User’s Manual

Ether.Loop
Gigabit Ethernet Traffic Reflector
Copyright
The information contained in this document is the property of ALBEDO Telecom S.L.
and is supplied without liability for errors and omissions.

No part of this document may be reproduced or used except as authorised by contract

or other written permission from ALBEDO Telecom S.L. The copyright and all
restrictions on reproduction and use apply to all media in which this information may be
placed.

ALBEDO Telecom SL pursues a policy of continual product improvement and reserves

the right to alter without notice the specification, design, price or conditions of supply of
any product or service.

© ALBEDO Telecom SL 2012

All rights reserved

Issue 1, 08/12

For any query or requirement regarding Ether.Loop, contact with ALBEDO Telecom
using the following contact details:

ALBEDO Telecom SL
C/ Joan d’Àustria 112
08018 Barcelona - Spain
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: +34 93 221 28 73

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Table Of Contents
Chapter 1: Operation ................................................................................................. 1
Important Notice ............................................................................................... 2
Warranty................................................................................................ 2
Battery Safety........................................................................................ 3
WEEE Notice ........................................................................................ 3
Test Connectors ............................................................................................... 3
Platform Connectors......................................................................................... 3
Switching the Unit On an Off ............................................................................ 3
Using the Test Ports ......................................................................................... 4
Configuring the Connector .................................................................... 8
Configuring Auto-negotiation Parameters ............................................. 8
The Command Line Interface ........................................................................... 9
Upgrading the Unit............................................................................................ 9
Appendix A: CLI Command Reference .................................................................. 13
Command Syntax ........................................................................................... 13
Command List ................................................................................................ 13
Appendix B: Technical Specification..................................................................... 19
Physical Interfaces ......................................................................................... 19
General Features............................................................................................ 19
Configuration .................................................................................................. 19
Auto-Negotiation ................................................................................. 19
Interfaces ............................................................................................ 19
Loopback............................................................................................. 20
Results............................................................................................................ 20
Power LED .......................................................................................... 20
DC IN LED .......................................................................................... 20
Link LED.............................................................................................. 20
Activity LED......................................................................................... 20
User Interface ................................................................................................. 20
Platform .......................................................................................................... 21

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Chapter 1
Operation
The ALBEDO Telecom Ether.Loop is a high performance and low cost Gigabit Ethernet
traffic reflector which is capable of re-directing Ethernet frames up to 1 Gb/s or 1.5
millions of frames per second. Ether.Loop is the recommended peer for 2-way Ethernet
and IP tests carried out with the ALBEDO Ether.Genius / Ether.Sync / Ether.Giga
testers.

(a)
SFP
Power Port Port RJ-45
switch LEDs Port System
Power RJ-45 LEDs
connector console connector

(b)

Figure 1.1: Ether.Loop front and back views. The equipments presents information about
its status through the LEDs. The configuration is performed through the serial interface
using a CLI: (a) Front view with test connectors, (b) Back view with system connectors.

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Ether.Loop has an external DC input but it also has internal batteries. Ether.Loop may
need to work over many hours or days and for this reason, using an external DC power
input is always recommended. However, using batteries makes Ether.Loop very robust
in front of temporary power failures (the equipment can work about 4.5 hours without
the DC).
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Within your Ether.Loop test kit you will find the following items:
• One Ether.Loop unit.
• One console cable to connect Ether.Loop to a controlling computer.
• One AC/DC adapter with a power cord specific for your country.
• One Carrying bag (if ordered).
• One Cat. 5e cable with RJ-45 connector certified for operation at 1 Gb/s rates (if
ordered).
• One SFP for connection to optical interfaces (if ordered).
• One MMF or SMF cables to be used with the SFPs (if ordered).
• One CD-ROM with user documentation.
• One printed copy of this user manual (if ordered).
Check with your distributor the availability of other optional items for your Ether.Loop
unit.

1.1.Important Notice
Operation, manipulation and disposal warnings for your Ether.Loop unit are listed
below.

