Non-intrusive and operational communication system monitoring and diagnostics
View Patent ↗A non-intrusive and operational communication system monitoring and diagnostics. Loopback-type testing is facilitated through testing that is split between transmit and receive sections. Transmit testing on a port can be based on test packets that are removed from the transmission path by a PHY upon detection. Receive testing on a port can be based on live traffic packets.
1. A diagnostic method of network equipment that operates in a live configuration in a network, comprising:
determining, by a physical layer device in said network equipment, whether a packet intended for transmission includes a test signature, wherein said comprises determining by said physical layer device that is connected to a media access control device, said physical layer device connected to a physical communication medium via magnetics;
if it is determined by said physical layer device that said packet does not include said test signature, then transmitting, by said physical layer device, said packet to a peer device via said physical communication medium; and
if it is determined by said physical layer device that said packet does include said test signature, then removing, by said physical layer device, said packet from a transmission path to said peer device, and incrementing, by said physical layer device, a first counter; and
comparing, by diagnostic software, a value of said first counter to a value of a second counter that is incremented by a test module residing in a layer above a media access control layer.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting a live traffic packet over twisted pair cabling.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining comprises determining whether a test signature exists at a particular offset from a start frame delimiter in a packet.
4. A diagnostic method in a physical layer device that operates in a live configuration in a network, comprising:
determining by said physical layer device, whether a packet intended for transmission includes a test signature, wherein said physical layer device is connected to a media access control device, said physical layer device also connected to a physical communication medium via magnetics;
if it is determined by said physical layer device that said packet does not include said test signature, then transmitting by said physical layer device said packet to a peer device via said physical communication medium; and
if it is determined by said physical layer device that said packet does include said test signature, then removing by said physical layer device said packet from a transmission path to said peer device, and incrementing a first counter, wherein a comparison of a value of said first counter to a value of a second counter that is incremented by a test module residing in a layer above a media access control layer enables a diagnostic of a transmission path.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting a live traffic packet over twisted pair cabling.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein said determining comprises determining whether a test signature exists at a particular offset from a start frame delimiter in a packet.
7. A diagnostic method in a physical layer device that operates in a live configuration in a network, comprising:
receiving, by said physical layer device, a packet from a peer device via a physical communication medium, wherein said physical layer device is connected to a media access control device, said physical layer device also connected to said physical communication medium via magnetics;
determining, by said physical layer device, whether said received packet includes a defined signature; and
if it is determined by said physical layer device that said packet does include said defined signature, then incrementing by said physical layer device a first counter, wherein a comparison of a value of said first counter to a value of a second counter that is incremented by a test module residing in a layer above a media access control layer enables a diagnostic of a receive path.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said receiving comprises receiving a packet over twisted pair cabling.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein said determining comprises determining whether a defined signature exists at a particular offset from a start frame delimiter in a packet.