Methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing an anticipated data integrity check

1. A method for providing an anticipated data integrity check, the method comprising:

generating a test message including an anticipated data integrity check value (ADICV), wherein the ADICV is computed using at least one expected value based on at least one expected modification to at least one actual value in the test message by at least one system under test (SUT), wherein the ADICV is computed and inserted in the test message prior to the test message being sent to the at least one SUT for modification;

sending the test message to the at least one SUT;

receiving, from the at least one SUT, a modified version of the test message, wherein the modified version of the test message includes the ADICV; and

determining whether the at least one SUT operates as expected by analyzing the modified version of the test message using the ADICV.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the ADICV is located in a message header field different from an Ethernet cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field or Internet protocol (IP) checksum field.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the ADICV is located in a payload portion of the test message.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzing the modified version of the test message includes determining whether the at least one expected modification indicated by the ADICV occurred.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzing the modified version of the test message includes computing a reception data integrity check value (DICV) using a portion of message data in the modified version of the test message.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein analyzing the modified version of the test message includes determining whether the reception DICV matches the ADICV.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the portion of the message data used in computing the reception DICV is determined using a validation map associated with the test message.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the validation map is stored in a data store or located in the test message.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the SUT includes a network switch, a network router, or a network device.

10. A system for providing an anticipated data integrity check, the system comprising:

a network equipment test device including:

a memory;

at least one processor; and

a message generation module (MGM) implemented using the at least one processor and the memory, wherein the MGM is configured to generate a test message including an anticipated data integrity check value (ADICV), wherein the ADICV is computed using at least one expected value based on at least one expected modification to at least one actual value in the test message by at least one system under test (SUT), wherein the ADICV is computed and inserted in the test message prior to the test message being sent to the at least one SUT for modification; to send the test message to the at least one SUT; to receive, from the at least one SUT, a modified version of the test message, wherein the modified version of the test message includes the ADICV; and to determine whether the at least one SUT operates as expected by analyzing the modified version of the test message using the ADICV.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the ADICV is located in a message header field different from an Ethernet cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field or Internet protocol (IP) checksum field.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the ADICV is located in a payload portion of the test message.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein the MGM is configured to determine whether the at least one expected modification indicated by the ADICV occurred.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein the MGM is configured to compute a reception data integrity check value (DICV) using a portion of message data in the modified version of the test message.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the system is configured to determine whether the reception DICV matches the ADICV.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein the MGM is configured to determine the portion of the message data used in computing the reception DICV using a validation map associated with the test message.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the validation map is stored in a data store or located in the test message.

18. The system of claim 10 wherein the SUT includes a network switch, a network router, or a network device.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions embodied in the non-transitory computer readable medium that when executed by at least one processor of a computer perform steps comprising:

generating a test message including an anticipated data integrity check value (ADICV), wherein the ADICV is computed using at least one expected value based on at least one expected modification to at least one actual value in the test message by at least one system under test (SUT), wherein the ADICV is computed and inserted in the test message prior to the test message being sent to the at least one SUT for modification;

sending the test message to the at least one SUT;

receiving, from the at least one SUT, a modified version of the test message, wherein the modified version of the test message includes the ADICV; and

determining whether the at least one SUT operates as expected by analyzing the modified version of the test message using the ADICV.