RTU-310

Enables carriers to ensure the reliability and performance of their Ethernet-based services; provides all the necessary measurement tools for service turn-up, troubleshooting as well as verifying service-level agreements.

IP Services Test Head—RTU-310

Applications

• Performance validation of carrier-grade Ethernet services
• IPTV testing and analysis

Key Features and Benefits

• Throughput, back-to-back, latency and frame loss measurements as per RFC 2544 (bidirectional results)
• EtherBERT™ test functionality for assessing the integrity of Ethernet services running on WDM networks
• Multistream generation and analysis, allowing quality of service (QoS) verification through VLAN and TOS/DSCP prioritization testing
• True wire-speed, stateful TCP throughput test for undisputable
• SLA reinforcement for Ethernet services IPTV testing and analysis
• Complete carrier Ethernet services portfolio: PBB-TE (MAC-in-MAC), MPLS, 802.3ah and IPv4/IPv6
• 1x and 2x Fibre Channel testing
• Interoperable with the FTB-8510B Packet Blazer Ethernet
• Test Module and the AXS-200/850 Ethernet Test Set
• Fully remote controllable via EX-Vu application
• Integrated into Brix System for Ethernet SLA monitoring, service birth certificates, turn-up and troubleshooting

Assessing the Performance of Ethernet Services

EXFO’s RTU-310 IP Services Test Head enables carriers to ensure the reliability and performance of their Ethernet-based services. Its wide range of test functionalities provide all the necessary measurement tools for service turn-up, troubleshooting as well as verifying service-level agreements (SLAs) between service providers and their customers. This carrier-class 1U rack-mounted, central office (CO)-based device, combined with its portable counterparts, EXFO’s award winning FTB-8510B Packet Blazer Ethernet Test Module or the AXS-200/850 Ethernet Test Set, simplify and accelerate the deployment of Ethernet services. In fact, the RTU-310 is the functional equivalent of the FTB-8510B and supports all the test features found in the portable version.

Flexible End-to-End Testing from a Centralized Point

With the RTU-310 IP Services Test Head, a single technician can perform end-to-end testing through control of the remote unit—either an FTB-8510B Packet Blazer or another RTU-310 via the LAN connection under test. This unique approach gives service providers access to test results for each direction of test, which is essential to fully qualify Ethernet services. It is also possible to perform end-to-end testing by using the Smart Loopback mode where the remote unit will return traffic to the local unit by swapping packet overhead up to layer 4 of the OSI stack.

The RTU-310 tests connectivity in its native format: 10/100/1000Base-T, 100Base-FX, 100Base-LX, 1000Base-SX, 1000Base-LX and 1000Base-ZX for LAN-to-LAN services delivered via next-generation SONET/SDH, SONET/SDH hybrid multiplexers, switched Ethernet, VLANs, dark fiber, WDM, FTTx systems or other means.

Key Features

• Throughput, back-to-back, latency and frame loss measurements as per RFC 2544 (bidirectional results through dual test set)
• Multistream generation and analysis, providing per-stream measurements for throughput, latency, frame loss and packet jitter
• EtherBERTв„ў for bit-error-rate testing of 10, 100 and 1000 Mbit/s Ethernet circuits
• True wire-speed and stateful TCP throughput testing
• PBB-TE and MPLS support for carrier Ethernet
• IPTV testing and analysis
• Packet jitter measurement (IP packet-delay variation as per RFC 3393) to qualify Ethernet transport networks for transmission of delay-sensitive traffic such as voice-over-IP (VoIP) and video
• Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) testing
• Q-in-Q capability for up to three layers of stacked VLANs
• Dual port capability for simultaneous traffic generation and reception at 100% wire speed for 10/100/1000Base-T, 100Base-FX, 100Base-LX, 1000Base-SX, 1000Base-LX or 1000Base-ZX full-duplex networks at all packet sizes
• Ethernet in the First Mile 802.3ah testing
• Fibre Channel 1x and 2x test suite
• Expert mode capability to set test thresholds for clear pass/fail test results
• Configurable advanced filters for in-depth network troubleshooting
• Service disruption time measurement
• Ethernet Through mode
• Remote control capability through EX-Vu or VNC software
• Easy-to-use smart user interface (SUI) for configurable screens, customization of test suites, as well as real-time and historical performance reporting

RFC 2544 Performance Validation

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has put together a test methodology to address the issues of layers 2 and 3 performance verification. RFC 2544, a “Benchmarking Methodology for Network Interconnect Devices,” specifies the requirements and procedures for testing throughput (performance availability), back-to-back frames (link burstability), frame loss (service integrity) and latency (transmission delay). These measurements provide a baseline for service providers to define customer SLAs.

