10G Ultra-High Performance Application Load Modules
Ixia's Acceleron family of load modules is the highest performing and most scalable application traffic generation solution available in the industry. It offers complete layer 2-7 packet generation, routing, and application testing functionality in a single XM load module.
Acceleron combines the processing power and resources of up to twelve per-port CPUs into one physical port, providing the highest layer 4-7 line-rate performance -- unmatched by any other layer 4-7 test solution. Any of the twelve Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports can be used individually or aggregated through the single 10GbE port. Each test port supports wire-speed layer 2-3 traffic generation and analysis, high-performance routing/bridging protocol emulation, and true layer 4-7 application subscriber emulation and traffic generation. The twelve GbE ports can be used to build an ultra-high density test environment for auto-negotiable 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet over copper and fiber. With twelve slots per XM12 chassis, up to 144 GbE and twelve 10GbE test ports are available in a single test system.
Acceleron can meet the challenge of next-generation advanced networking and security platforms. Each GbE port contains a powerful RISC processor running Linux, and a complete testing-optimized TCP/IP stack. Acceleron-NP ports incorporate a technology unique to the test and measurement industry – network processors. Each Acceleron-NP GbE port uses multiple network processors that are optimized for layer 4-7 testing.
Acceleron's CPU count and NP architecture create a powerful application traffic generation platform that emulates millions of real-world application flows, including voice, video and massive amounts of data.
Acceleron-NP 10GbE Load Module
Application Layer Performance Testing
Acceleron load modules, in conjunction with Ixia testing software such as IxLoad, allow for scalable solutions for converged multiplay services and application delivery platforms. They emulate data, voice, and video subscribers and the associated protocols for performance testing. Unique and advanced subscriber modeling capabilities create realistic scenarios to validate subscriber quality of experience (QoE).
Acceleron performs high performance testing of content-aware devices and networks. It can create real-world traffic scenarios at layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and layer 7 (application layer), emulating clients and servers for Web (HTTP, SSL), FTP, e-mail (SMTP, POP3, IMAP), streaming (RTP, RTSP), video (MPEG2, MPEG4, IGMP), voice (SIP, MGCP) and infrastructure services such as DNS, DHCP, LDAP and Telnet.
Application Traffic Capabilities
| Application Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Network Protocols | Extensive support for layer protocols including DHCPv4, DHCPv6-PD, PPPoE, IPSEC, unique MAC addresses, VLANs, 802.1q, 802.1p. Flexible IP and VLAN mapping, traffic to network associations for complex scenarios |
| Dynamic Subscriber Behavior | True user emulation with multiple applications per subscriber. Realistically simulates dynamic network interface setup and tear-down behavior linked with subscriber emulation. Advanced network attachment support to test with any network topology |
| Layer 2-3 Authentication and Access Control | Sets up 802.1x and EAPoUDP sessions and carries out authentication and access control. Transmits high-performance multiplay traffic over authenticated sessions for performance benchmarking, while performing web-based HTTP session authentication and running HTTP performance scalability tests. |
| Data Protocol Emulation | HTTP, SSL, FTP, Peer-to-Peer, RTSP, RTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, CIFS, Radius, SSH, Radius, Telnet, DNS, DHCP, LDAP, DDoS, vulnerability attacks and application replay for true replay of application flows |
| Voice Protocol Testing | VoIP, SIP, SCCP (Skinny), H.323, H.248, SIP, MGCP |
| Video Protocol Testing | IPTV, video-on-demand, streaming video, RTSP, RTP, IGMP, MLD |
| Wireless Protocol Testing | GGSN testing |
Application Performance
Acceleron load modules provide the industry’s highest performance in real-world application emulation.
