and the mobile phone via a SIM flex cable.

SIM MUS adapter

Single phone adapter

A compact solution to control one phone when running intaQt^® test cases. It supports a port for connecting a SIM adapter as well as audio recording and playback onto the phone via Bluetooth. It can extend the life of mobile phone batteries by monitoring the battery level and charging them accordingly.

Single phone adapter

Phone hub v2

An all-in-one unit that combines up to 6 USB ports and 3 audio ports. 3 of the USB ports support the 3 audio ports. It monitors the battery level for a longer phone battery life with the help of intaQt^®.

One SIM array phone needs 2 USB ports at the same time.

Phone hub v2

Phone hub v3

The future version of the phone hub will contain 8 USB ports. It is intended to connect up to 4 phones including their audio and 4 SIM MUS adapters. With phone hub v3, monitoring of the connected phones’ power consumption will also be possible.

Phone hub v3

SIM multiplexer

The SIM multiplexer is a solution that will offer up to 8 SIM cards for a single phone.

The SIM cards are inside an array which is connected to the SIM multiplexer. You can select one of these SIM cards and map it to the phone, which is also connected to the SIM multiplexer. The other 7 SIM cards are not available for other phones.

The SIM multiplexer also offers the possibility to connect the audio of the connected phone via Bluetooth and monitor its power consumption. As an example, it is used in the portable lab for roaming testing.

SIM multiplexer

Cyrus phone

Cyrus rugged smartphones are part of the remote lab telecom setup in the same way as regular smart phones. They are designed for critical infrastructure use and support LTE in the 450 MHz band, making them practical tools for testing 450 MHz networks.

With a suitable SIM card, a Cyrus phone can connect to the 450 MHz network and behave like a normal user device. By testing signal strength and quality, intaQt can check coverage, network performance, and latency, verify services, and validate application-level services such as VoIP or mission-critical push-to-talk, to validate quality of service.

Cyrus phone

Items for IoT

IoT platform board

The IoT platform board is a Raspberry Pi-based platform that is used to create an IoT setup in a testing lab for running end-to-end testing. It interacts with devices that are needed to run IoT services such as:

Smart window opener/contact
Smart smoke detector
Smart plug
Smart motion sensor
Smart door sensor
Smart bulb

The connection between the IoT platform board to the IoT devices is established via an IoT device board. Up to 4 IoT device boards can be connected to 1 IoT platform board. This means that the IoT platform board can be connected to up to 4 IoT devices.

An example of IoT platform board usage is smart home testing. In a smart home system a phone communicates with a home gateway that controls smart light bulbs, a smart heat thermostat, etc. or, conversely, is notified when a door or window is opened, smoke is detected, etc. With intaQt^® you can do end-to-end testing between the actual sensor in the home at one end and the phone at the other.

IoT platform board

Smart light bulb connected to the IoT platform board

Sensor for movement connected to the IoT platform board

Holders

Phone holder

The phone holder is a rack on which various devices such as mobile phones can be arranged one behind the other in a vertical position. It holds up to 10 mobile phones and up to 3 phone hubs for heat prevention, air circulation and a better overview. The number of devices placed in the phone holder can be customized. Currently, there are 2 sizes available:

Small: combines 2 phone hubs with 6 USB ports in total and a phone holder for 6 devices

Large: combines 3 phone hubs with 9 USB ports in total and a phone holder for 10 devices

A version of the phone holder is also available for one single phone hub and a Bluetooth triple adapter which can be placed on a flat surface.

Small phone holder

Phone claw

A claw that can hold different sizes of phone. Its size can easily be changed by the customer without the need for special equipment. The phone claw can be fastened horizontally or vertically on a flat surface and is adjustable.

Phone claw

Phone hub holder

A version of the phone hub holder is available for one single phone hub and a Bluetooth triple adapter which can be placed on a flat surface.

Phone hub holder

Shielded box tower

A large holder that goes inside a shielded box. It stacks a large number of phones and SIM MUS adapters in a clear arrangement and with specific dimensions. The holders are produced individually, depending on the number of devices and dimensions of the shielded box.

Shielded box tower

Casings

Fan case

The fan case places a fan in the position relative to a phone that ensures air circulation in an enclosed environment. This prevents mobile phones from heating up to over 40 °C. This is necessary for uninterrupted charging.

Fan case

Part of portable lab suitcase

Phone case

A phone case is a phone cover for mobile phones. It can be mounted on flat surfaces or screwed together as one unit. The screen of each phone is opened, enabling interaction. The case protects phones from damage and loss and creates an elegant appearance when you position phones next to each other.

The size is customized, depending on the phone model to be covered.