RFC 2544 Test Suite

The RTU-310 IP Services Test Head can perform the RFC 2544 test suite for 10/100/1000Base-T, optical 100 Mbit/s and GigE interfaces at all frame sizes and at full line rate, allowing the provider to certify that the circuit is efficient and error-free at 100 % utilization. More importantly, when in Dual Test Set mode, the RTU-310 allows bidirectional testing, providing independent RFC 2544 test results for both directions (local to remote and remote to local). This is especially important when testing Ethernet services as traffic from each direction often takes different paths in the network. Performance results can therefore vary depending on the direction. The RTU-310 supports automated RFC 2544 testing, which helps ensure repeatable results. Automation also provides ease of use for field technicians by enabling accurate, efficient measurements and results through a clear and simple pass/fail indication. In addition, the RTU-310 generates reports that can be given to customers for future reference related to their specific SLAs.

Throughput

Throughput is the maximum rate at which none of the offered frames are dropped by the device under test (DUT) or network under test (NUT). For example, the throughput test can be used to measure the rate-limiting capability of a switch. The throughput is essentially equivalent to the bandwidth.

The throughput test allows vendors to report a single value, which has proven to be useful in the marketplace. Since even the loss of one frame in a data stream can cause significant delays while waiting for the higher-level protocols to time out, it is useful to know the actual maximum data rate that the device can support. Measurements should be taken over an assortment of frame sizes and preferably bidirectionally.

Burst (Back-to-Back)

In this test, fixed-length frames are presented at a rate such that there is the minimum legal separation for a given medium between frames over a configurable period of time, starting from an idle state. The back-to back value is the number of frames in the longest burst that the DUT/NUT will handle without the loss of any frames.

Frame Loss

Frame loss is the percentage of frames that should have been forwarded by a DUT/NUT under steady state (constant) loads but were not forwarded due to lack of resources. This measurement can be used in reporting the performance of a network device in an overloaded state. This can be a useful indication of how a device would perform under pathological network conditions such as broadcast storms.

Latency

Round-trip latency is the time it takes a bit (cut-through devices) or a frame (store and forward devices) to come back to its starting point. Variability of latency can be a problem. With technologies like voice- and video-over-IP, a variable or long latency can cause significant degradation in quality.

Efficient Testing Leads to Reliable Performance

TCP Throughput

The Internet protocol (IP) and transmission control protocol (TCP) together form the essence of TCP/IP networking. While IP deals with the delivery of packets, TCP provides the integrity and assurance that the data packets transmitted by one host are reliably received at the destination. Applications such as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), email or file transfer protocol (FTP) depend on TCP as their delivery assurance mechanism within networks. Customers deploying such applications expect not only physical and link-level SLAs from their service providers, but assurance that their TCP traffic requirements will be supported across the network. The TCP throughput feature on the RTU-310 offers Ethernet service providers the capability of measuring and validating that the services offered to their customers support the TCP traffic performance they expect.

PBB-TE and MPLS: Carrier Ethernet Transport Solution Testing

As technologically sophisticated business and residential consumers continue to drive demand for premium, high-bandwidth data services such as voice and video, service providers worldwide are evolving their transport infrastructures to support these bandwidth and quality-intensive services. No longer is an all-IP core sufficient—providers must now expand their IP convergence to the edge/metro network in a cost-effective, quality-assured manner. Ethernet has long been accepted as an inexpensive, scalable, data-networking solution in LAN environments. The stringent QoS expectations require solutions that tap into the cost-effectiveness of Ethernet without sacrificing the benefits of connection-oriented (albeit it costly) TDM solutions such as SONET/SDH.

Two Ethernet tunneling technologies address these requirements: provider backbone bridge-traffic engineering or PBB-TE (also referred to as PBT) and transport multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). These two technologies enable connection-oriented Ethernet, providing carriers with a means of offering scalable, reliable and resilient Ethernet services. The PBB-TE and MPLS options on the RTU-310 IP Services Test Head offer service providers a comprehensive field tool to efficiently qualify Ethernet services from end-to-end, validating metro and core tunneling technologies.

Ethernet Advanced Troubleshooting

The RTU-310 provides a number of advanced features essential for in-depth troubleshooting in the event of network failures or impairments. The advanced filtering option allows the user to configure up to ten filters each with up to four operands, which will be applied to the received Ethernet traffic. Detailed statistics are available for each configured filter, providing the user with critical information required to pinpoint specific problems. Other advanced troubleshooting tools include advanced auto-negotiation, flow control capabilities as well as Ethernet in the First Mile 802.3ah support.

IPTV Testing and Analysis

The IPTV software option available on the RTU-310 leverages the current frame-analysis engine, delivering high-performing measurement capabilities and providing users with over 45 different IPTV metrics and statistics in a powerful fixed IPTV test platform. The key features and capabilities provided with this software option include RFC 4445 media delivery index (MDI), TR 101 290 priority 1 metrics, in addition to program clock reference jitter, IGMP support, stream rate and bandwidth utilization on 100 simultaneous MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or VC-1 streams. Usability features include user-configurable alarm thresholds for MDI and other selected metrics, enabling customizable test sequences as well as an auto-stream detection capability that automatically discovers valid IPTV streams within the Ethernet layer.

Additionally, stream IP addresses can be linked to a user-definable stream name through an alias table typically containing the name of the broadcast channel.

