Apparatus, system and method for testing radio equipment

1. A method of testing radio equipment, the method comprising:

receiving, by way of a radio channel test apparatus, baseband data representing in-phase and quadrature components (I/Q) data of one or more radio channels via a first section of a fronthaul communication link;

processing, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the baseband data representing I/Q data received via the first section of the fronthaul communication link according to a downlink channel model of a first radio channel;

transmitting, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the processed baseband data representing the I/Q data to a radio equipment under test data via a second section of the fronthaul communication link;

receiving, by the radio channel test apparatus, baseband data via the second section of the fronthaul communication link;

processing, by the radio channel test apparatus, the baseband data received via the second section of the fronthaul communication link according to an uplink channel model of the first radio channel; and

transmitting, by the radio channel test apparatus, the processed baseband data via the first section of the fronthaul communication link.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the radio equipment under test is a base band unit, one or more remote radio heads, one or more terminal devices, or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the baseband data representing the I/Q data via a communication link according to a functional split of the fronthaul communication link; and/or

transmitting, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the baseband data representing the I/Q data via the communication link according to the functional split of the fronthaul communication link.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the baseband data via the fronthaul communication link; and/or

transmitting, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the baseband data via the fronthaul communication link,

wherein the I/Q data received via the fronthaul communication link represents time domain I/Q data or frequency domain I/Q data.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

converting the I/Q data from the time domain I/Q data to the frequency domain I/Q data; and

processing the I/Q data according to one or more radio channel models in a frequency domain.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

converting the I/Q data from the frequency domain I/Q data to the time domain I/Q data, and

processing the I/Q data according to one or more radio channel models in a time domain.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

uncompressing the I/Q data received in a compressed format;

processing the uncompressed I/Q data according to one or more radio channel models; and/or

compressing the processed I/Q data; and

transmitting the compressed I/Q data.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

monitoring the processed I/Q data; and

determining a condition of the radio equipment under test based on the monitored I/Q data.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

modeling, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, propagation of radio signals of one or more radio channels via an air interface.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the baseband data of the first section of the fronthaul communication link is encoded according to a first protocol (CPRI),

wherein the baseband data of the second section of the fronthaul communication link is encoded according to a second protocol, and

wherein the second protocol is a different protocol than the first protocol.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

processing, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the baseband data received via the first section and the baseband data received via the second section of the fronthaul communication link in parallel or in a cascaded manner,

wherein the baseband data received via the first and the second section relates to a same radio channel.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

operating the radio channel test apparatus in the fronthaul communication link between a physical or virtual radio equipment control, and at least one physical or virtual radio equipment.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the baseband data comprises I/Q data relating to multiple radio channels, and

wherein the method further comprises:

processing, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the baseband data comprising the I/Q data of each radio channel of the multiple radio channels according to a radio channel model associated with each radio channel of the multiple radio channels; and

transmitting, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the processed baseband data comprising the I/Q data via the fronthaul communication link.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

processing, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, the baseband data of each radio channel of the multiple radio channels in parallel or in a cascaded manner.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

processing, by way of the radio channel test apparatus, baseband data comprising the I/Q data of each radio channel of the multiple radio channels,

wherein the radio channel test apparatus comprises consecutively interconnected devices for processing the baseband data comprising the I/Q data of the multiple radio channels, and

wherein each device processes baseband data of at least one radio channel of the multiple radio channels.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the physical or virtual radio equipment control is a physical or virtual base band unit, and

wherein the at least one physical or virtual radio equipment is at least one physical or virtual remote radio head.

17. A radio channel test apparatus comprising:

a first interface for receiving baseband data comprising in-phase and quadrature components (I/Q) data via a first section of a fronthaul communication link;

a processor configured to process the received baseband data received via the first section of the fronthaul communication link according to a downlink channel model of a first radio channel; and

a second interface for transmitting the processed baseband data via a second section of the fronthaul communication link,

wherein the second interface is further configured to receive baseband data via the second section of the fronthaul communication link,

wherein the processor is further configured to process the baseband data received via the second section according to an uplink channel model of the first radio channel, and

wherein the first interface is further configured to transmit the processed baseband data via the first section of the fronthaul communication link.

18. A system comprising:

a physical or virtual radio equipment controls;

at least one physical or virtual radio equipment; and

a radio channel test apparatus comprising:

a first interface for receiving baseband data comprising in-phase and quadrature components (I/Q) data via a first section of a fronthaul communication link;

a processor configured to process the received baseband data received via the first section of the fronthaul communication link according to a downlink channel model of a first radio channel; and

a second interface for transmitting the processed baseband data via a second section of the fronthaul communication link,

wherein the second interface is further configured to receive baseband data via the second section of the fronthaul communication link,

wherein the processor is further configured to process the baseband data received via the second section according to an uplink channel model of the first radio channel, and

wherein the first interface is further configured to transmit the processed baseband data via the first section of the fronthaul communication link.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the physical or virtual radio equipment control is a physical or virtual base band unit, and

wherein the at least one physical or virtual radio equipment is at least one physical or virtual remote radio head.