When I mentioned to one of my friends about LocusUSA’s DiagnostX, touch-free, over-the-air radio waveform analyzer, he immediately replied, “Sounds like the OnStar™ system in my car. It tells me when it needs maintenance. It’s all diagnostics.” I had to agree with him but had no idea how extensive OnStar’s diagnostics system was at the time. I gathered from its website that OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics automatically performs monthly checks on a vehicle’s operating systems such as its transmission, stability control, airbags, emissions, anti-lock brakes, and tires. Then, it emails and texts the owner a simple report and shares important information with the local dealer to set up a maintenance service appointment. The convenience of this type of diagnostics is that it is performed in real-time, over-the-air (OTA) and occurs without user intervention. It is autonomous and non-intrusive to the system. Drivers can have a good feeling that their vehicle is operating as it should. Here’s an example of proactive maintenance instead of a reactive one when something wears out or breaks down before fixing it.
How is LocusUSA’s DiagnostX similar to the proactive maintenance approach of OnStar’s Vehicle Diagnostics system?
DiagnostX automatically performs checks on a two-way radio’s alignment by capturing all its control channel transmissions while in use in the field. It takes measurements and stores the calculated results in a database for later retrieval to determine radio conformance. The analyzer checks for frequency error, low and high-level deviation, modulation fidelity, and average symbol deviation. It also reports BER, RSSI, and SNR for each transmission received. These measurements are compared to established thresholds to identify any indication of a poorly operating radio. The DiagnostX viewer allows the radio technician to review the captured metrics and schedule a radio to come in for service. DiagnostX offers the same convenience as OnStar because it is constantly monitoring and evaluating the radios operating on a system in real-time, over-the-air, autonomously, non-intrusively, and without user intervention. Radio users can have a sense of security knowing their systems are operationally ready during any mission-critical situation.
