WO2007056921A1

WO2007056921A1 - A protocol testing device and the protocol testing method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2007056921A1
Application number: PCT/CN2006/002666
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zongsheng Zhang
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2005-11-16
Filing date: 2006-10-11
Publication date: 2007-05-24
Also published as: CN100387004C; CN1852178A

Abstract

A protocol testing device comprises a first interface unit, a second interface unit, a protocol stacks analysis unit, and a protocol testing unit. The device may further include a control unit and a management unit. A protocol testing method includes the following steps: obtaining a first message packet transmitted from a source device, editing the content of the packet based on the testing rule, transmitting the edited packet to a destination device; obtaining a response packet to the edited packet from the destination device and analyzing whether the response packet is the received packet conforming the testing rule or not. The invention may realizes the integrity of testing and quickly simulate the testing under an abnormal environment.

Description

Protocol testing device and testing method

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of testing technologies, and in particular, to a protocol testing device and a testing method. Background of the invention

A schematic diagram of a next-generation (NGN) network structure as shown in FIG. 1, in which a protocol described by an ABNF grammar (AB P is a grammar format describing a communication protocol) between a media gateway (MG) and a soft switch (Soft Switch) is used. For example, H.248, Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), etc., MG includes relay media gateway (TMG), access media gateway (AMG) ), integrated access equipment (IAD), etc. As the NGN network matures, the interoperability testing of devices from different manufacturers is gradually taking place.

For NGN, the network contains different devices, and different protocols or signaling may be used between different devices. For example, in the process of calling the IAD on the side of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PST), the protocol for completing the call message exchange includes narrowband SS7 (Integrated Services Digital Network User Part Protocol, ISUP), and broadband signaling MTP2 user adaptation. Layer (MTP2 User Adaption Layer, M2UA), Stream Control Transport Protocol (SCTP), H.248 protocol, and MGCP protocol. Therefore, in order to ensure interoperability between different devices, the testing of protocols under NGN is even more important.

The current protocol test usually uses software to simulate a device sending a message to the peer to test the protocol running between the peer device. The following is an example of testing the TMG. In the example shown in Figure 2, the test set simulates a Soft Switch and forms a network with the TMG. During the test, the TMG registers with the test device that simulates the softswitch; after that, the test device sends a message to the TMG based on the customized process, and receives the message returned by the TMG, and then analyzes the message for testing purposes. . For example, the test device simulates a softswitch to send an H.248 message and receives the message returned by the TMG, and then the test device can view and analyze whether the message of the process meets the requirements of the protocol.

This test method requires the test device to simulate a device in the network to complete the test. It is difficult to fully test the entire process, and it is more difficult to complete the protocol test in a real network. This is because: For the test under this method, a complete process is required on the test device to perform process-based information interaction with the device under test, and the process is usually flexible and complicated, and the processes of different vendors may not be the same. Therefore, the simulation software is difficult to adapt to different manufacturers' equipment, and it is difficult to achieve complete testing. On the other hand, because the stored process cannot include all the real situations, it is impossible to simulate the real situation and handle some special tests in real situations. For example, when signaling between a softswitch and a PSTN network is to be tested, but a signaling gateway (SG) is required, the signaling at this time becomes complicated and it is difficult to complete the test by the existing test device. Summary of the invention

In view of this, the main object of the present invention is to provide a protocol testing device and a testing method for implementing the completeness of the test, and to quickly simulate the test under special circumstances.

The protocol testing device provided by the present invention includes:

a first interface unit, a second interface unit, configured to receive a message of the external network, and then send the message to the protocol stack analysis unit, and send the message sent by the protocol test unit to the external network;

a protocol stack analyzing unit, configured to parse the message sent by the first/second interface unit, and transmit the parsed message to the protocol testing unit; The protocol test unit is configured to analyze the first interface unit message sent by the protocol stack analysis unit to verify whether the message meets the requirements, and restore the parsed first interface unit message to the original message and send the message to the first The second interface unit is further configured to: analyze the second interface unit message sent by the protocol stack analysis unit to verify that the request meets the requirement, and restore the parsed second interface unit message to the original message and send the message to the original message. The first interface unit.

The device may further comprise:

And a control unit, configured to control coordination of each unit of the protocol testing device.

The protocol testing unit further includes a message editing module, configured to edit the parsed message according to a test rule.

Preferably, the device further comprises:

a management unit, configured to implement modification of the test rule, and report the analysis result of the protocol test unit to the user.

