Ethernet test provides a MEP with the ability to send an in-service on-demand function to test connectivity between two MEPs. The test is generated on the local MEP and the results are verified on the destination MEP. Any ETH-TST packet generated that exceeds the MTU is silently dropped by the lower level processing of the node.
Specific configuration information required by a MEP to support ETH-test is the following:
MEG level (MEG level at which the MEP exists)
unicast MAC address of the peer MEP for which ETH-test is intended
data (optional element whose length and contents are configurable at the MEP)
priority (identifies the priority of frames with ETH-Test information)
drop eligibility (identifies the eligibility of frames with ETHTest information to be dropped when congestion conditions are encountered)
A MIP is transparent to the frames with ETH-Test information and does not require any configuration information to support ETH-Test functionality.
Both nodes require the eth-test function to be enabled to successfully execute the test. Because this is a dual-ended test, initiate on sender with results calculated on the receiver, both nodes need to be check to see the results.