| Metric | Acceleron-XP | Acceleron-NP |
|---|---|---|
| Simulated Users | 4,700,000 | 4,700,000 |
| Throughput | 10Gbps | 10Gbps |
| Connections/sec | 400,000 | 800,000 |
| Concurrent Connections | 5,000,000 | 10,000,000 |
| SSL Throughput | 3Gbps | 3Gbps |
| SSL Connections/sec | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| Voice Simulated SIP Endpoints | 180,000 | 180,000 |
| Voice Full duplex RTP streams | 96,000 | 96,000 |
| Voice Full duplex RTP Throughput | 9.5Gbps | 9.5Gbps |
| Video Simulated Users | 24,000 | 24,000 |
| Video RTSP Connections/sec | 180,000 | 180,000 |
| Video RTP Concurrent streams | 720,000 | 720,000 |
| Video IPTV Throughput | 10Gbps | 10Gbps |
Modes of Operation
Ixia's Acceleron load modules operate in three different modes, providing for flexible, scalable and powerful layer 4-7 performance.
- Non-Aggregated Mode. This mode is used for high-density layer 2-7 GbE testing. In this mode, the twelve 10/100/1000 Mbps ports each provide layer 2-7 functionality. Each port is capable of providing high performance packet generation and application layer testing by employing its own port CPU resources as well as the dedicated hardware stream engine. In this mode the 10GE aggregation port is disabled.
- GbE Aggregated Mode. This mode is used for high-performance layer 4-7 GbE testing. In this mode the twelve port CPUs can be assigned to any of twelve GbE test ports through the switch fabric. Aggregation of the processing power from multiple CPUs allows application layer testing at line rate. A cluster of port CPUs can be assigned to any of the physical ports. Ixia test applications transparently configure the available port CPU resources and assign them to a physical port to achieve the test objectives. This mode does not support the hardware stream engine. The 10GbE aggregation port and unused GbE ports are disabled in GbE aggregated mode.
- 10 GbE Aggregated Mode. This mode is used for high-performance layer 4-7 10 GbE testing, producing 10 GbE, line-rate application traffic. In this mode, all twelve port CPUs are assigned to the 10 GbE aggregation port through the switch fabric. Ixia test applications transparently configure the port CPU resources to achieve the test objectives. This mode does not support the hardware stream engine. The twelve GbE ports are also disabled when in 10 GbE aggregated mode.
Flexible Packet Generation
Each Ixia GbE test port is capable of generating precisely controlled network traffic at wire speed using Ixia’s IxExplorer test application. Millions of packet flows, with fully customizable packet header fields, can be configured on each port. Flexible header control is available for Ethernet, IPv4/v6, IPX, ARP, TCP, UDP, VLANs, QinQ, MPLS, GRE, and many others. Payload contents can also be customized with incrementing, decrementing, fixed, random, or user-defined information. Frame sizes can be fixed, varied according to a pattern, or randomly assigned across a weighted range. Rate control can be flexibly defined in frames per second, bits per second, percentage of line rate, or inter-packet gap time.
Real-Time Latency
Packets representing different traffic profiles can be associated with packet group Identifiers (PGIDs). The receiving port measures the minimum, maximum, and average latency in real time for the packets belonging to different groups. Measurable latencies include:
- Instantaneous latency and inter-arrival time where each packet is associated with one PGID
- Latency bins, where PGIDs can be associated with a latency range
- Latency over time, where multiple PGIDs can be placed in "time buckets" with fixed durations
- First and last time stamps, where each PGID can store the timestamps of first and last received packets
Transmit Scheduler
There are two modes of transmission are available - packet stream and advanced stream scheduler:
- Packet Stream Scheduler. In packet stream scheduler mode, the transmit engine allows configuration of up to 4000 unique sequential stream groupings on each port. Multiple streams can be defined in sequence, each containing multiple packet flows defined by unique characteristics. After transmission of the first stream, control is passed to the next defined stream in the sequence. After reaching the last stream in the sequence, transmission may either cease, or control may be passed on to any other stream in the sequence. Therefore, multiple streams are cycled through, representing different traffic profiles to simulate real network traffic.