The RTU-310 with its IPTV software option offers service providers the most effective tool to quickly and efficiently test and monitor IPTV streams over their network. For more information on the RTU-310 IP Services Test Head IPTV option, refer to the FTB-8510B specification sheet.

EtherBERTв„ў

Ethernet is increasingly being carried across a variety of layer 1 media over longer distances. This creates a growing need for the certification of Ethernet transport on a bit-per-bit basis, which can be done using bit-error-rate testing (BERT). BERT uses a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) encapsulated into an Ethernet frame, making it possible to go from a frame-based error measurement to a bit-error-rate measurement. This provides the bit-per-bit error count accuracy required for acceptance testing of physical-medium transport systems. BERT-over-Ethernet should usually be used when Ethernet is carried transparently over layer 1 media, in cases such as Ethernet over DWDM, CWDM or dark fiber.

Ethernet QoS Measurements

Data services are making a significant shift toward supporting a variety of applications on the same network. Multiservice offerings such as triple-play services have fuelled the need for QoS testing to ensure the condition and reliability of each service and fully qualify SLA parameters. The RTU-310 allows service providers to simultaneously simulate and qualify different applications through its multistream application. The user has the capability to configure up to ten streams with different Ethernet and IP QoS parameters such as VLAN ID (802.1Q), VLAN Priority (802.1p), VLAN stacking (802.1ad Q-in-Q), ToS and DSCP. Specific stream profiles to transmit VoIP, video and data can be selected for each stream. Throughput, latency, frame loss and packet jitter (RFC 3393) measurements are also available simultaneously for each stream, allowing fast and in-depth qualification of all SLA criteria.

Fibre Channel Network Integrity Testing

EXFO’s RTU-310 IP Services Test Head also supports comprehensive Fibre Channel testing.

Interfaces

This head supports the following Fibre Channel interfaces:

Interface	Rate (Gbit/s)
1x	1.0625
2x	2.125

Applications

Since most storage area networks cover large distances and Fibre Channel has stringent performance attributes that must be respected, testing at each phase of network deployment is imperative to ensure appropriate service levels. The RTU-310’s Fibre Channel option provides full wire-speed traffic generation at FC-0, FC-1 and FC-2 logical layers, allowing BER testing for link integrity measurements. Latency, buffer-to-buffer credit measurements for optimization and login capabilities are also supported.

Buffer-to-Buffer Credit Estimation

Buffer-to-buffer credits are part of the flow control engine for Fibre Channel connections. This is a crucial configuration parameter for optimal network performance. Usually, network administrators calculate the value by taking the traveled distance and the data rate into consideration. However, since latency issues are not considered, poor accuracy is to be expected. The RTU-310 is capable of estimating buffer-to-buffer credit values with respect to latency by calculating the distance according to the round-trip latency time.

Command and Control

Remote Management

The user interface for the RTU-310 IP Services Test Head is accessible via EX-Vu remote management software. It enables a remote connection to the instrument, as well as providing the graphical user interface (GUI) for test setup and device management. The EX-Vu application is supported on any Windows based workstation and allows for simplified remote testing and data analysis, as well as remote monitoring. Up to five simultaneous EX-Vu sessions can be supported via a standard Ethernet connection to the platform.

Automated Test Scripting

The RTU-310 supports .NET programming environment for users who prefer to build their automation test routines. The unit comes with a built-in macro-recorder, which allows users to easily record their test actions and automatically create test scripts; this also enables them to build standard test routines that can easily be accessed and run by technicians with little or no manual intervention. Scripts from the macro-recorder can be used as the basis for larger automation routines, which can be created or edited in any .NET environment.

Test Logger and Reporting

The RTU-310 supports a detailed test logger and test reporting tools, enabling users to view any errors/alarms that occurred during the test interval, which can then be used for post-processing of results or SLA conformance validation.

Test Control Through BrixWorx^TM

RTU-310 is an integral part of EXFO’s BrixNGN Service Assurance solution for Ethernet services. BrixNGN enables providers to continuously collect, correlate, analyze, and visualize critical QoS and QoE data for the Ethernet services they are selling to their customers. This solution enables capacity planning and service turn-up verification, as well as identification, diagnosis and quickly resolving network and service issues before customers are affected—thereby guaranteeing performance and quality.

As part of the BrixNGN solution, the RTU-310 is managed and test configurations are all performed via the BrixWorx software engine. The RTU-310 can be used for service turn-up, troubleshooting or ongoing 24/7 SLA monitoring. At service turn-up time, providers can run a series of tests that enable them to benchmark the service they are making available to their customers. This data can be used as a baseline for the performance of the service and can be used to produce birth certificates for the service. If a particular service shows quality problems, the RTU-310 platform can be used to launch diagnostic tests for that service to identify and isolate the source of the problem. Finally, the RTU-310 can be used for ongoing monitoring of services as part of an SLA agreement. Periodic tests are automatically launched that enable a provider to collect data about each of their services; this data, along with data reported by other test systems, is collected and stored in the BrixWorx central data storage. The data is then aggregated and analyzed to generate service-level alarms when thresholds are violated, as well as to provide executives and operations with historical reports of the service performance.