Methods and systems for testing communications network components

• US 20020162059A1
• Filed: 10/29/2001
• Published: 10/31/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tekelec Global, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Tekelec
• Inventors: McNeely, Tracy J., Bures, Hynek, Blackburn, Stuart D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,117,411 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/703
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 Testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting

Abstract

A communications network test system facilitates autonomous or attendant-free interaction between the administrative interfaces of multiple network devices under test. The test system includes device-specific communication interface packages that map generic commands to device-specific commands. A generic package includes generic procedures that access the device-specific packages to perform common functions, such as startup and cleanup. Test cases can thus be written using the generic commands without requiring the tester to have knowledge of device-specific demands. In addition, multiple devices can be simultaneously tested and monitored using a single test platform.

Claims

1. A method for testing a system of communications network devices, the method comprising:

(a) reading an abstract command language command from a test case, the abstract command language comprising a non-device-specific command;

(b) translating the first abstract command language command into a device-specific command compatible with an administrative interface associated with a first device under test (DUT); and

(c) communicating the device-specific command to the first DUT.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising receiving a reply from the first DUT, and, in response, automatically generating a second device-specific command compatible with an administrative interface associated with a second DUT.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein receiving a reply message includes receiving a message containing test result information.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein receiving a reply message includes receiving a message containing an acknowledgment message.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein receiving a reply message includes receiving a message containing status information associated with the first device under test.

6. The method of claim 2 comprising generating a second abstract command language command in response to the reply message and translating the second abstract command language command into the second device-specific command.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein generating a second device-specific command includes generating a command line interface command compatible with a command line interface of the second DUT.

8. The method of claim 2 wherein the second DUT is a packet network testing device.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein translating the abstract command language command includes accessing a device-specific communication interface package that contains abstract command language translation instructions.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein translating the abstract command language command into a device-specific command includes translating the abstract command language command into a command line interface (CLI) command compatible with a command-line interface associated with the first DUT.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein communicating the device-specific command to the first DUT includes transmitting the device-specific command via a telnet session.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the first DUT is a packet routing switch.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein translating the first abstract command language command into a first command line interface command includes accessing a communication interface package associated with the first DUT.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein transmitting the first command line interface command to the first DUT includes transmitting the command line interface command using remote terminal access software.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein transmitting the first command line interface command to the first DUT includes transmitting the command line interface command over a wide area network (WAN).

17. The method of claim 13 wherein receiving a reply message includes receiving test result information.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein receiving a reply message includes receiving an acknowledgment message associated with a previously-executed command.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the device-specific command is a command line interface command.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein the execution manager is adapted to receive and interpret a response message generated by a DUT.

22. The system of claim 19 wherein the execution manager is adapted to direct a DUT to be configured with a specific operating software version.

23. The system of claim 19 wherein the execution manager is adapted to schedule the execution of a test case or a test plan.

24. The system of claim 19 wherein the user interface is a graphical user interface (GUI).

25. The system of claim 19 wherein the user interface is adapted to simultaneously display related test plan, test case, and test result information.

26. The system of claim 19 including a version-controlled environment for maintaining information associated with a test and a device under test (DUT).

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the version-controlled environment is adapted to maintain DUT-specific communication interface packages.

28. The system of claim 26 wherein the version-controlled environment is adapted to maintain test plan and test case files.

29. The system of claim 26 wherein the version-controlled environment is adapted to maintain test result information.

30. The system of claim 26 wherein the version-controlled environment is adapted to maintain DUT operating software.

31. The system of claim 19 including a test case editor for editing test case information, wherein the test case editor is accessible via the user interface.

13. A method for dynamically testing a system of communications network devices, the method comprising:

(a) reading a first abstract command language command associated with an operation involving a first device under test (DUT);

(b) translating the first abstract command language command into a first command line interface command;

(c) transmitting the first command line interface command to the first DUT;

(d) receiving a reply message from the first DUT;

(e) dynamically selecting a second abstract command language command based on contents of the reply message; and

(f) executing the second abstract command language command.

19. A system for testing communications network devices, the system comprising:

(a) a device specific communication interface package including information for mapping an abstract command language command to a device specific command;

(b) an execution manager for translating abstract command language commands to device-specific commands using the device-specific communication interface package; and

(c) a user interface for initiating the execution of an abstract-command-language-based test procedure and displaying subsequent test results.

32. A system for simultaneously testing a plurality of communications network devices, a test tools server for maintaining test cases and for storing the system comprising:

(a) a test tools server for storing a plurality of device-specific communication interface packages, each device-specific communication interface package including functions for mapping abstract command language commands to device-specific command line interface commands; and

(b) a test management system client for requesting execution of test cases on the devices under test; and

(c) a test controller for receiving the test cases and the communication interface packages, connecting with a plurality of communications network devices, and executing the test cases to test the network communications devices.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein the test tools server stores a generic communication interface package containing common procedures for accessing the device-specific packages and performing device-specific functions during a test case.

34. The system of claim 32 wherein the test tools server includes an arbitration engine for dynamically resolving test case scheduling conflicts.

35. The system of claim 33 wherein the generic communication interface package includes a startup procedure for accessing the device-specific packages to initialize each device involved in a test case.

36. The system of claim 33 wherein the generic communication interface packages includes a cleanup procedure for accessing the device-specific packages to free resources on each device involved in a test case.

37. The system of claim 32 wherein the device-specific communication interface commands include functions for mapping abstract command language commands to tool command language commands.

38. The system of claim 32 wherein the test controller is adapted to simultaneously communicate with command line interfaces of the communications network devices in order to execute test cases and record results.