Multi-functional wireless link monitor

A system for testing wireless devices, comprising:

• a plurality of RF-isolated chambers;
• and
• a plurality of test instruments, in network communication with each other, each test instrument disposed to monitor a respective RF-isolated chamber and comprising:
• a processor;
• a radio in electrical communication with the processor;
• and
• non-volatile memory in electrical communication with the processor, the non-volatile memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• configure the test instrument to function simultaneously as an active client that uses the radio to transmit and receive wireless traffic to and from a device-under-test (DUT) in the respective RF-isolated chamber and as an inline wireless link monitor that monitors wireless traffic by capturing wireless packets sent between the active client and the DUT;
• establish a wireless communication link between the active client and the DUT in the respective RF-isolated chamber;
• and
• wherein the inline wireless link monitor captures and streams the wireless packets in packet capture (PCAP) or other packet format that captures packet headers and payload and applies time stamps, and
• wherein each test instrument has an internal clock, and the internal clocks are time-synchronized according to a time synchronization protocol;
• merge the streams of the wireless packets using the timestamps applied by the synchronized internal clocks;
• generate a plot of a wireless communication link characteristic for the DUT using the synchronized merged streams of wireless packets.

A test instrument for a wireless device-under-test (DUT), comprising:

• a processor;
• a radio in electrical communication with the processor;
• and non-volatile memory in electrical communication with the processor, the non-volatile memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• configure the test instrument to function simultaneously as an active client that uses the radio to transmit and receive wireless traffic to and from the DUT and as an inline wireless link monitor that monitors wireless traffic by capturing wireless packets sent between the active client and the DUT;
• establish a wireless communication link between the active client and the DUT, wherein the inline wireless link monitor captures and streams the wireless packets in packet capture (PCAP) or other packet format that captures packet headers and payload and applies time stamps,
• wherein each test instrument has an internal clock, and the internal clocks are time-synchronized according to a time synchronization protocol;
• merge the streams of the wireless packets using the timestamps applied by the synchronized internal clocks to provide a synchronized merged stream of wireless packets;
• generate a plot of a wireless communication link characteristic;
• and
• when a user selects a data point on the plot, automatically display wireless packet data that corresponds to the data point.