1.1.1. Warranty
The ALBEDO Telecom Ether.Loop is supplied with a warranty that includes
replacement of damaged or faulty components in the terms and period described in the
ordering information. This Warranty does not apply to:
1. Product subjected to abnormal use or conditions, accident, mishandling, neglect,
unauthorized alteration, misuse, improper installation or repair or improper stor-
age.
2. Product whose mechanical serial number or electronic serial number has been
removed, altered or defaced.
3. Damage from exposure to moisture, humidity, excessive temperatures or extreme
environmental conditions.
4. Damage resulting from connection to, or use of any accessory or other product not
approved or authorized by ALBEDO Telecom.
5. Product damaged from external causes such as fire, flooding, dirt, sand, weather
conditions, battery leakage, blown fuse, theft or improper usage of any electrical
source.

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 Operation

1.1.2. Battery Safety

The ALBEDO Telecom Ether.Loop traffic reflector contains built-in batteries, improper
use of which may result in explosion. Do not heat, open, puncture, mutilate, or dispose
of the product in fire. Do not leave the device in direct sunlight for an extended period
of time, which could cause melting or battery damage.

1.1.3. WEEE Notice

This product must not be disposed of or dumped with other waste. You are liable to
dispose of all your electronic or electrical waste equipment by relocating over to the
specified collection point for recycling of such hazardous waste. For more information
about electronic and electrical waste equipment disposal, recovery, and collection
points, please contact your local city centre, waste disposal service, or manufacturer of
the equipment.

1.2.Test Connectors
Ether.Loop is connected to the DUT / SUT through the test connector panel. Ports and
elements included in this panel are described in the following list:
• RJ-45 Port . This is a 10/100/1000BASE-T port for Ethernet transmit and receive.
• SFP Port. This port is used to connect the equipment to the network through an
optical interface with the help of an SFP module.

1.3.Platform Connectors
There is a connector panel specifically devoted to the platform ports with two different
purposes: powering the equipment and controlling the device from an external terminal.
If follows a more extended description of the platform connectors:
• Power connector: The input must be 12 V DC, 4 A. A suitable external AC/DC
adapter for your country is provided with the tester.
• Power switch: Switches the equipment on an off.
• RJ-45 console. Console connector. This interface is prepared for connecting an
external management device through a serial interface using the console cable
supplied by ALBEDO Telecom.

1.4.Switching the Unit On an Off

To switch the Ether.Loop unit on, use the power switch attached to the unit. Before
connecting Ether.Loop to the network it is recommended to check the current
configuration. Looping back certain frames like broadcast frames (destination MAC
address set to FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF) may be dangerous in some network environments.
Also, if Ether.Loop is configured in Physical loop, it may cause some network devices

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to stop working. Specifically, Ethernet bridges without the Spanning Tree Protocol
(STP) enabled may stop responding when a physical loop is connected to their ports.

Table 1.1: System LEDs

Result Description
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Power This LED is enabled when you power on the unit and it is dis-
abled when you power it off.
When you power on the unit no this LED blinks for 60 sec-
onds to indicate it accepts remote firmware upgrade
requests. If it does not receive any update request after 60
seconds, it goes to normal operation. If the power led blinks
faster than in the normal firmware upgrade status, the equip-
ment is indicating that a previous upgrade has failed and that
it is working with the backup firmware (See section 1.7).
DC IN This LED is enabled when the DC power is connected an dis-
abled otherwise.

Ether.Loop includes batteries but it is recommended to connect the equipment DC

input to the mains before switching on the unit. The Ether.Loop batteries have been
conceived as a power support in front of a temporary power failure but not as a
permanent power source. Please, take into account that the operation time with
batteries is around 4.5 hours and that the time they take to recover their charge when
they are empty is about 24 hours.
Before switching off the unit make sure that there is not a remote user using Ether.Loop
as the test peer for a measurement. Many tests to be carried out by Ether.Loop require
generation of a special kind of test traffic (SLA traffic streams). This traffic is detected
by Ether.Loop and this test condition is indicated by the Traffic LED (See section 1.5).

