WLAN Testing Using an RF Abstraction Layer

A technique for testing wireless-local-area-network (WLAN) infrastructure is described. In particular, a radio-frequency abstraction layer (RFAL) in a physical instance of an electronic device is used to simulate the physical layer communication hardware and radio channels. RFAL allows frames in initial packets that are compatible with a WLAN communication protocol (such as an IEEE 802.11 standard) to be encapsulated in the data-link layer into additional packets that are compatible with a network communication protocol (such as an IEEE 802.3 standard). These additional packets can include information that characterizes transmission of the packet through a simulated radio-frequency environment so that the software stack associated with a physical or virtual instance of an electronic device can be exercised as if the packet had been received over a wireless connection. Then, the additional packets can be communicated via Ethernet (i.e., without radio-frequency communication) among virtual instances of access points, clients and/or WLAN controllers.