Preferably, the first/second interface unit comprises: a serial communication port COM component interface and/or a terminal control language TCL protocol interface and/or an object oriented interpretive language Python protocol interface.

A protocol testing method provided by the present invention connects a protocol testing device between a source device and a destination device, and the method includes the following steps:

Acquiring the first message sent by the source device, and editing the content of the packet according to the test rule, and sending the edited packet to the destination device;

Obtaining a response message message of the destination device to the edited message, and analyzing whether the response message meets the message that should be received according to the test rule.

After the obtaining the response message of the destination device to the edited message, the method further includes: modifying the response message message to a response message message of the first message message, and sending the response message message to the source device.

The steps of editing the content of the ^^艮 article include: Parsing out the received components of the first message packet; replacing, adding, or deleting the content of one or more components of the parsed message according to the test rule.

The steps of the parsing are:

Determining the protocol used for interaction between the source device and the destination device;

The received first message packet is parsed using a message structure specified by the protocol.

The step of analyzing whether the response message message meets the message to be received specified by the test rule includes:

A method for analyzing whether each component of the message structure conforms to the requirements of the protocol; or / and, sex; or / and, the manner of obtaining the message includes one of the following ways:

Obtained by means of a message broker;

Obtained by means of routing.

The method further includes:

The result of analyzing the response message is provided to the user.

It can be seen from the above method that since the test apparatus of the present invention is directly placed in the middle of the network, the protocol completeness between the two devices in the network in the real environment can be tested extremely realistically, and since it is not necessary to simulate the complete between the two devices The interaction process, so the number of scripts to be used in the structure of the invention only needs to replace the protocol stack to test different protocols, all protocol testing operations are the same, can reduce the difficulty of using the tool, and can test a wide range of content. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an NGN network.

2 is a schematic diagram of testing the TMG in the prior art.

Figure 3 is a structural view of the test apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the test device of the present invention placed in a network when tested.

Figure 5 is a flow chart of testing of the test device of the present invention. . Ways of implementing the invention

The invention provides a protocol testing device and a testing method. At the time of testing, the protocol test apparatus of the present invention is placed between two devices to be tested in the network, such as between device A and device B. During the test, the protocol testing device of the present invention receives the message sent by the device A to the testing device, and the testing device modifies the received message message according to the test request, and then sends the message message to the device B; the device B sends a message to the testing device, and the testing device pairs The message is analyzed according to the foregoing test requirements, and then the message message is modified and forwarded to device A to complete the test of the communication protocol between the two devices. In general, the present invention can quickly test whether a protocol transmission is normal by capturing, discriminating, modifying, transmitting a message, and modifying a protocol flow or protocol field.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings in conjunction with the embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a protocol testing apparatus according to the present invention, including: a first interface unit, a protocol stack analyzing unit, a protocol testing unit, a second interface unit, a control unit, and a management unit. Among them, each unit is detailed as follows:

The first interface unit and the second interface unit are configured to send and receive protocol packets, and when receiving the message from the outside of the protocol testing device, notify the control unit to send the message to the protocol stack under the control of the control unit. unit. The interface of the interface unit may be a COM component interface, a control language (TCL) protocol interface, an object-oriented explanatory language (Python) protocol interface, etc., depending on the test protocol. The protocol stack analysis unit is configured to parse the received message according to a certain grammar, such as the ABNF grammar, parse the structure of the message, and send the parsed message to the protocol test unit under the control of the control unit. . The parsing refers to parsing a received series of string codes into a structure required by the protocol, such as: parsing the received 3D68S6H3G string into an ABN grammar into: source address, destination address, protocol content, and the like. Since the transmitted information is composed according to the grammar of the protocol specified by the protocol used, the structure of the protocol must be resolved according to the prescribed grammar.

The protocol testing unit is configured to analyze the parsed message according to the predetermined rule, and analyze whether the components of the parsed packet structure conform to the format required by the protocol, and whether the packet meets the content of the message required by the process, etc. And edit the information in the message structure (including replacement, addition, deletion) according to the set requirements, for example, replace the H248 protocol message mid field [129.10.10.1]: 2944 with [129.1.1.1]: 2940, The edited message is reassembled into a message that can be transmitted on the line, such as being restored to a string code, and sent to the interface unit. Among them, the different requirements for editing the information in the message structure can be written as different scripts, and stored in the protocol test unit in advance, and the corresponding scripts can be called when needed. In fact, the script may include a script that does not perform any operation, and the edit may also include no change to the content of the file. The script is called to verify whether the protocol message in the original state is normal.