1.5.Using the Test Ports

Ether.Loop test ports are standard Gigabit Ethernet interfaces but they are unable to
generate traffic on their own other than the minimum to allow them to operate within IP
networks.
Unlike Ethernet ports usually installed in network interface cards, Ether.Loop interfaces
can be configured in loopback mode. If you do that, some or all received frames will be
reflected towards their originator. This is useful to check the continuity in connections
between two network endpoints and measure two-way performance parameters in this
connections such as availability, delay and packet loss.
Frame reflection it is done by the Ether.Loop hardware, that means that processing is
much faster than any traffic loopback based on software. Specifically, Ether.Loop is

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 Operation

able to loop frames at 1 Gb/s even in the worst case of 64 byte frames (about 1,500,000
frames per second).
The recommended high level procedure for connecting the equipment to the network
and using it is the following:
1. Switch Ether.Loop on with the help of the power switch (See section 1.4)
2. Configure the test port, including global and port specific operation modes and
generation / analysis properties.
3. Connect the test cables to the network. Use the electrical or optical ports depend-
ing on the particular network properties.
This section is focused in how to configure the test port to get the desired results. All
configuration parameters discussed here are available from the Command Line
Interface (CLI) from the console connector (See section 1.6).

Table 1.2: Port LEDs

Result Description
Link This LED is enabled when the link with the remote end is
established at Ethernet layer.
• Off: The port is disabled. Only one of the Electrical (RJ-
45) or optical (SFP) ports can be enabled at the same
time. Which one is enabled is controlled by the current
configuration. Disabled ports cannot establish a link with
other stations and they are unable to receive, loop or
send Ethernet frames.
• On (half bright): Port enabled by configuration but no link
detected. The port should be able to establish a link once
it is connected to the network if configured correctly.
• On (full bright): The port is connected to the network and
it has established link either using Ethernet auto-negotia-
tion or by means static Ethernet bit rate settings. The
equipment is ready to receive and transmit frames. Loop
is disabled in the interface, all received frames are dis-
carded but the equipment still replies to ARP requests.
• Slow blinking: Loopback mode enabled in this port. The
port link led blinks if any of the available loopback modes
is active (L1, L2, L3 or L4) both in loop all frames or loop
frames directed to this interface setups. The port blinks
even if there is a link to show to the user the port mode
even before the equipment is connected to the network.

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Table 1.2: Port LEDs

Result Description
Traffic This led indicates that some traffic has been detected in the
link. it also shows what kind of traffic has been detected. The
link LED can be in one of the following three states:
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• Off: No traffic is detected in the link.

• On: Traffic detected. Each time a frame is received the
traffic LED is enabled for a short period of time. It the
equipment is receiving traffic continuously, the traffic LED
will be permanently enabled.
• Blinking: The equipment is receiving test traffic with the
SLA payload generated by ALBEDO Telecom testers.

Current status of the test ports can be checked at any moment with the help of the port
LEDs or by using the right CLI commands. To check if Ether.Loop loopback is enabled
use the following CLI command:
> loopenable?
With the help of the LEDs, the user knows if loopback is enabled in an specific port and
what kind of traffic (network traffic, test traffic) is receiving the traffic reflector.
Information concerning the traffic type the equipment is receiving at any moment is
important to know if the remote traffic generator has succeed trying to reach the loop
device. Ether.Loop automatically recognises SLA frames received from a remote
equipment. Ethernet SLA test payload used by ALBEDO Telecom is a proprietary
extension of the Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) payload defined
by standard ITU-T Y.1731. The SLA payload used by IPv4 is and ALBEDO Telecom
proprietary structure.

S D

DUT / SUT

Ether.Loop
D S

Figure 1.3: This figure illustrates the loopback operation (MAC loop). Source and
destination addresses are swapped so that they can be processed in the normal way by
intermediate switches.

