A system, method, and computer program product are provided for testing at least a portion of a Network Function Virtualization based (NFV-based) communication network utilizing at least one virtual service testing element. In use, at least one virtual service testing element is instantiated, the at least one virtual service testing element being operable for testing at least a portion of a NFV-based communication network including a plurality of virtual services. Further, at least one time to implement the at least one virtual service testing element is identified such that the at least one virtual service testing element tests the at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network by: sending a known test case communication from the at least one virtual service testing element as an input to an ingress point of the at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network; receiving a result of the input as an output at an egress point of the at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network; and analyzing the result to determine whether at least a portion of the NFV-based communication network is performing as expected.

In one embodiment, a connection device couples a mobile device having a touch-sensitive display screen to a component of home automation system. The connection device couples a wired serial communication interface of the mobile device to a wired serial communication interface of the component. The mobile device executes a configuration application (app), whose a user interface is displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen. Using the user interface, a user may configure the component to join a Wi-Fi network, as well as configure more advanced settings of the component. Similarly, in response to further input on the user interface, the configuration app on the mobile device may send additional control commands via the connection device, or the Wi-Fi network, to the component, to configure additional settings of the component.

Methods for enabling monitoring a network with a monitoring tool are disclosed. The method includes receiving data packets and adding metadata to the data packets, thereby forming metadata-enhanced data packets. The method also includes forwarding the metadata-enhanced data packets along a path toward the monitoring tool, wherein the metadata pertains to data employed by the monitoring tool to perform network monitoring tasks. Arrangements for performing the same are also disclosed.

Systems and methods of propagating frame loss information by a node in an Ethernet network include detecting one or more of service unaware port discards and service aware port discards; determining statistics based on the one or more of service unaware discards and service aware port discards; and transmitting the determined statistics to a sender node through one of a Link Layer Discovery Protocol Data Unit (LLDPDU) and a Link Trace Message (LTM). The LLDPDU and the LTM can include an organization specific Type-Length-Value (TLV) with a TLV information string therein based on the determined statistics and cause of the one or more of service unaware discards and service aware port discards.

A method of parallel processing by networked devices, in which distributed data in a network is accessed in parallel to provide results. Commands and queries by a user station define a set of such distributed data. The networked devices access the distributed data in portions, individually process each portion, conduct peer-to-peer communication to aggregate results from processing each portion, and individually determine whether and when to report results. Making effective use of network assets (such as processing and storage at each node), making effective use of concurrency of network assets, limiting bandwidth use between network assets and user stations, and limiting use of assets (such as processing and storage) at user stations.

Implementations of the present disclosure involve an apparatus, device, component, and/or method for management of port assignments of networking devices connected to a network and reference materials associated with the port assignments. In one embodiment, a reference material is provided that illustrates the port assignments for one or more networking devices. The reference material may include a full-color illustration of the network device and a port label near each communication port of the network device. The port label may include a description of the port, a port reference number, and a color-coded reference that provides a quick indication of the type of traffic associated with the port. In addition, one embodiment of the present disclosure may automatically populate the reference material based on information obtained from a network administrator or from the network itself.

In a case where reconnection of a cable is performed by replacement of a network device, an erroneous connection detection unit of a network management server compares opposing identification information of current value information and opposing identification information of expected value information, compares group identification information before the replacement of the network device and group identification information after the replacement of the network device, with reference to port configuration information, and determines the presence or absence of erroneous connection of the cable, on the basis of a result of the comparison.

Aspects of the present disclosure can involve systems and methods for a mobile device connected to a local area network (LAN) facilitating connections between a programmable logic controller (PLC) and one or more apparatuses, the mobile device involving a camera and a microphone, which can involve receiving input from one or more of the camera and the microphone; generating one or more of executable code for the PLC and configuration information for the one or more apparatuses from parsing of the input; and transmitting, over the LAN, the one or more of the executable code for the PLC and the configuration information for the one or more apparatuses to the PLC.

A method for detecting network mis-cabling includes receiving, from a discovery process, an original remote device identifier (“ID”) and remote port ID of a port of a remote device connected to a port of a local device and storing the original remote device ID and remote port ID together with a local device ID and a local port ID of the port of the local device. The method includes receiving, from the discovery process, a new remote device ID and remote port ID for a remote device connected to the port of the local device, and comparing the original remote device ID and port ID with the new remote device ID and remote port ID. The method includes, in response to the original remote device ID and the original remote port ID not matching the new remote device ID and the new remote port ID, sending a mismatch alarm.

The disclosure relates to technology for sending network management information in a network. A source edge node modifies data packets by encapsulating an operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) header in the data packets traversing a data path, and the OAM header includes a first indicator field. The source edge node also inserts a segment size field into the OAM header of the data packets based on an indication by the first indicator field, the segment size field indicating the data path is partitioned into segments based on a value of the segment size field.