MAC Ping Test
The NQA Media Access Control (MAC) ping test is a detection tool provided by Ethernet Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) and is implemented according to IEEE 802.1ag.
A MAC ping test is initiated by a Maintenance association End Point (MEP) and is performed between the MEP and Maintenance Point (MP) in the same Maintenance Association (MA). The destination is an MEP or Maintenance association Intermediate Point (MIP) of the same level as the MEP initiating the MAC ping test in the same or different MAs.
The process of initiating an 802.1ag MAC ping test from MEP1 to MEP2 is as follows:
MEP1 sends a Loopback Message (LBM) to MEP2.
MEP2 receives the LBM and responds with a Loopback Reply (LBR).
MEP1 calculates the time taken to perform the ping operation to analyze network performance.
Within the timeout period:
If MEP1 does not receive the LBR message from MEP2, it considers the link between itself and MEP2 unreachable.
If MEP1 receives the LBR message from MEP2, it calculates the transmission delay from MEP1 to MEP2 based on the timestamps in the message.
During a MAC ping test, the source can send multiple LBMs continuously and then check whether LBRs are returned. This test allows the collection of statistics about Ethernet OAM performance, including the average delay, jitter, and packet loss ratio, based on the timestamps in the test packets.
MAC ping test results and historical records are collected in test instances. You can run commands to view the test results and historical records.