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 Operation

bits bits
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 bytes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 bytes

MEL(7) Version (0) 1

Layer 2 ATSL-OUI 3
(Type 0x8902) OpCode (VSM, 51) 1
SubOpCode (3) 1
Flags (0) 1

TLV offset (16) 1

Sequence number 4

End TLV (0) 1

IEC 61588
8
ITU-T Y.1731 OAM envelope Timestamp

Type (32) 1

Length 2

Pattern Type (2) 1

Test Pattern (PRBS 231-1)

ALBEDO Telecom
Ethernet SLA Frame
bits
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 bytes

ATSL-OUI 3
Layer 3
SubOpCode (16) 1

Sequence number 4

IEC 61588
8
Timestamp

Test Pattern (PRBS 231-1)

ALBEDO Telecom
IP SLA Frame

Figure 1.2: ALBEDO Ethernet and IP payload for SLA tests.

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While in loop mode, the test port does not reply ICMP echo request messages and it
ignores all other network protocols. The only exception to this rule is ARP. A test port
replies ARP requests received from the network (loop modes IP and UDP). Of course,
ARP requests are also looped if the port is configured to do so.

1.5.1. Configuring the Connector

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Ether.Loop includes one electrical (RJ-45) connector and one SFP connector. Which
one is enabled at any moment is a user decision. Normally, the SFP is used to connect
the equipment to an optical interface To configure the RJ-45 (electrical) connector in
Ether.Loop type the following command in the CLI.
> port=ele
To set the SFP (optical) port use the following:
> port=opt
The CLI can be used to know which is the currently configured port. To do that, use the
query format of the port command:
> port?

1.5.2. Configuring Auto-negotiation Parameters

Many Ethernet ports use auto-negotiation to negotiate speed, duplex operation and
other parameters with the peer interface. You can allow or forbid auto-negotiation in
Ether.Loop. If auto-negotiation is enabled, the user can decide whether to restrict the
available bit-rates. If the user decides to disable auto-negotiation, then the bit rate is
forced to a user configurable value.
To configure the auto-negotiation settings in your unit use the autoneg CLI command.
For example, the following command enables auto-negotiation in the test port:
> autoneg=on
If auto-negotiation is enabled, you can avoid Ether.Loop to negotiate one or several bit
rates with the help of the allow10, allow100, allow1000. For example, the following
command, forbids auto-negotiated operation at 1000 Mb/s.
> allow1000=on
At least one of allow10, allow100 and allow1000 has to be enabled to make sure the
tester will be allowed to work. To know which is the current port speed you can use the
following query:
> link?
This command returns 10-FD for 10 Mb/s links, 100-FD for 100 Mb/s links and
1000 Mb/s for 1000 Mb/s.
If you disable auto-negotiation, you have to tell Ether.Loop which bit rate to use. You
can do that with the forced command. For example, the following command forces the
bit rate to 100 Mb/s:

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 Operation

> forced=100

1.6.The Command Line Interface

The Ether.Loop management is done through a command line interface (CLI). The CLI
is available through the console interface by means any Cisco compatible serial
console cable. To configure your Ether.Loop unit, use the local console interface. To
do that:
1. Connect a console cable supplied by ALBEDO telecom between the RJ-45 con-
sole port and the controlling computer.
2. Using a communications software configure the computer serial port with the fol-
lowing settings:
Bit rate: 115.200 b/s
Data bits: 8
Stop bits: 1
Parity: None
Flow control: None
3. Press the enter button. If the connection and line configuration is OK you should
see the the prompt “>”.
4. Write a CLI command and press enter. Use the Help CLI command to get the
complete list of available commands for Ether.Loop (See section A.2).

1.7.Upgrading the Unit

The test unit software can be upgraded from a remote PC by means the Trivial File
Transfer Protocol (TFTP). Improper operation while updating the unit may cause a
non recoverable firmware damage. Please follow the instructions carefully to
upgrade your unit.
1. Install and configure a TFTP client in your computer. These instructions are based
on the Tftpd32 version 4.0 for Windows. This is the recommended TFTP client for
Ether.Loop firmware upgrades.
2. Run the Tftpd32 software.
3. Press the Settings.
A dialogue panel with the Tftpd32 configuration settings opens.
4. Enter the settings in the Global and TFTP tabs as indicated in figure (see
figure1.4) and confirm your settings restarting Tftpd32 if required.
5. Configure the network profile in your computer so that it can communicate with
Ether.Loop.
Note: It is recommended to use a point-to-point connection between the computer
and Ether.Loop to avoid any network failure. If you use a point-to-point to point

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connection you can set the computer address to 10.0.0.1 (network mask
255.0.0.0) and set Ether.Loop to 10.0.0.2.
6. With the help of the serial connection and the Ether.Loop CLI, use the following
command to disable the loop (if enabled):
> loopenable=dis
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Figure 1.4: TFTP client configuration for Ether.Loop firmware upgrade.