A control unit that controls the coordinated actions of the various units throughout the process. It includes a series of actions such as control interface unit receiving and forwarding packets, control protocol stack analysis unit execution analysis, control protocol test unit analysis test, modification, and reorganization. The concrete implementation of these actions can be implemented by calling the corresponding script stored by the control unit. The invention analyzes and judges the response message of the message sent after editing by analyzing and editing the message, thereby realizing the test of the protocol.

The management unit provides an interface to the control unit, and the script file can be modified through the management unit. The component is sent to the protocol test unit and the control unit, and the protocol test unit analysis result is provided to the user through the management unit. The snap-in also provides a user interface that can be used to edit TCL scripts, as well as script use case management, as well as script control such as script run and stop; the snap-in also includes a display unit for displaying information during the run.

The H.248 protocol test is used as an example to test whether the ADD message delivered by the softswitch in a call conforms to the protocol, and whether the ADD message processing of the error version number sent by the TMG is correct. .

As shown in FIG. 4, a schematic diagram of the test apparatus of the present invention is placed in a network during testing. In the information exchange between the PSTN and the softswitch, the test apparatus of the present invention intercepts the softswitch (ie, the MGC described later, and the MGC is controlled by the media gateway). The H.248 message, which is part of the softswitch, is found to be an ADD message, and according to the grammar format requirements of the protocol, check whether the data of each field constituting the message meets the requirements of the protocol, so as to complete the test requirement for the softswitch; Then, according to the test requirement, the version number of the message is modified and then forwarded to the TMG, so that after receiving the response (Replay) message of the TMG, according to the grammar format requirement of the protocol, it is checked whether the response message is correct, and the test is completed.

The above H.248 protocol test will be described in detail below with reference to the flowchart at the time of testing shown in FIG. In this example, the first interface unit of the protocol testing device is an MG interface unit, and the second interface unit is an MGC interface unit. During the call, SS7 (ISUP.TUP), PRA and other signaling messages pass through the SG; H.248 messages pass through the protocol test device.

When the PSTN side initiates a call, the IAM signaling is transmitted to the softswitch through the SG and the IP network. In this example, the softswitch is implemented by the MGC and will not be described later. When the MGC sends the H.248 ADD message to the TMG in response to the message, the message is obtained by the protocol testing device of the present invention and processed, and includes the following steps:

Step 501: The MG interface unit of the protocol testing device receives the message packet, inserts the queue, and then notifies the control unit. The control unit defines the command interface according to the script in advance. The function sends the message to the protocol stack analysis unit.

Step 502: After receiving the packet, the protocol stack analyzing unit parses the packet through a unified packet parsing interface. In this example, the protocol uses ABNF grammar format to describe, so the parsing result is parsing AB P A grammar format message.

For example, the received series of string codes are parsed out of the grammar format required by the protocol, such as: The 3D68S6H3G is parsed into: source address, destination address, protocol content, and the like. And according to the control of the control unit, the parsed message is sent to the protocol test unit.

Among them, different ABNF protocols can be handled by replacing/loading different ABNF protocol stacks. The protocol message can also be parsed by string matching; correspondingly, the message is constructed by string synthesis in a later step.

Step 503: The protocol testing unit analyzes whether the packet is correct according to a preset rule, including analyzing the structure of the packet, whether the content of the packet is reasonable, and the like, such as whether the required fields (source address/destination address, etc.) are included. ), and whether the content of the message corresponds to its attribute (such as whether it is a numeric type/string type, etc.). It also includes the analysis of whether the response information sent back and forth after the modification is correct. Application layer analysis results can be provided to the user through the management unit. In this example, it is checked whether the H248 ADD data meets the requirements of the protocol, including checking the H248 ADD data according to the structure of the message specified by the protocol, checking the attribute values of each field of the data according to the protocol, etc., to complete the soft Exchange test purpose

On the other hand, the contents of each part of the message structure are modified according to the requirements of the test content, and are tested according to the response message. Thereafter, the message structure is assembled into a message, such as restored to a string code, and sent to the MG interface unit under the control of the control unit. In this example, the version number of the message is modified according to the test requirements to check whether the response is correct after receiving the TMG response (Replay) message.

