Patent ID: 8886474

Claim:
An apparatus for testing at least one transmission line, the apparatus comprising: a first unit attachable to a first end of the at least one transmission line; one or more additional units attachable to one or more other ends of the at least one transmission line; a graphical user interface on the first unit and on each of the one or more additional units; the first unit and each of the one or more additional units configurable in either a master mode or a slave mode through a user input from a corresponding graphical user interface or remotely through a user input from the graphical user interface of another unit; a processor in the first unit and in each of the one or more additional units, each processor upon receiving a signal from at least one graphical user interface, capable of configuring the corresponding unit in a master mode or a slave mode and capable of configuring another unit in a master mode or a slave mode; wherein a unit configured in the master mode selects tests to apply at a corresponding end of the at least one transmission line and signals one or more other units configured in the slave mode to perform tests at one or more ends of the at least one transmission line connected to the one or more other units; at least one test module in the first unit and in each of the one or more additional units, each test module associated with at least one test to be performed on the at least one transmission line; and at least one transceiver in the first unit and in each of the one or more additional units for at least one of sending and receiving a plurality of signals through the at least one transmission line, at least one signal of the plurality of signals being associated with the at least one test module, and at least one signal characteristic of the at least one signal varied sequentially by the at least one test module during the at least one test to detect a state of the at least one transmission line, the signal characteristic selected from one of a frequency, a phase, and an amplitude of the at least one signal.