1. A low profile transmission cable for high frequency applications, the transmission cable comprising:
one or more inner conductors each having a substantially oblong curvilinear cross-section;
a dielectric material generally surrounding the one or more inner conductors;
a metallic outer shield generally surrounding the dielectric material; and
an outer jacket enveloping the metallic outer shield;
wherein the major axes of the substantially oblong curvilinear cross-section of the one or more inner conductors lie in a single plane.
2. The transmission cable of claim 1, wherein the dielectric material comprises a unitary sheath extruded over the one or more inner conductors.
3. The transmission cable of claim 1, wherein the dielectric material is wrapped around the one or more inner conductors.
4. The transmission cable of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the one or more inner conductors comprises a unitary filament.
5. The transmission cable of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more inner conductors comprises a plurality of electrically engaged conductive strands.
6. The transmission cable of claim 1, wherein an inner surface of the metallic outer shield is generally equidistant from the one or more inner conductors.
7. The transmission cable of claim 1, wherein the metallic outer shield comprises a plurality of braided wires.
8. The transmission cable of claim 1, wherein the metallic outer shield comprises a foil layer.
9. The transmission cable of claim 1, wherein the metallic outer shield comprises a plurality of braided wires and a foil layer.
10. The transmission cable of claim 1, and further comprising:
a drain wire in electrical contact with the metallic outer shield.
11. (canceled)
12. A low profile transmission cable suitable for transmission of signals in excess of 100 MHz, the transmission cable comprising:
a first conductor having a first substantially oblong cross-section;
a first dielectric sheath generally surrounding the first conductor;
a metallic outer shield generally surrounding the dielectric sheath; and
an outer jacket enveloping the metallic outer shield.
13. The transmission cable of claim 12, wherein the metallic outer shield generally surrounds the dielectric sheath such that an inner surface of the metallic outer shield is generally equidistant from the first conductor.
14. The transmission cable of claim 12, and further comprising:
a second conductor having a second substantially oblong cross-section; and
a second dielectric sheath generally surrounding the second conductor;
wherein the first conductor and the second conductor are positioned such that a major axis of the first substantially oblong cross-section is generally coplanar with a major axis of the second substantially oblong cross-section.
15. The transmission cable of claim 14, wherein the first dielectric sheath and the second dielectric sheath are integral.
16. The transmission cable of claim 15, wherein the first dielectric sheath and the second dielectric sheath are extruded over the first and second conductors.
17. The transmission cable of claim 15, wherein the first dielectric sheath and the second dielectric sheath are formed by wrapping a dielectric material around the first and second conductors.
18. (canceled)
19. The transmission cable of claim 14, wherein the metallic outer shield generally surrounds the first dielectric sheath and the second dielectric sheath.
20. The transmission cable of claim 14, and further comprising:
a drain wire in electrical contact with the metallic outer shield.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A method of determining the packet error rate of a wireless LAN card, comprising:
(a) emulating an access point;
(b) transmitting a data packet;
(c) determining whether an acknowledgment packet has been received;
(d) if an acknowledgment packet is not received, determining that the data packet has been lost;
(e) if an acknowledgment packet is received, determining that the data packet has not been lost;
(f) repeating (b)-(e) a predetermined number of times; and
(g) computing a packet error rate based on the number of data packets determined to be lost relative to the number of data packets transmitted in (b).
2. The method of claim 1 wherein (b) includes transmitting noise having a predetermined level with said data packet.
3. The method of claim 2 further including repeating (b)-(g) with a different level of noise.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein (a) includes receiving a probe request and transmitting a probe response that includes a MAC address.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein further including associating with the wireless LAN card for which the packet error rate is computed in (g).
6. The method of claim 1 wherein (b) is performed inside an anechoic chamber.
7. The method of claim 1 further including repeating (b)-(g) for a different orientation of an antenna associated with said WLAN card.
8. A method of determining the packet error rate of a wireless LAN card, comprising:
(a) emulating an access point;
(b) transmitting a data packet to the wireless LAN card;
(c) transmitting an acknowledgment packet if said wireless LAN card correctly receives said data packet;
(d) determining whether an acknowledgment packet is received;
(e) if an acknowledgment packet is not received, determining that the data packet has been lost;
(f) if an acknowledgment packet is received, determining that the data packet has not been lost;
(g) repeating (b)-(f) a plurality of times; and
(h) computing a packet error rate based on the number of data packets determined to be lost relative to the number of data packets transmitted in (b).
9. The method of claim 8 wherein (b) includes transmitting noise having a predetermined level with said data packet.
10. The method of claim 9 further including repeating (b)-(h) with a different level of noise.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein (a) includes receiving a probe request and transmitting a probe response that includes a MAC address.
12. The method of claim 9 wherein further including associating with a wireless LAN card for which the packet error rate is computed in (h).
13. The method of claim 9 wherein (b) and (c) are performed inside an anechoic chamber.
14. A system that determines a packet error rate for a first wireless card, comprising:
a controller that includes a second wireless card and that wirelessly communicates with said first wireless card;
a test data packet generator having an antenna through test data packets are transmitted to said first wireless card;
a computer coupled to said controller, first wireless card and test data packet generator through which an operator can control the system;
wherein said controller emulates an access point, said test data packet generator sends test data packets to said first wireless card, and said controller determines whether acknowledgment packets are received from said first wireless card and computes a packet error rate.
15. The system of claim 14 wherein said test data packet generator comprises an arbitrary waveform generator coupled to an RF signal generator.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein said arbitrary signal generator introduces a controlled level of noise to said test data packet.
17. The system of claim 16 wherein said controller computes packet error rates for said first wireless card for different levels of noise.
18. The system of claim 14 wherein said controller determines a test data packet is lost when no acknowledgment packet is received within a prescribed period of time and computes said packet error rate by dividing the number of lost test data packets by the total number of test data packets transmitted.