Method and apparatus for testing and evaluation of distributed networks
First Claim
1. Method for testing and evaluating the dynamic functional behavior of geographically distributed telecommunication networks, in particular fast packet switching networks constructed of primitive functional building blocks comprising a plurality of transmitting stations, and receiving stations, each station containing a transputer having its own memory and transmitting receiving hardware and control software, and communication links connecting those stations for the transmission of traffic organized in the form of packets, wherein the packets each contain a control block and a payload portion, the latter being devoted to carrying the normal user information, characterized by the following steps:
- defining the primitive functional building blocks, including paths of transmission, between the inputs and outputs of the network,defining a set of target errors which the testing and evaluation is to detect,passing, during a testing and evaluation phase and/or during normal operation of the network, test packets around the network which contain, in their payload portion all information relevant to their testing and evaluation task, instead of the said normal information usually contained in said payload portion, andanalyzing the test packets arriving at the output port of their said path of transmission for any unexpected results.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The dynamic functional behavior of geographically distributed fast packet switching systems, including those which accommodate high-priority circuit switched traffic and low-priority packet switched traffic, are tested in real-time by sending test packets from one or more source nodes through the system to specific destinations that comprise a test packet analyzer. The test packets have the same structure as the data packets, but in their payload portion carry the entire information required to perform the testing. The nature of that test information depends on the characteristics of a set of predefined system errors the verification system is supposed to identify. For detecting errors, the test information would include an input address indicating the source of the test packet, a sequence number defining the order in which the packet should arrive at the destination, time bits relating to the packet length and/or to the expected packet transmission delay, and a cyclic redundancy code which covers the entire contents of the test packet, including its control portion. Each analyzer at a receiving station operates autonomously from the senders and processes all received traffic in real-time; this enables it to recognize all defined system errors, even those occurring with very low probability, at the packet level.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. Method for testing and evaluating the dynamic functional behavior of geographically distributed telecommunication networks, in particular fast packet switching networks constructed of primitive functional building blocks comprising a plurality of transmitting stations, and receiving stations, each station containing a transputer having its own memory and transmitting receiving hardware and control software, and communication links connecting those stations for the transmission of traffic organized in the form of packets, wherein the packets each contain a control block and a payload portion, the latter being devoted to carrying the normal user information, characterized by the following steps:
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defining the primitive functional building blocks, including paths of transmission, between the inputs and outputs of the network, defining a set of target errors which the testing and evaluation is to detect, passing, during a testing and evaluation phase and/or during normal operation of the network, test packets around the network which contain, in their payload portion all information relevant to their testing and evaluation task, instead of the said normal information usually contained in said payload portion, and analyzing the test packets arriving at the output port of their said path of transmission for any unexpected results. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Verification apparatus for testing and evaluating the dynamic functional behavior of geographically distributed telecommunication networks, in particular fast packet switching networks comprising pluralities of transmitting stations and receiving stations and communication links connecting those stations for the transmission of traffic organized in the form of packets, characterized in that:
said apparatus comprises a system environment portion including a plurality of transmitters associated each with an input port of the packet switching network to be tested, and a result analyzer portion including a plurality of receivers, each respectively associated with one of the output ports of said packet switching network, and a global controller and test case generator connected to each said transmitter and receiver for managing their interconnection and for generating and supplying test cases thereto. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
Specification