hayes@blaise.trl.OZ.AU (Mark Hayes) (03/25/91)
Does anyone know of any test equipment or test laboratories which perform conformance tests on IEEE 802.3 and 802.5 equipment? I have been asked by a colleague if it was possible to buy a test instrument which would plug into the AUI/MAU/MIC and then perform a series of tests to ensure transmit/receive levels are within spec, transmit clock is in spec, collisions/lost tokens are handled correctly, etc. The aim is to submit a LAN product (eg. a bridge) for testing and then get a Pass/Fail result. I know of products which exist for X.25 but I know of none for the LAN standards. Failing the availability of any instrument, are then any labs (hopefully in Australia) which do LAN conformance tests? Cheers, mdh ----------------------------------------------------------------- Mark Hayes Research Labs, m.hayes@trl.oz.au Telecom Australia
howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz) (03/28/91)
In article <2854@trlluna.trl.oz> hayes@blaise.trl.OZ.AU (Mark Hayes) writes: >Does anyone know of any test equipment or test laboratories which >perform conformance tests on IEEE 802.3 and 802.5 equipment? > >I have been asked by a colleague if it was possible to buy a test >instrument which would plug into the AUI/MAU/MIC and then perform a >series of tests to ensure transmit/receive levels are within spec, >transmit clock is in spec, collisions/lost tokens are handled >correctly, etc. The aim is to submit a LAN product (eg. a bridge) for >testing and then get a Pass/Fail result. I know of products which >exist for X.25 but I know of none for the LAN standards. Failing the >availability of any instrument, are then any labs (hopefully in >Australia) which do LAN conformance tests? We have a formal test laboratory for 802.3 PHY and MAC. Our testing is based on the IEEE abstract test suite from the 802.3 conformance testing subcommittee. Especially at the physical layer, there is no single instrument which does the job. Our test facility consists of a number of computer-controlled test instruments, with a UNIX workstation for control, analysis, and reporting. The physical layer testing is done in a shielded room to avoid RF interference. Even the MAC layer needs a combination of instruments to run the full test suite, principally a logic analyzer supplementing a protocol analyzer. Most of the difficulty comes in producing controlled errors (e.g., back to back frames, jittered bits, etc.). We are in an R&D mode for a next-generation LAN conformance tester, which will address 802.5. I know of no generally available test suite for 802.5, although work is underway. Be sure your colleague is clear about the difference between full conformance testing and routine operational testing. If you want an exhaustive pass/fail, it is NOT a trivial task! Vendors have, however, passed conformance tests. -- howard@cos.com OR {uunet, decuac, sun!sundc, hadron, hqda-ai}!cos!howard (703) 883-2812 [W] (703) 998-5017 [H] DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Corporation for Open Systems, its members, or any standards body.