Virtual Drive Test & Hardware-in-the-LoopBring the Field Reliably Back to the Lab
Driven by high-fidelity channels and coverage generated by Lauraycs ray tracing, control channel emulators, signal generators, vector signal analyzers and OTA anechoic chambers to run repeatable, regressible hardware-in-the-loop testing on real terminals, modules and automotive-grade devices. Let "that one field signal issue that was impossible to reproduce" be reliably replayed, tuned and regressed in the lab.
The Testing-Era Challenge
The Predicament of Physical Drive Testing and the Complexity of New Scenarios
R&D and certification of 5G/6G, V2X, low-altitude and satellite NTN terminals increasingly rely on end-to-end testing "in a real electromagnetic environment." Yet physical drive testing is breaking down across multiple dimensions at once.
Not repeatable
Weather, traffic and tidal pedestrian flows mean two runs of the same route produce data that cannot be aligned; bugs are hard to reproduce and regression is impossible.
Missing extreme scenarios
Tunnels, interchanges, air-ground integration, satellite-to-ground handover and mmWave blockage—these critical scenarios are either unavailable or unsafe to encounter in the field.
Cost and cycle time
A single automotive-grade drive test routinely runs into millions and takes months; 6G/NTN/low-altitude scenarios may even lack a usable real-world road network.
Solution Architecture
Simulated Channels Drive Real Instruments, Hardware-in-the-Loop Reproduces the Real World
The deterministic multipath channels and coverage sequences output by Lauraycs serve as the input to channel emulators / OTA anechoic chambers; the DUT (terminal, module, in-vehicle T-Box, satellite terminal) "sees" in the lab an electromagnetic environment identical to the field. We offer three deployment forms covering different testing needs, from rapid scenario generation to fully closed-loop HIL.
Scenario generation
Based on 3D maps, trajectories and antennas, generate time-varying CIR/PDP and output to the standard formats of mainstream channel emulators (CMX/SCT/SLN).
Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)
Simulated channels are replayed in real time into the channel emulator; power, demodulation and protocol metrics measured at the DUT reproduce the field 1:1.
OTA anechoic chamber co-test
Multi-probe OTA systems (typically 16/32 probes) drive directional, beamforming and multipath performance validation of MIMO/Massive MIMO terminals.
System Architecture
From Map to DUT, an End-to-End Repeatable Test Chain
The overall chain comprises four stages: scenario and map, ray-tracing channel generation, real-time channel emulator / OTA drive, and DUT measurement and regression. Every stage provides APIs and scripting capabilities for easy embedding into the customer's existing automated test platform.
Scenario & trajectory modeling
Import road-network/indoor/low-altitude/satellite-ground 3D models; define BS/satellite/vehicle/UAV trajectories and antenna patterns.
High-fidelity channel generation
Lauraycs outputs time-varying CIR, PDP, Doppler and AoA/AoD/ZoA/ZoD clusters.
Channel format conversion
Automatically convert to formats supported by channel emulators / OTA tools (e.g., PROPSIM, F8800, Vertex, Anritsu MD8475).
HIL drive & measurement
Drive instruments in real time; the DUT is connected via interface/chamber; automatically collect KPIs and regress.
Technical Specifications
| Input channel source | Lauraycs RT, external CIR/CDL/TDL, 3GPP TR 38.901 / 38.873 |
|---|---|
| Instrument compatibility | Keysight PROPSIM / F8800, R&S CMW/CMX, Spirent Vertex/8100, Anritsu MD8475, domestic channel emulators (multiple vendors) |
| MIMO configuration | 1×1 ~ 64×64; typically 4×4 / 8×8 / 16×16; OTA chamber 16/32 probes |
| Frequency bands | 600 MHz – 100 GHz (incl. FR1/FR2/FR3); dedicated support for sub-THz 6G HIL |
| Bandwidth | 100 / 200 / 400 / 1000 / 2000 MHz (depending on instrument model) |
| Time-varying capability | L3-level time-sequence replay, time resolution ≤ 1 ms; joint multi-Tx/Rx trajectories |
| Output formats | CMX/F8800 SCT, PROPSIM PSCN, Vertex SCS, CDL/TDL JSON, custom |
| Interfaces | Python API, command-line batch, SCPI, integration with NI TestStand / automation platforms |
| Protocol-layer interworking | 4G/5G NSA & SA, NTN (NB-IoT NTN / NR NTN), V2X (PC5 / Uu), Wi-Fi 7, LoRa |
| KPI collection | Demodulation throughput, BLER, TPUT, TTFF, handover success rate, beam-tracking error, etc. |
| Deployment | Lab single-node / multi-node collaboration / self-controllable cluster; supports Remote Lab |
Core Differentiators
End-to-end closed loop from scenario to DUT
A domestically unique "3D map → RT channel → channel emulator → DUT" end-to-end workflow that avoids manual stitching.
Instrument-agnostic
One scenario can simultaneously output the formats required by mainstream international vendors and domestic channel emulators, avoiding vendor lock-in.
Regressible
Any signal issue arising in the field can be converted into a repeatable script and added to the regression test library.
Extreme scenarios generated on demand
"High-difficulty" scenarios such as hidden blind spots under overpasses, tunnel handover, satellite shadowing and low-altitude tower clusters are generated on demand.
Self-controllable and cross-platform
A complete toolchain supports Linux / Kylin and, together with domestic instrument vendors, can form a "fully domestic" virtual drive test solution.
Dynamic time-varying HIL
L3-level time-sequence simulation feeds directly into real-time replay, avoiding pseudo-HIL that only replays "static slices."
Typical Applications
In-vehicle T-Box / OBU
Reproduce urban/tunnel/campus V2X and cellular dual links in the lab to validate handover, positioning and remote driving.
5G/6G terminal certification
Replay real PDP in the OTA chamber to run regression tests on terminal MIMO demodulation and beam tracking.
NTN terminals
Real satellite trajectories + urban ground shadowing to validate the connection stability of NB-IoT NTN / NR NTN terminals.
UAV / low-altitude
Reproduce low-altitude C2 link-loss risk scenarios to regress flight-control communication redundancy design.
Industrial terminals
Regress 5G LAN / Wi-Fi 7 module performance under production-line interference and metal-reflection scenarios.
Protocol research
Convert "field anomaly packets" into repeatable channels to pinpoint protocol-stack/algorithm bugs.
Customers & Ecosystem
Bring the field reliably back to the lab, making communications testing repeatable and regressible.
乾径科技 MetaRadio · Virtual Drive Test & HIL Integration Solution