|
RFID ALE 1.0 Protocol Conformance Tester Product Specification
RFID ALE 1.0 Conformance Tester is part of the RFID Packet Tester family of products. It helps the ALE software vendors to test their implementation for EPCglobal Standard compliance. The certification lab will test only those functionalities, which are required (mandatory) for passing the EPCglobal certification tests. Additionally the ALE Tester can be used for QA and Regression Testing to make sure that the implementation not only gets EPCglobal certification but also performs as intended by the vendor. |
| |
| The test cases have been developed following the EPCglobal's ALE1.0 Conformance Requirements Document guidelines. The tester contains all the tests required for passing certification tests. Additionally there will be tests in the Optional and Negative tests categories. |
| |
| The vendor has the capability of creating customized tests (in addition to the tests already supplied) to suit their needs. This will allow him to test the product more extensively and also test the capability limits. When a problem report comes from the field, the test engineer can create a special test quickly to reproduce the problem. When the problem has been fixed, it can be verified easily by running that test. |
| |
Tester Structure
One of the key emphasis of Packet Tester is Test Automation.This is done by grouping diversified tests and running them completely in unattended mode. This reduces the engineering time to complete the QA cycle.
Another supporting utility is the RFID Miniscope Decoder. The packet tester can be configured to forward the received/transmitted packets to the Miniscope Decoder, Miniscope will show both the received and transmitted packets with protocol specific decodes.:
|
 |
| |
RFID ALE PacketBuilder
The RFID PacketBuilder is a standalone off line software entity. It creates ALE packets based on user inputs. The PacketBuilder runs from a menu driven windows interface to create ALE packets the way user wants.The PacketBuilder does not need any configuration. The PacketBuilder does not maintain any state variable. Once the packet type has been chosen, it shows a default packet structure with all fields needed to create that packet type. For each field, default parameters are shown. The user has the option of modifying some, all or none of the fields with user defined field parameters. Once the packet has been validated for that packet type, it is saved in a file with a packet id.The PacketBuilder builds the packets one at a time and keeps them in a packet library. This part is RFID protocol aware.
|
| |
| Top |
| |
RFID ALE TestBuilder
The TestBuilder builds individual test cases to test a specific functionality by selecting the packets to be received, to be transmitted and adding the conditions in sequencing the packets sent or received. The received packet is compared against the expected packet to check if the DUT has sent the desired packet or packet sequences. The comparator works differently for different message formats. In case of XML message format, different XML tools can code same message quite differently. To handle it, both expected and received packets are converted to a canonical format and then compared by means of an XML tool.
Note: The TestBuilder is not RFID protocol aware. These test scripts are saved in a file for use by TestEngine at run time. The tests are ordered by classes and categories which are as follows:
- Mandatory Tests: A DUT must pass these tests to get EPCglobal certification
- Optional Tests: These are not required by a DUT to support, but if implemented, the DUT should pass these tests
- Negative Tests: These tests will test the robustness of a DUT implementation
|
| |
| Top |
| |
RFID ALE TestEngine
The RFID TestEngine (TE) is the heart of the ALE Tester. When TE is started, the user can configure the test environment such as IP addresses, port numbers, URL, transport binding, message formats etc. The user will also be able to configure the actual tag id's and other ALE protocol specific parameters for Tester's use. This information will be saved in a file is known as vendor extension properties file.
The TE reads the tests and executes the test step sequences based on the associated pass/fail conditions. It will send a predefined test step packet and wait for the condition to be satisfied. This is a passive tool in the sense that it does not generate any traffic by itself. It generates traffic only when the user initiates a test and subsequently depending on the response, it received from the DUT.
As the TE is running, a message test sequence chart is created and displayed in real time. This chart is helpful to understand visually what packet types are transmitted to and received from the ALE interface. The TE screen is divided into three panes: test listing display, runtime activities and sequence chart. This whole screen can be saved to a file for later viewing and analysis. If you select a packet sent/received on the middle screen, the corresponding sequence diagram and the decoded messages are automatically highlighted.
The test can be run one at a time in manual mode or in a group (created by choosing the tests and giving a group name) to automate the running in unattended mode. Generally, there are two types of tests: those that can be run in unattended mode and those that need operator intervention. In case of operator intervention, the TE will display a message asking the operator to do certain things (such as removing a tag from the field of the reader), wait for the operator to complete the action and then continue.
The transmitted and received packets can be forwarded to the RFID Miniscope decoder for real time protocol specific decode of the packets on a field-by-field basis and on a bit by bit basis, when appropriate. While the packets are being forwarded to the Miniscope, it is saved in a file also. This log file can be run later offline with the Miniscope.All the message exchanges between the Tester and the ALE server are saved in a log file. This will help the developers debug any problem by recreating the same external condition. |
| |
| Top |
| |
RFID Miniscope Protocol Decoder
The Miniscope is a general-purpose protocol decoder developed by Polaris Networks based on ethereal platform. This platform has been used for other wireless protocols such as WiFi (802.11), WiMAX (802.16) and ZigBee (802.15.4).
In the RFID version of Miniscope, all the standard Miniscope features are available and additional RFID and EPCglobal specific enhancements have been made. The look and feel has been kept similar in line with ethereal philosophy.
The RFID Miniscope Decoder/Analyzer is a separate run time executable, which can be run in conjunction with the TestEngine to monitor, decode and analyze the RFID protocol and payload packets exchanged between the Tester (TestEngine) and the Device Under Test (DUT).
The Miniscope is a network packet analyzer that receives ALE packets from TestEngine and displays those packets with very detailed protocol information (for user-examination). The Miniscope may be run remotely over an IP connection or it may be run locally in the same machine where TestEngine is running. The remote running capability allows some one to monitor the testing progress from a remote site.
Running the Miniscope is optional. If the user so chooses, he can turn Miniscope off at run time. The exchanged packets are always saved in a file in a Miniscope file format. The Miniscope has an option to run the decoder off line using the saved file.
When the Miniscope runs in conjunction with the TE, if you double click on a test sequence, it is reflected on the Miniscope screen by highlighting the corresponding data stream. |
| |
Supported RFID protocol interfaces
Following RFID, interfaces are currently supported by the RFID PacketTester platform for Conformance and other categories of testing.
- Reader Protocol 1.1 (RP1.1)
- Application Layer Events 1.0 (ALE1.0)
- Reader management 1.0 (RM1.0)
- Low Level Reader Protocol 1.0 (LLRP1.0)
A detailed specification of the PacketTester platform for every supported interfaces is available in the Products→RFID Test Tools sections of this website. It is further noted that other protocol interfaces will be added on an as needed basis.
|
| |
| Top |
| |
Technical Specifications
1. Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional with Service Pack3, Windows XP Professional Service Pack2
2. Applicable Standards: - EPCglobal Class 1 Gen 2 Tag Data Standards Version 1.1 Rev.1.27
EPCglobal Application Level Events 1.0 Ratified Specification September 15, 2005
EPCglobal ALE 1.02 Conformance Requirements September 15, 2006
|
Ordering Information
To learn how you can use ALE Conformance tester in your test lab as a tool to aid your development efforts, contact a Polaris Network representative at sales@polarisnetworks.net
Polaris Networks
75 Robbins Road,
Lexington, MA 02421
United States
Phone: +1-781-862-4900
Alternate Phone: +1-781-698-9049
|
|
|
|
| |
|