- Advanced Stream Scheduler. In advanced stream scheduler mode, the transmission of stream groupings is interleaved per port. For example, assume a port is configured with three streams. If stream 1 is defined with IP packets at 20% of line rate, stream 2 is defined with TCP packets at 50% of line rate, and stream 3 is defined with MPLS packets at 30% of line rate, data on the port will be transmitted at an aggregate utilization of 100% with interleaved IP, TCP, and MPLS packets.
Extensive Statistics
- Real-time 64-bit frame counts and rates
- Spreadsheet presentation format for convenient manipulation of statistics counters
- Eight QoS counters (supporting 802.1p, DSCP, and IPv4 TOS measurements)
- Six user-defined statistics that have a trigger condition
- Extended statistics for ARP, ICMP, and DHCP
- Transmit stream statistics for frame counts and rate
- External logging to file for statistics and alerts
- Audible and visual alerts with user-definable thresholds
Data Capture
Each port is equipped with 64 MB of capture memory, capable of storing tens of thousands of packets in real time. The capture buffer can be configured to store packets based on user-defined trigger and filter conditions. Decodes for IPv4, IPv6, UDP, ARP, BGP-4, IS-IS, OSPF, TCP, DHCP, IPX, RIP, IGMP, CISCO ISL, VLAN, and MPLS are provided.
Data Integrity
As packets traverse through networks, IP header contents may change resulting in the recalculation of packet CRC values. To validate device performance, the data integrity function of GbE ports allows packet payload contents to be verified with a unique CRC that is independent of the packet CRC. This ensures that the payload is not disturbed as the device changes header fields.
Sequence and Duplicate Packet Checking
Sequence numbers can be inserted at a user-defined offset in the payload of each transmitted packet. Upon receipt of the packets by the device under test (DUT), out-of sequence errors or duplicated packets are reported in real time at wire-speed rates. The user can define a sequence error threshold to distinguish between small versus big errors, and the receive port can measure the amount of small, big, reversed, and total errors. Alternatively, the user can use the duplicate packet detection mode to observe that multiple packets with the same sequence number are received and analyzed.
IEEE 1588v2 - Precision Time Protocol (PTP)
This load module supports IEEE 1588 v2 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) or Precision Clock Synchronization Protocol (PCSP) in IPv4 multicast. Ixia’s implementation is based on two-step clock. Ports support grand master, master, and slave clock emulations. Each port is capable of transmitting non-PTP and PTP traffic simultaneously. Histogram reporting capabilities allow tracking of the slave clock offset from the master clock at different points in the network. Full IEEE 1588 packet composition and transmit/receive decode capabilities are available in IxExplorer. In addition, customizable negative testing capabilities and features help with characterization of clock synchronization within a network.
Tcl API
Ixia's GbE ports are supported by a comprehensive Tcl application programming interface (API). This API allows users to develop custom scripts, and integrate the modules into automated test environments.
Custom Applications
The Linux software development kit (SDK) allows existing Linux applications to be compiled and run on GbE ports. Additionally, users can develop their own custom applications and integrate them into the Ixia test environment.
