Method and apparatus for diagnosing device failure

A method for diagnosing a failure of a device, comprising steps of:

• generating a test signal, the test signal including characteristics of a GNSS signal;
• amplifying the test signal;
• injecting, after amplifying, the test signal into the device at an input node;
• processing, by a signal chain of the device, the test signal;
• monitoring the test signal by:
• obtaining one or more output signals of the device at one or more output nodes;
• recovering the test signal from the one or more output signals;
• and
• determining whether one or more errors in the test signal are present based on parameters of the recovered test signal;
• identifying a device failure based on the determined one or more errors;
• and
• generating an indication relating to the device failure,
• wherein the input node is positioned after a down conversion stage in the signal chain.

A GNSS receiver having test signal based failure detection, comprising:

• an RF front end system configured to receive a GNSS signal;
• a signal generator configured to generate a test signal, the test signal having characteristics of the GNSS signal;
• one of more amplifiers configured to amplify the test signal, the one or more amplifiers being RF programmable gain amplifiers and comprising:
• a first amplifier configured to amplify an amplitude of the received GNSS signal;
• and
• a second amplifier configured to amplify an amplitude of the test signal based on the amplitude of the received GNSS signal;
• a signal chain configured to receive the amplified test signal at an input node of the signal chain and process the received test signal and the received GNSS signal;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• monitor the test signal by:
• obtaining one or more output signals of the device at one or more output nodes, the one or more output signals containing the received GNSS signal and the test signal;
• recovering the test signal from the one or more output signals;
• and
• determining whether one or more errors occurred based on parameters of the recovered test signal based on parameters of the recovered test signal;
• identify a device failure based on the determined one or more errors;
• and
• generate notifications relating to the device failure.

A GNSS receiver having test signal based failure detection, comprising:

• a signal generator configured to generate a test signal, the test signal having characteristics of a GNSS signal;
• one of more amplifiers configured to amplify the test signal;
• a signal chain configured to receive the amplified test signal at an input node of the signal chain and process the received test signal;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• monitor the test signal by:
• obtaining one or more output signals of the device at one or more output nodes;
• recovering the test signal from the one or more output signals;
• and
• determining whether one or more errors occurred based on parameters of the recovered test signal based on parameters of the recovered test signal;
• identify a device failure based on the determined one or more errors;
• and
• generate notifications relating to the device failure,
• wherein the input node is positioned after a down conversion stage in the signal chain.