dsTest® supports both server emulation and client simulation with the Gf Mobile Application. Test Serving Gateway Support Node (SGSN) Gf interfaces in UMTS networks with our Home Location Register (HLR) Emulator. Use the Gf Interface application on a HLR to simulate Equipment Identity Register (EIR) functionality. Use the Gf Interface application to test the capacity and performance of an EIR.
A rich set of operational measurements is collected at specified intervals and stored in a SQLite database on the dsTest server. Real-time measurements may be retrieved through our dsClient™ CLI interface or graphed via our dsClient GUI interface.
Implementation
The Gf Interface application implements the Mobile Application Check International Mobile Station Equipment Identity service.
Server Emulation
Test the behavior of an SGSN by configuring an EIR node simulator or HLR emulator with EIR functionality to return a mix of unknown equipment responses or status codes for various subscribers, or simply use an emulator to respond to requests, eliminating the need to dedicate a production server to lab activities.
The EIR Simulator and HLR Emulator provide Mobile Equipment Identity data repository service for the Gf interface—all of the functionality required by an SGSN.
You can configure the subscriber database with a mix of valid and invalid MEIs and various status codes, causing the EIR simulator or HLR emulator node to return unknown equipment responses or black-listed status codes for certain subscribers. You can use the control interface to change the node’s behavior. Simulate a non-responsive server by pausing the node or simulate intermittent issues by pausing and resuming. Disable individual subscribers during the test run, generating unknown subscriber errors.
Read more about our HLR Emulator.
Client Simulation
The Gf Interface application simulates an SGSN’s Gf interface to validate an EIR’s performance and capacity in a realistic network environment, replicating the deployment configuration.
Execute timed chains of test events with a run-time command or during an automated test to issue requests for specified subscribers, simulating real-world subscriber activity.
Generate identity check requests, simulating real-world attach attempts by subscribers with valid and invalid MEIs.
Multiple SGSN nodes can be instantiated on a single server, each with scalable subscriber loads and transaction rates. In this mode, up to 1000 independent SGSN nodes may be simultaneously simulated. The nodes are fully independent and their subscriber configurations may also be independent, overlap, or be duplicated.
Read more about our Capacity and Performance.
Supporting Standards
- MAP – 3GPP TS 29.002
- TCAP – ITU-T Q.773
- SCCP – ITU-T Q.711-714
- M3UA – RFC 4666
- SCTP – RFC 2960 (RFC 3309 checksum)
