Patent ID: 7062264

Claim:
A method of testing a digital mobile phone network, the network comprising: a communications network infrastructure, the infrastructure having a plurality of elements, including a plurality of radio communications base stations, and having interfaces between said elements; and a plurality of mobile communications devices for radio communications with said base stations; communications between a said mobile communications devices and said base stations, and signals on interfaces within the network infrastructure, comprising traffic and signalling data; the method comprising: creating test traffic between a test one of said mobile communications devices and said communications network infrastructure; measuring at least one parameter associated with said traffic to provide measurement data; coding said measurement data representing said measured parameter into said test traffic; demultiplexing traffic and associated signalling data for said test mobile communications device from traffic arid signalling data for others of said mobile communications devices on a test interface selected from said infrastructure element interfaces; decoding said measurement data from said demultiplexed traffic for said test mobile communications device; and combining said decoded measurement data and said demultiplexed signalling data for said test mobile communications device to determine a response of said digital mobile phone network to said test traffic.