7. Configure the Ether.Loop IP address. If you are using a point-to-point connection

with your computer and you have set your computer IP address to 10.0.0.1 you
can configure the Ether.Loop address to 10.0.0.2 with the following command:
> ip 10.0.0.2
8. Save the current settings in Ether.Loop with the following command:
> save
9. Copy the firmware package (firmware00) to the working directory in your PC.
10. On main Tftpd32 window, set Host to the address you have configured in
Ether.Loop, Local File to the file path where firmware00 is located and Remote
File to /albedo_telecom/ether_loop/firmware00.
Note: In the Remote File the directory separator character is the slash (“/”) rather
than the backslash (“\”) character.
11. Restart the Ether.Loop unit with the help of the power switch.

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 Operation

12. Press Put to start transmission of the new firmware to Ether.Loop.

Transmission starts. Progress is indicated in the Tftpd32 main panel with the help
of a progress bar.
Note: You have 60 seconds to start the transmission. After this period, Ether.Loop
stops responding to TFTP messages.
13. Once transmission has finished, restart Ether.Loop without removing the console
connection. The new software is displayed in the data terminal in the following
way:
ALBEDO Telecom Ether.Loop
Layer1-4 Loopback Device
Ver 1.0

Figure 1.5: Tftpd32 main panel.

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Appendix A
CLI Command Reference
This chapter lists all the CLI commands accepted by Ether.Loop with a short description
of their usage and purpose. It also includes a description about how to write and use
these CLI commands.

A.1. Command Syntax

Most commands accept two different syntax one for setting new configuration
parameters and the second one to get the current configuration. To configure new
values it is necessary to write the command identifier followed by the equal (“=”) sign
and the value to be set. For example, to configure the SFP port in Ether.Loop the
correct command syntax is as follows:
> port=opt
To get the currently configured value, write the command identifier followed by the
interrogation (“?”) sign. For example, to know which is the current test port, the right
command is:
> port?
If the query has the correct syntax, the equipment returns a text string to indicate the
currently configured value.

A.2. Command List

The following table constitutes a complete list of the available CLI commands available
for Ether.Loop. Each command accepts different parameters and returns different
values. Some does not accept the query format and some of them does not accept the

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format for setting new values. All these particularities are discussed for each specific
command in the list.

Table A.1:

Command Description
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port This command configures the Ether.Loop test port. The con-
figuration options at disposal of the user are the following:
• port=ele: Configures the RJ-45 test interface in
Ether.Loop. Use this command if you are going to con-
nect the equipment to an electrical Ethernet interface.
• port=opt: Configures the SFP (optical) test interface in
Ether.Loop. Use this option to connect the equipment to
an optical Ethernet interface or network. It requires the
correct SFP to be installed in the Ether.Loop SFP port.
This command accepts a query format (port?) that returns
the currently configured port value.
autoneg Enables (autoneg=on) or disables (autoneg=off) the standard
Ethernet auto-negotiation procedure during the connection
setup. Auto-negotiation sets the link bit rate, duplex mode,
flow control mode without user intervention.
Disable Auto-negotiation only if you know that the remote
end does not support this procedure or if you want to check
link operation without auto-negotiating.
This command accepts a query format (autoneg?) that
returns the currently configured autoneg value.
allow10 Allows (allow10=on) or disallows (allow10=off) the auto-
negotiation procedure to set the link speed to 10 Mb/s if the
remote end supports this operation rate and there is not an
available bit rate with higher precedence (100 Mb/s,
1000 Mb/s)
The allow10 command only makes sense if auto-negotiation
is enabled (autoneg=on). The 10 Mb/s operation is used in
electrical interfaces only. Currently, no 10 Mb/s SFPs are
supported by Ether.Loop.
This command accepts a query format (allow10?).

