Test system for mesh network
Test system for mesh network
Hardware-in-the-loop test system for 2.4GHz mesh network
The Blum SDS test system is the smart solution for validating wireless mesh networks in the 2.4GHz range – indispensable for the development of complex wireless networks in applications such as smart home, industry and intelligent infrastructure.
With fully automated over-the-air tests, integration into CI/CD workflows, and a scalable hardware setup, the system ensures maximum efficiency and quality. The result: fast, flexible, and reliable testing processes that shorten time-to-market and guarantee product quality.
Initial situation, goals & challenges
Due to the high complexity of the developed system, manual testing is no longer practical. Nevertheless, new features and changes must be tested for themselves and their impact on the rest of the system. The test system must therefore be highly flexible to cover the majority of real-world scenarios. Additionally, time-consuming processes must be optimized, as otherwise a complete run of all tests could take several days.
Project results & customer benefits
The Blum SDS test system was developed to test and validate wireless mesh networks in the 2.4 GHz band. Such networks are frequently used in areas like smart homes, industrial monitoring, and intelligent infrastructure due to their robustness, flexibility, and scalability. The devices under test offer a wide variety of interfaces and can be assembled into countless modular configurations. The flexible test environment allows for the quick creation of a comprehensive test set that covers numerous configurations, thus ensuring high test coverage.
Implemented solution
The system test environment was implemented with maximum flexibility as its cornerstone. Firmware is flashed onto development kits. Only a very small number of these kits are used, allowing developers to test the latest features in a small configuration at their workstations. Simultaneously, the full system test hardware has 50 kits, enabling the build server to test the current state in full system configuration across all use cases every night. This allows for intelligent initialization of the test environment, which initially gathers all available kits, determines their firmware configuration, and then makes them available for testing. The tests can then request as many devices as needed. All interfaces have been abstracted and can be stimulated as required by the test.
Fully automated system test over-the-air (OTA)
Integration into CI workflow with Jenkins Pipeline
Test automation with NUnit: approx. 2,000 test cases in C#
Hardware setup with 53 Nordic DevKits for parallel testing
Scalable infrastructure for continuous validation and regression testing
OTA update mechanism testing with integrity check and rollback function
Competencies
- Communication stacks & protocols
- Hardware interfaces and drivers
- Agile software development
- Software architecture
- Software design in C#
- Cross-platform .NET MAUI
Competence areas
- Embedded systems & firmware
- Software & architecture
Technologies
.NET
Services
- Product development
- Industrialization
Industry
Electronics
Customer
Blum GmbH
Competencies
- Communication stacks & protocols
- Hardware interfaces and drivers
- Agile software development
- Software architecture
- Software design in C#
- Cross-platform .NET MAUI
Competence areas
- Embedded systems & firmware
- Software & architecture
Technologies
.NET
Services
- Product development
- Industrialization
Industry
Electronics
Customer
Blum GmbH
Competencies
- Communication stacks & protocols
- Hardware interfaces and drivers
- Agile software development
- Software architecture
- Software design in C#
- Cross-platform .NET MAUI
Competence areas
- Embedded systems & firmware
- Software & architecture
Technologies
.NET
Services
- Product development
- Industrialization
Industry
Electronics
Customer
Blum GmbH