Step 504: Notification] The VIGC interface unit sends a message. MGC interface unit will be processed The message in the queue is sent to the TMG.

Step 505: After receiving the response (Replay) message of the TMG, the MGC interface unit is sent to the protocol test unit for analysis by the protocol stack analysis unit under the control of the control unit, and analyzes whether the content of the response message is The content of the response message that should be received by the test rule is consistent, thereby determining whether the response message is correct.

Step 506: After the test of the essay is finished, the protocol test unit constructs a corresponding response message and sends the message to the MGC through the MG interface unit.

The method in which the protocol test device of the present invention captures the packet to be tested may be in the form of a message proxy, that is, the destination IP address is configured as the address of the protocol test device in the network devices at both ends to be tested. The packet is automatically sent to the protocol test device. After the protocol test device processes the packet, the packet is forwarded to the destination device to which the packet is actually sent. It can also be routed, that is, the protocol test device is regarded as a router, and other network devices are respectively placed on different network segments on both sides of the protocol test device, so that IP packets pass through the protocol test device through the routing protocol, and the protocol test is performed. The device analyzes whether it is a protocol packet that needs to be tested at the IP layer. If yes, the device captures the packet, and still forwards the packet through the routing protocol after the processing is completed.

As can be seen from the above embodiments, the protocol test apparatus of the present invention can be inserted into the network without affecting the network, can comprehensively test protocols in the real network, and can test protocol processing in various special cases and in continuous processes. Moreover, the entire interactive process of pre-writing information is not required as compared with the method of simulating a device for testing as mentioned in the background art.

In addition, it should be noted that when the script is invoked, the script call interface can be provided by the popular TCL method/Python method/COM component method/VB script to implement the call to the script. In addition, the protocol test is not limited to H.248, MGCP, SIP, and other protocols based on the ABNF format. By switching different ABNF protocol stacks, different protocols can be tested by using the solution of the present invention. For non-ABNF format protocols, protocol test units The present invention can also be used to implement the test as long as the description specification of the format of the protocol to be detected is stored.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalents, improvements, etc., which are included in the spirit and scope of the present invention, should be included in the present invention. Within the scope of protection.

Claims

Claim

A protocol testing device, characterized in that the device comprises:

The first interface unit and the second interface unit are configured to receive the message of the external network and then send the message to the protocol stack analyzing unit, and send the message transmitted by the protocol testing unit to the external network.

a protocol stack analyzing unit, configured to parse the message sent by the first/second interface unit, and transmit the parsed message to the protocol testing unit;

The protocol testing unit is configured to analyze the first interface unit message sent by the protocol stack analyzing unit to confirm whether the request meets the requirement, and restore the parsed first interface unit message to the original message and send the message to the original The second interface unit is further configured to: analyze the second interface unit message sent by the protocol stack analysis unit to confirm whether the request meets the requirement, and restore the parsed second interface unit message to the original message and send the message. Give the first interface unit.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device further comprises: a control unit, configured to control coordinated operation of each unit of the protocol testing device.

The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protocol testing unit further comprises a message editing module for editing the parsed message according to a test rule.

The device according to claim 1, wherein the device further comprises: a management unit, configured to implement modification of the test rule, and report the analysis result of the protocol test unit to the user.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the first/second interface unit comprises: a serial communication port COM component interface and/or a terminal control language TCL protocol interface and/or Or an object-oriented interpretive language Python protocol interface.

A method for testing a protocol, the method comprising the steps of: acquiring a first message sent by a source device, and editing the message according to the test rule To send the edited message to the destination device;

The method according to claim 6, wherein after the obtaining the response message of the destination device to the edited message, the method further comprises: modifying the response message message to the first The response message of the message packet is sent to the source device.

The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of editing the content of the message comprises:

Parsing out the received components of the first message packet;

The content of one or more components of the parsed message is replaced, added, or deleted according to a test rule.

The method according to claim 8, wherein the parsing step is: determining a protocol used for interaction between the source device and the destination device;

The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of analyzing whether the response message message meets the message that should be received according to the test rule comprises:

Analyzing whether the various components of the message structure conform to the structure required by the agreement; or / and, sex; or / and,

The method according to claim 6, wherein the method for obtaining a message comprises one of the following ways:

Obtained by means of a message broker; Obtained by means of routing.

The method according to any one of claims 6 to 11, further comprising:

The result of analyzing the response message is provided to the user.