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 Table A.1:

Command Description
allow100 Allows (allow100=on) or disallows (allow100=off) the auto-
negotiation procedure to set the link speed to 100 Mb/s if the
remote end supports this operation rate and there is not an
available bit rate with higher precedence (1000 Mb/s)
The allow100 command only makes sense if auto-negotia-
tion is enabled (autoneg=on). The 100 Mb/s operation is
used in electrical interfaces only. Currently, no 100 Mb/s
SFPs are supported by Ether.Loop.
This command accepts a query format (allow100?).
allow1000 Allows (allow1000=on) or disallows (allow1000=off) the auto-
negotiation procedure to set the link speed to 1000 Mb/s if
the remote end supports this operation rate.
The allow1000 command only makes sense if auto-negotia-
tion is enabled (autoneg=on).
This command accepts a query format (allow1000?).
forced Forces the link speed to an specific bit rate. This is the bit
rate configured when the auto-negotiation procedure is not
used (autoneg=off).
Available forced bit rates are 10 Mb/s (forced=10) and
100 Mb/s (forced=100). The 1000 Mb/s bit rate cannot be
forced due to restrictions imposed by standard IEEE 802.3.
This command accepts a query format (forced?).
link Returns the bit rate and duplex operation agreed during the
auto-negotiation process. It is one of the 1000-FD, 100-FD
and 10-FD set.
This command only accepts the query format (link?).

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Table A.1:

Command Description
mtu Configures the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) for the
test port expressed in bytes. The MTU is the largest frame
size accepted without declaring the oversize defect.
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Standard IEEE 802.3 specifies an MTU of 1518 bytes for

ordinary Ethernet frames but 1522 is admitted for VLAN
frames and 1526 valid for frames carrying two VLAN tags
(IEEE 802.3ad, Q-in-Q). Some switches provide support for
much larger frames known as jumbo frames.
Ether.Loop accepts any MTU value between 1518 and
10000. Ether.Loop discards all oversized frames, they are
never looped back to their origin.
This command accepts a query format (mtu?).
mac Gets the factory MAC address assigned to the port. This
MAC address is guaranteed to be globally unique in the net-
work under test.
The MAC address cannot be modified. For this reason, this
command only accepts the query format (mac?).
ip Sets or gets the 32 bit IPv4 address assigned to the test port
in decimal, four-dotted format. Addressing scheme used here
follows standards RFC 790 and RFC 791.
This command accepts both a set format (ip=<IPv4 address>)
and a get format (ip?).
loopenable Enables (loopenable=en) or disables (loopenable=dis) frame
reflection in Ether.Loop. When reflection is enabled, the port
receiver is connected to the transmitter so that part or all the
received frames are sent towards their origin. Traffic reflec-
tion is used guarantee the continuity of the test payload or
pattern to in two-way tests.
This command accepts a query format (loopenable?).

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 Table A.1:

Command Description
loopmode The loop mode determines which fields within the Ethernet
frame or the IP datagram are swapped before forwarding. Is
one of the following ones:
• loopmode=phy (Physical loop): Loops frames without
other alteration than pulse shape regeneration. This mode
may cause problems if it is used in a bridged network.
• loopmode=mac (MAC loop): Swaps source and destina-
tion MAC addresses before forwarding the frame. This is
the correct mode to be used in bridged networks.
• loopmode=ip (IP loop): It operates in the same way that
the MAC loop mode but is swaps source and destination
IP addresses as well. This is the correct mode to be used
in routed networks. The IP loop mode is not available in
Ethernet endpoint mode.
• loopmode=udp (UDP loop): It works in the same way that
the IP loop mode but it swaps source and destination UDP
ports as well. This mode can be used if there are network
devices working at the transport layer like for example fire-
walls or NAT routers. The UDP loop mode is not available
in Ethernet endpoint mode.
This command accepts a query format (loopenable?).
broadcast Chooses whether to loop (broadcast=yes) or discard
(broadcast=no) Ethernet broadcast frames. If broadcast loop
is disabled, all frames with destination MAC address set to
FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF are discarded.
Use this setting if you want to avoid Ethernet broadcast
frames to proliferate and potentially flood the network.
This command accepts a query format (broadcast?).
icmp This command enables (icmp=yes) or disables (icmp=no)
looping of ICMP packets. If ICMP loop is disabled, all ICMP
frames (IP protocol number 1) will be discarded.
Use this setting to avoid ICMP packet proliferation in the
network.
This command accepts a query format (icmp?)

