US Patent 7746053 Tester for RF devices

For testing an RF device, such as an RF receiver/decoder chip that receives an RF signal via an antenna terminal and outputs a digital code at an output terminal, an inexpensive non-RF programmable tester is used. The programmable tester is a commercially available tester that need only generate and receive non-RF digital and analog signals. The RF signals needed for the testing of the RF device are totally supplied by RF generators on a single printed circuit board, external to the commercial tester housing. The board contains controllable RF generating circuitry whose possible output amplitudes and frequencies need be only those necessary for testing the particular DUT. The frequencies may be changed by switching in different crystal resonators mounted on the board.