AX/4000 STP Conformance Test Suite When loops occur, some switches see end stations and Overview appear on both sides of the switch. This condition confus- TM Developed by Spirent Communications for the AX/4000 es the forwarding algorithm and may cause duplicate broadband test system, the STP Conformance Test Suite frames to be forwarded. provides a comprehensive series of pre-defined test To provide path redundancy, STP defines a tree that cases to verify the characteristics of a Spanning Tree spans all switches in a network. STP forces certain redun- Protocol implementation on a router or a switch. Each test dant data paths into a blocked state. case tests a logical unit of functionality and reports a pass, fail, or inconclusive result. The switch will not forward frames when it is in the block- ing state, which eliminates the loop problem. spirent’s Test Suite Manager (TSM) software provides a Windows XP/NT/2000 graphical user interface for the test If one network segment in the STP becomes unreachable, suite. TSM allows users to set test parameters and selec- or if STP costs change, the spanning-tree algorithm recon- tively run cases individually or in a batch operation. figures the spanning-tree topology and re-establishes the Results appear in an on-screen window and can be saved link by activating the blocked path. to ASCII files for printing and off-line analysis. Test Suite Features The STP is a Layer 2 protocol designed to run on bridges and switches. STP provides path redundancy while pre- This test suite verifies such Spanning Tree Protocol opera- venting undesirable loops in the network. If a loop exists tions as: in the network topology, the potential exists for duplica- n The communication of the bridge protocol entity with tion of messages. its peer entities Spirent Communications 26750 Agoura Road Calabasas, CA 91302 USA E-mail: productinfo @spirentcom.com Sales Contacts: North America +1 800-927-2660 Europe, Middle East, Africa +33-1-6137-2250 Asia Pacific +852-2511-3822 All Other Regions +1 818-676-2683 www.spirentcom.com Test Suite Manager Screen 2 STP Conformance Test Suite n The update of stored protocol variables and timers Hardware Requirements n The state change of the bridge ports This test suite requires the AX/4000 broadband test sys- tem, which includes: It verifies all procedures associated with the Bridge Protocol entity: n One mainframe or portable chassis n Validation of Transmit Configuration Bridge Protocol n One Ethernet/GPIB, GPIB, or GPS Control Module with Data Units (BPDUs) the test suite option enabled in the controller software n Recording of configuration information and configura- n One PC running Windows XP/2000/NT tion timeout value For three-port test configurations, select three genera- n Reply to Configuration BPDUs tor/analyzers with appropriate Layer 3 port interfaces from the following list: n Response to Transmit Topology Change Notification BPDUs n Three of these generator/analyzer test modules: n Configuration updates n 1 Gbps mAX-IP Generator/Analyzer (P/N 500002H) n Root selection process n 1 Gbps mAX-IPex Generator/Analyzer Test Module with external CPU (P/N 500005) n Designated port selection n One of these IP Layer 3 port interfaces per generator/ n Topology change detection and acknowledgement analyzer test module: It verifies processing of frames received from individual n IP Ethernet 10/100 Interface (P/N 401324) MAC entities associated with the port, the submission of n 10 Gigabit UniPhy 1310nm (P/N 403335) frames to the MAC entity for transmission, and the possi- n 10 Gigabit UniPhy 1550nm (P/N 403337) ble inclusion of the port in the active topology of the bridged LAN. n 1 Gbps Ethernet SFP Interface (P/N 401325) It verifies the basic functions of bridge when it is selected NOTE: This test suite may be backward compatible with to play different roles such as a Root, Designated Bridge, certain test modules having part numbers not listed or an Alternate Bridge. above. Contact a Spirent Communications sales represen- tative to inquire about compatibility with legacy equip- It verifies the structures and encoding of the BPDUs for ment and bundling options. Also ask about the most cur- the Spanning Tree Protocol that are exchanged between rently supported hardware. the Bridge Protocol Entities. Software Requirements Conformance Standards and Specifications This test suite requires the following software: The STP Conformance Test Suite assesses the router's n Test Suite Manager Version 3.90 or higher ability to conform to ISO/IEC 15802-3, ANSI/IEEE Std (P/N 402001) 802.1D-1998 "MAC Bridges," a standard from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). n STP Conformance Test Suite software, supplied on CD- ROM (P/N 404682) Physical Configuration Spirent n Technology license file (ttcn_license.dat) Communications The physical setup for STP requires three ports on the IUT 26750 Agoura Road n Authorization key for enabling the test suite option in Calabasas, CA to run all test cases. Most cases can be run using only 91302 USA the AX/4000 controller software two ports. Each IUT port must be connected to a port on E-mail: productinfo the Test Suite Manager. Ordering Information @spirentcom.com Sales Contacts: Parameters STP Conformance Test Suite (P/N 404682) North America +1 800-927-2660 n Configuration Spirent Global Services Europe, Middle East, Africa n Timers Spirent Global Services provides a variety of professional +33-1-6137-2250 n Control Asia Pacific services, support services and education services — all +852-2511-3822 focused on helping customers meet their complex testing n Log All Other Regions and service assurance requirements. For more informa- +1 818-676-2683 tion, visit the Global Services website at www.spirent- www.spirentcom.com com.com/gs or contact your Spirent sales representative. ©2001 - 2005 Spirent Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice. Spirent Communications and the Spirent logo are trademarks of Spirent plc. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged. P/N 360-5042-001 Rev B, 09/05