Low-cost Production Test of BER for Wireless Receivers

Abstract

Bit error rate (BER) is a key specification that characterizes the performance of a communication receiver. In digital radio applications, running BER tests during production is highly prohibitive in terms of test cost due to the prolonged testing time required for applying RF modulated digital data-frames (each containing pseudo-random bit patterns) to the receiver and capturing the response digital bits at low baseband data-rate. Accurate and repeatable BER measurement requires the use of a large number of data-frames. In this paper, a new production testing methodology for measuring BER of wireless receivers is presented. The proposed methodology significantly reduces the time for making BER measurements by applying a sequence of AC tests. The BER value is predicted using statistical regression models that map the results of the AC tests to the expected BER value. The method also alleviates the need for using a complex BER tester (BERT). Experimental results for a 900 MHz wireless receiver are presented