IxANVL—Automated Network Validation Library

Problem: Questioning Product Quality

Throughout your product’s lifecycle, you need to verify your device design. Does the device’s protocol software meet specifications? How well does the device handle traffic from non-complying network components? How might new development impact existing code? Not only do these questions demand accurate responses, but they also require speedy resolution, because identifying and addressing lastminute product reworks can be considerably time-consuming and costly.

Solution: Validation That Keeps Costs Down, Confidence Up

With Keysight’s Automated Network Validation Library (IxANVL), you can quickly and effortlessly access a vast array of protocol libraries and utilities to validate protocol compliance and interoperability. Easy to use thanks to an enhanced graphical user interface (GUI) and flexible test-automation capabilities, IxANVL delivers many key advantages. By emulating large, multi-node networks, it not only reduces costs—it also leads to more efficient testing and faster product-release times. And extensive and thorough automated testing increases your confidence in product quality.

Though IxANVL can run on minimal hardware such as a PC with a Linux or Windows operating system and an Ethernet card, it is also well suited for operation on Keysight's powerful test and analysis platform through a Virtual Network Interface Card (VNIC) driver. This flexibility enables IxANVL to support industrystandard test interfaces, including 100 Mbps/1GE/10GE/100GE Ethernet. IxANVL provides conformance, negative, and regression testing on a vast selection of protocols.

Highlights

Save time and money

IxANVL allows vendors to verify device design during the product’s entire lifecycle. Problems can be identified earlier to prevent costly last-minute reworks. IxANVL emulates large, multinode networks that previously were cost prohibitive, resulting in more efficient tests and quicker product release times.

Increase confidence

IxANVL increases confidence in product quality by enabling extensive and thorough testing, performed automatically and without supervision.

IxANVL's test results allow users to do the following:

• Determine exactly where a device's protocol software does and does not meet the specification.

• Observe how well the device handles traffic from non-complying network components.

• Determine how new development effects existing code, through regression testing.

Validate broad set of protocols

• IxANVL supports a comprehensive list of protocols, including Bridging, Routing, PPP, TCP/IP, IPv6, IPsec, VPN, MPLS, Carrier Ethernet, Automotive Ethernet, Segment Routing, and Multicast.

Test Methodology

IxANVL follows a rigorous test suite development process:

Specifications: Analyze a protocol specification line-by-line

Test Assertion Lists (TALs):

• Develop a TAL, which is a list of testable statements

• Augment TALs with more negative tests

• Prioritize and group TALs for the test suite

Test Method: Develop a test method for each accepted test assertion

Test Suite Code Validation: Continually perform verification of protocol standards (authors or implementers) during the development process.

Test Configuration

The IxANVL test suite can run on a Linux or Windows PC with off-the-shelf network interface cards (NICs), or on Keysight load modules through a VNIC connection. The tester PC connects with the device under test (DUT) through test interfaces. Up to six interfaces may be used, depending on the test configuration. IxANVL flexibly emulates various system topologies and creates virtually any test scenarios for almost any DUT.

The IxANVL test suite can run on a Linux or Windows PC with off-the-shelf network interface cards (NICs), or on Keysight load modules through a VNIC connection. The tester PC connects with the device under test (DUT) through test interfaces. Up to six interfaces may be used, depending on the test configuration. IxANVL flexibly emulates various system topologies and creates virtually any test scenarios for almost any DUT.