Digital intermediate frequency vector analyzer

A method comprising:

• observing a Radio Signal Transport (RST) network with a device connected though a network interface card (NIC), wherein the NIC is operated by an application programming interface (API) that operates outside of an operating system of the device;
• receiving from a user a selected data stream from among data streams transmitted on the RST network;
• monitoring the selected data stream;
• displaying statistics about the selected data stream including one or more of the following:
• a packet class, a packet count, a count of Ethernet frame bytes, a bit depth, a gap count, a lost packet count, and a sampling rate.

A method for certifying compliance with a standard for transmitting and receiving digitized data, comprising:

• connecting a testing device to a Radio Signal Transport (RST) network, wherein the testing device connects to the RST network though a network interface card (NIC) operated by an application programming interface (API), wherein the API operates outside of an operating system of the testing device;
• connecting a device under test to the RST network;
• instructing the testing device to prepare and transmit a digitized data stream to the device under test;
• instructing the device under test to send an analog version of the data stream as a transmission;
• looping the transmission back to the device under test as a received transmission;
• instructing the device under test to transmit a digitized version of the received transmission to the testing device;
• and
• analyzing, using the testing device, the digitized version for compliance with the standard.

A method for assessing the performance of digital intermediate frequency communications devices, comprising:

• connecting a testing device to a Radio Signal Transport (RST) network, wherein the testing device connects to the RST network though a network interface card (NIC) operated by an application programming interface (API), wherein the API operates outside of an operating system of the testing device;
• observing one or more candidate devices on the RST network;
• selecting a first test device and a second test device from among the candidate devices;
• establishing a simulated network wherein data streams transmitted between the first test device and the second test device are routed through the testing device;
• receiving at the testing device a data stream from the first test device;
• modifying the data stream;
• transmitting a modified data stream to the second test device where the modified data stream is processed for retransmission;
• instructing the second test device to transmit the processed data stream to the testing device;
• analyzing, using the testing device, the processed data stream for compliance with the standard.