Packet switching testing method and apparatus

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a packet switching testing method and a packet switching testing apparatus that are capable of attaining down-sizing of the apparatus and readily testing a packet switching device.
The packet switching testing apparatus according to the present invention performs a test for a packet switching device (hereinafter simply termed a under-test device) serving as an object for the test.
The packet switching testing apparatus tests the under-test device, the arrangement being such that a plurality of input highways and a plurality of output highways are connected to the under-test device for transferring communications information packetwise.
The packet switching testing apparatus includes a transmitting section and a receiving section.
The transmitting section transmits packet data to the under-test device.
The receiving section receives the packet data tested by the under-test device.
The transmitting section includes a packet section and a highway demultiplexing section.
The packet section generates plural pieces of packet data by adding a packet header to each of a plurality of random patterns representing the communications information.
The highway demultiplexing section demultiplexes the packet data generated by the packet section to the plurality of input highways.
The receiving sections includes a packet multiplexing section, a depacket section and an error detector.
The packet multiplexing section multiplexes the packet data to one highway, the packet data being supplied via the plurality of output highways.
The depacket section fetches the random patterns out of the packet data multiplexed by the packet multiplexing section.
The error detecting section detects an error in the random pattern fetched by the depacket section.
Further, the transmitting section may include an initializing section and a highway demultiplex control section.
The initializing section sets a different highway number as a packet header to each of the plurality of I/O highways