Testing and Remote Field Update of Distributed Base Stations in a Wireless Network

A novel distributed test architecture of transmitting IEEE 1149.1 Boundary Scan (a.k.a. JTAG) Test Access Port (TAP) signals over a serial channel to facilitate the system testing and remote field update of distributed base stations (DBS) in a wireless network is presented in this paper. The state-of-the-art DBS does not only improve the overall quality of wireless network services via its ability and ease to provide wider coverage in various environments, but also lowers the installation and operation costs as well as reduces the space requirements. However, the DBS poses great challenges for system testing and field update operation due to its distributed architecture. The proposed test architecture enables the system testing as if the distributed units are on a backplane within the same chassis.