Spirent automates Wi-Fi device testing with Octobox suite

Spirent has introduced the Octobox STA Automation Package to automate performance testing and validation of client stations and devices on Wi-Fi 6/6E and Wi-Fi 7 networks.

The Octobox STA Automation Package aims to address challenges faced by manufacturers as Wi-Fi technologies rapidly evolve, notably with the growing market share of Wi-Fi 6 and 6E and the increasing adoption of Wi-Fi 7. According to industry projections, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E implementations are expected to surpass 80% of market share in 2025.

James Kimery, Spirent's Vice President of Wireless Product Management, emphasised the increasing demands placed on testing processes by technological advancements. He stated: "The complexity and time required to test next-generation Wi-Fi devices has increased exponentially with advancements like 320 MHz channels, 4096 QAM, and Multi-Link Operation."

"Our new STA Automation Package is designed to help quality assurance teams tackle these challenges head on, with comprehensive automated performance testing workflows that can reduce test time by up to 70% compared with manual methods and enable the execution of dozens of test scenarios in the time it once took to run just a few."

The new package is intended to replace traditional manual testing methods, which are described as time consuming, inconsistent, and resource-intensive, with automated workflows that are structured, repeatable, and scalable. This approach seeks to accelerate Wi-Fi station testing and enable a higher frequency of validation across devices and environments.

Spirent's Octobox testbed comprises configurable isolated chambers and instruments developed for over-the-air testing of Wi-Fi devices. The Octobox STA Automation Package adds a fully automated test suite, allowing quality assurance teams to perform overnight and parallel multi-station test execution. This is expected to remove inconsistencies caused by human intervention and make it possible for more devices to be tested more often and in more environments.

The STA Automation Package is described as addressing several key aspects of Wi-Fi device evaluation. Notably, it enables up to 50% gains in performance and throughput through comprehensive multi-station testing. The design also supports scalability, allowing extensive multi-device and multi-environment testing without the need for human oversight. Features for comprehensive validation include tests for maximum throughput, rate versus range, fixed Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) sweep, Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), roaming reliability, and backwards compatibility.

Integration with the Octobox testbed ecosystem allows manufacturers to carry out validation on a wide assortment of devices, such as consumer smartphones, laptops and tablets, healthcare and education applications, and network devices. Kimery highlighted the breadth of these testing capabilities in his remarks on the potential for reducing test times and expanding test coverage for Wi-Fi station quality assurance teams.

The Octobox STA Automation Package is also available as part of Spirent's Test as a Service for Wi-Fi Devices, which aims to decrease the turn-around time for manufacturers submitting devices to Spirent for performance evaluation. This option is positioned to benefit clients requiring third-party validation of device performance for new and existing Wi-Fi technologies.