Stream oriented traffic generation
Users can define and generate hundreds of transmit and receive streams with their own unique traffic profile. Each stream can generate 100k’s of unique traffic flows by using programmable packet field modifiers to increment or randomize field values such as IP addresses or VLAN identifiers. This makes it easy to scale your tests beyond the maximum performance parameters of your network or device.
The stream rate can be defined as a percentage of line rate, frames per second, bit-rate, and the injection of packets can be controlled as a single-packet shot, number of packets, time duration, or in continuous mode. Traffic profiles can be defined as uniform or bursty, and custom packet editing is facilitated by a graphically driven field editor that lets users build any packet format, in addition to predefined packet templates for Ethernet, Ethernet II, VLAN, ARP, IPv4, IPv6, UDP, TCP, LLC, SNAP, GTP, ICMP, RTP, RTCP, STP, or fully specified by user.
Real time analysis and reporting
Packet flow statistics are tracked per stream, or per-user defined filters which can include any combination of programmable field values. Incoming packet streams are automatically identified using optionally auto inserted Test Payload fields. Analysis of traffic throughput, latency, jitter, loss, sequence, and misorder errors is performed real-time per received stream with 16/32 ns accuracy depending on the interface type (optical/electrical).
Users can capture packets at wire speed on each port for detailed analysis and export to 3rd party packet analysis tool WireShark, which in conjunction with event triggering and programmable filters provides a unique ability to identify and isolate performance issues.
API scripting from any tool environment
An open specification text based API allows the user to script for test automation purposes from any tool and scripting environment, only requiring that the scripting environment support text and line-based TCP/IP communication.
Any changes made through the API are automatically reflected on the GUI. This unique and easy to use scripting-from-anywhere concept lets the user access the Xena test platform from any proprietary or commercial scripting environment based on languages such as Tcl, Python, VBA, or Java development environments, using wrapper to convert from existing Tcl/Python/VB/Java APIs to the generic Xena API.
MS Excel program for test case execution, and reporting
As an alternative for GUI and script based test case execution, the user can configure, execute, and log statistics using a standard MS Excel program. The MS Excel templates provided by Xena use VBA to communicate with the test equipment using Xena’s TCP/ IP scripting language, and is a very powerful means for operating the equipment for anyone familiar with MS Excel. |
