Patent ID: 7430412

Claim:
An apparatus for testing a receiver by setting a receiver input signal level, comprising: an attenuator having a signal input and a signal output, the attenuator capable of attenuating a signal to multiple non-infinite levels, the signal input being an analog signal of known strength, the signal output being the receiver input signal, the attenuator attenuating the signal to a degree determined by a digital control signal input to the attenuator; a control having an input for a desired final attenuation test value for the signal and an input for a desired test rate of change of attenuation to achieve the desired final attenuation test value, the control varying the digital control signal to the attenuator to control the test rate of change of attenuation of the attenuator to the desired rate by incrementally stepping attenuation in sufficiently small increments of attenuation spaced over sufficiently long time intervals to test the automatic gain circuit of the receiver at the maximum slew rate a functioning receiver can maintain lock on the fluctuating input signal and the final attenuation to be the desired final attenuation test value, the control being independent of the analog signal input.