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Table A.1:

Command Description
thisport Configures which frames are looped in the current test port.
The available configurations are:
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• thisport=no: Loops all frames received in the test port.

• thisport=yes: Loops frames directed to this port. If loop
mode is set to MAC (loopmode=mac) loops frames which
have a destination MAC address that matches the test
port MAC address. If loop mode is set to IP (loop-
mode=ip) or UDP (loopmode=udp) both the destination
MAC address and destination IP address are required to
match the port addresses.
This command accepts a query format (thisport?)
save Saves the current configuration to non-volatile memory. Once
the configuration is saved you can switch Ether.Loop off an
on without losing any setting.
This command does not accept a query format.
help Displays a summary of all accepted commands along with
the syntax of all them. This is the only query command that
does not finish with an interrogation sign (“?”).

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Appendix B
Technical Specification
B.1. Physical Interfaces
• The device has one network interfaces based on SFP and one electrical RJ-45
port. At least one port will be active
• The following Ethernet interfaces are supported by the SFP ports: 1000BASE-SX,
1000BASE-LX, 1000BASE-ZX and 1000BASE-BX.
• The following Ethernet interfaces are supported by the RJ-45 ports: 10BASE-T,
100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T.

B.2. General Features

• Support for Jumbo frames with MTU up to 10 kB.
• Throughput: 1 Gb/s with 0% frame loss.
• Supported Ethernet frame formats: DIX, IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.1Q, IEEE 802.1ad.
• Supported IP packet formats: IPv4.
• Other frames: UDP.

B.3. Configuration
• Configuration is done by means the platform serial interface using any compatible
terminal software.

B.3.1. Auto-Negotiation
• Negotiation of bit rate. Allow 10 Mb/s, allow 100 Mb/s, allow 1000 Mb/s.
• Ability to disable auto-negotiation and force line settings.

B.3.2. Interfaces
• Electrical or optical.
• Configurable Ethernet parameters: Local MAC address (factory or custom)

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• Configurable Network parameters: Local IPv4 address.

B.3.3. Loopback
• Supports three operation modes: Discard all, loop frames directed to this interface,
loop all.
ALBEDO Telecom - B6523022 - Joan d’Àustria, 112 - Barcelona - 08018 - www.telecom.albedo.biz

• Loopback level: Level 1-4

• Enable / disable looping of ICMP frames
• Enable / disable looping of broadcast frames

B.4. Results
• The equipment supplies results by means LEDs. There are two LEDs for each
interface.

B.4.1. Power LED

• Off: System off.
• Slow blinking: Firmware upgrade possible.
• Fast blinking: Firmware upgrade failed. Using backup firmware.
• On: System on.

B.4.2. DC IN LED
• Off: DC not connected. Working with batteries.
• On: DC connected.

B.4.3. Link LED

• Off: No link detected, port disabled.
• Half bright: No link detected, port enabled.
• On: Link detected, “discard all” mode.
• Slow blinking: “loop frames directed to this interface” or “loop all” modes (with or
without link).

B.4.4. Activity LED

• Off: No activity detected.
• On: Activity detected. Ordinary network traffic.
• Slow blinking: Activity detected. Test traffic (SLA) detected.

B.5. User Interface

• Remote access for configuration and management in text mode using a command
line interface (CLI) in the console (serial) interface.

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B.6. Platform
• Operation time with batteries: 4.5 hours (minimum).
• Battery charging time: 24 hours (typical).
• Dimensions: 223 mm x 144 mm x 65 mm.
• Weight: 800 g (with rubber boot).

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ALBEDO Telecom - B6523022 - Joan d’Àustria, 112 - Barcelona - 08018 - www.telecom.albedo.biz