APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR ERROR ASSESSMENT OVER A COMMUNICATION LINK

• US 20070233847A1
• Filed: 03/29/2006
• Published: 10/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Aldereguia, Alfredo, Williams, Jeffrey, Richter, Grace
• Granted Patent: US 7,747,734 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0823 Errors, e.g. transmission errors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0829 Packet loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 Testing arrangements

Abstract

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for assessing error over a communication link. The apparatus for assessing error is provided with a logic unit containing a plurality of modules configured to execute the necessary steps of creating one or more test packets, determining an amount of test packets to send over a communication link to a receiving node, sending a plurality of test packets over the communication link to a receiving node, interspersing test packets throughout a plurality of data packets such that the receiving node is able to continually process the data packets, and checking test packets received by the receiving node for errors.

Claims

1. An apparatus for assessing error over a communication link, the apparatus comprising:

a creation module for creating one or more test packets;

a determination module for determining an amount of test packets to send over a communication link to a receiving node;

a sending module for sending a plurality of test packets over the communication link to a receiving node;

an interspersing module for interspersing test packets throughout a plurality of data packets such that the receiving node is able to continually process the data packets; and

a checking module, for checking test packets received by the receiving node for errors.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sending module is configured to send one or more data packets over the communication link to the receiving node

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the amount of test packets is a percentage of the overall packets sent to the receiving node.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the determination module monitors the amount of traffic on the link to determine how many test packets to send over the communication link.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sending module selectively assigns a priority to consecutive test packets.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sending module sends a threshold level of test packets to emulate a predetermined error rate for the communication link.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interspersing module randomly intersperses test packets throughout the data packets.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a programmable error register.

9. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the checking module monitors only test packets for errors.

10. A system for automatically detecting a cable configuration, the apparatus comprising:

at least one Central Processing Unit (CPU);

a processor;

a cache;

a cache controller;

at least one port for connecting to a communication link; and

a memory containing modules for execution on a processor, the modules comprising;

a creation module for creating one or more test packets;

a determination module for determining an amount of test packets to send over a communication link to a receiving node;

a sending module for sending a plurality of test packets over the communication link to a receiving node;

an interspersing module for interspersing test packets throughout a plurality of data packets such that the receiving node is able to continually process the data packets; and

a checking module, for checking test packets received by the receiving node for errors; and

a bus for operably connecting the at least one CPU, processor, cache, cache controller, port, and memory.

11. The system of claim 11, wherein the port is a high-speed serial port.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of scalable enterprise servers.

13. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

create one or more test packets;

determine an amount of test packets to send over a communication link to a receiving node;

send a plurality of data packets over the communication link to a receiving node;

send one or more test packets over the communication link to the receiving node;

intersperse test packets throughout the data packets such that the receiving node is able to continually process the data packets; and

check test packets received by the receiving node for errors.

14. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program for causing a computer to determine the amount of test packets comprises determining a percentage of the number of packets sent to the receiving node to be allocated for sending test packets.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program for causing a computer to send test packets comprises selectively assigning a priority to each test packet.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program for causing a computer to send one or more test packets over the communication link comprises sending a threshold level of test packets to emulate a predetermined error rate for the receiving node.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program for causing a computer to intersperse test packets throughout the data packets comprises randomly interspersing test packets throughout the data packets.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program for causing a computer to check the packets received by the receiving node for errors comprises recording errors in an error register.

19. A method for assessing error over a communication link, the method comprising:

creating one or more test packets;

determining an amount of test packets to send over a communication link to a receiving node;

sending a plurality of data packets over the communication link to a receiving node;

sending one or more test packets over the communication link to the receiving node;

interspersing test packets throughout the data packets such that the receiving node is able to continually process the data packets; and

checking packets received by the receiving node for errors.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein determining the amount of test packets comprises determining a percentage of the number of packets sent to the receiving node to be allocated for sending test packets.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein sending test packets comprises selectively assigning a priority to consecutive test packets.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein sending one or more test packets over the communication link comprises sending a threshold level of test packets to emulate a predetermined error rate for the receiving node.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein interspersing test packets throughout the data packets comprises randomly interspersing test packets throughout the data packets.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein checking the packets received by the receiving node for errors comprises recording errors in an error register.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein checking the packets received by the receiving node for errors comprises exclusively checking test packets for errors.