Specifications
| Load Module | Acceleron-XP/NP |
|---|---|
| Connector Type | RJ45 or SFP for GbE ports; XFP for 10GbE port |
| Number of Ports | 12 GbE (10/100/1000) + 10GbE |
Maximum Ports per Chassis:
|
144 GbE + 12 10GbE 24 GbE + 2 10GbE |
| Layer 2-3 Routing Protocol and Emulation | Yes |
| Layer 4–7 Application Traffic Testing | Yes |
| IEEE 1588v2 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) | Yes |
| Capture Buffer per Port | 64 MB |
| Number of Transmit Flows per Port (sequential values) | Billions |
| Number of Transmit Flows per Port (arbitrary values) | 98K |
| Number of Trackable Receive Flows per Port | 128K |
| Number of Stream Definitions per Port | 4000 in packet stream mode (sequential) or advanced stream (interleaved) modes. Each stream definition can generate millions of unique traffic flows |
| Transmit Engine | Wire-speed packet generation with timestamps, sequence numbers, data integrity signature, and packet group signatures |
| Receive Engine | Wire-speed packet filtering, capturing, real-time latency for each packet group, data integrity, and sequence checking |
| User Defined Field (UDF) Features | Fixed, increment or decrement by user-defined step, value lists, range lists, cascade, random, and chained |
| Table UDF Feature | Comprehensive packet editing function for emulating large numbers of sophisticated flows. Up to 750K table UDF entries are supported on the XMV12X. |
| Filters | 48-bit source/destination address, 2x128-bit user-definable pattern and offset, frame length range, CRC error, data integrity error, sequence checking error (small, big, reverse) |
| Data Field (per stream) | Fixed, increment (byte/word), decrement (byte/word), random, repeating, user-specified up to 13K bytes |
| Statistics and Rates: Counter Size: 64-Bit | Link State, Line Speed, Frames Sent, Valid Frames Received, Bytes Sent/Received, Fragments, Undersize, Oversize, CRC Errors, VLAN Tagged Frames, User-Defined Stat 1, User- Defined Stat 2, Capture Trigger (UDS 3), Capture filter (UDS 4), User-Defined Stat 5, User-Defined Stat 6, 8 QoS counters, Data Integrity Frames, Data Integrity Errors, Sequence Checking Frames, Sequence Checking Errors, ARP, and Ping requests and replies |
| Error Generation | CRC (Good/Bad/None), Undersize, Oversize |
| Packet Flow Statistics | Real-time statistics to track up to 128K packet flows on the XMV12X with throughput and latency measurements |
| Latency Measurements | 20ns resolution |
| IPv4, IPv6, UDP, TCP | Hardware checksum generation |
| Frame Length Controls | Fixed, random, weighted random, or increment by user-defined step, random, weighted random |
| Operating Temperature Range | 41°F to 86°F (5°C to 30°C), ambient air+ |
P/N: 915-0710-01 Rev. A – April 2009Product Ordering Information
944-0082ACCELERON-XP-01, Application High Performance load module, 1-10G or 12-Port Dual-PHY (RJ45 and SFP) 10/100/1000 Mbps; for 941-0003 (XM2-02) or 941-0009 (XM12-02) chassis; on-board port aggregation; 1GbE fiber ports REQUIRE SFP transceivers, options include SFP-LX or SFP-SX; and 10GbE port requires a XFP transceiver, options are either 948-0003 (XFP-850), XFP-1310, or XFP-1550
944-0083ACCELERON-NP-01, Application Network Processor load module, 1-10G or 12-Port Dual-PHY (RJ45 and SFP) 10/100/1000 Mbps; for 941-0003 (XM2-02) or 941-0009 (XM12-02) chassis; on-board port aggregation; 1GbE fiber ports REQUIRE SFP transceivers, options include SFP-LX or SFP-SX; and 10GbE port requires a XFP transceiver, options are either 948-0003 (XFP-850), XFP-1310, or XFP-1550
944-0067SW-IEEE1588v2-OPT12, configuration option, Ethernet timing option, license per module; includes support for master and/or slave clock emulation; REQUIRES purchase of a supported load module [see 944-0032 (LSM1000XMV12-01), 944-0033 (LSM1000XMVR12-01), or 944-0013 (ASM1000XMV12X-01)].
Gigabit Ethernet Transceivers
SFP-LXSFP transceiver - 1310nm LX
SFP-SXSFP transceiver - 850nm SX
10-Gigabit Ethernet Transceivers
948-0003XFP 850nm transceiver
XFP-1550XFP 1550nm transceiver
XFP-1310XFP 1310nm transceiver
This material is for informational purposes only and subject to change without notice. It describes Ixia's present plans to develop and make available to its customers certain products, features and capabilities. Ixia is only obligated to provide those deliverables specifically included in a written agreement between Ixia and the customer.
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