Abstract: A method and device for testing ATM connections, wherein the contents of the information part of test cells are repeated, including time indication, sequence number within a connection and connection number. The repetition of the contents occurs in octet pairs with the second octet in each pair being the inverse of the first octet in the pair.

Abstract: A traffic generator (TFG) is provided for generating a packet information stream (OUT) with predetermined characteristics based on individual characteristics of a plurality of traffic sources (S0-255, G240-241). Such a traffic generator is used in an Asynchronous Transfer Mode or ATM networks and thus plays an important role in the emergence of such networks. The traffic generator includes a generation memory (GT) for storing a series of individual data (Group A-E) related to traffic sources (S0-255, G240-241), and includes a generation circuit (GM) for cyclically reading a series of individual source related data. Each of the individual source related data (Group A-E) relates to at least one of the traffic sources (S0-255, G240-241) as well as to generation decision data (GD, GEOT) associated thereto.

Abstract: A device (CP) to generate a number of multicast packets derived from a original packet applied at an input (I1/m) of a telecommunication system. The device has a device input (I) coupled to an input (I1/m) of the system and a device output (IN) connected to a single inlet (IN1/m) of a packet switching network (SN) also belonging to the system and coupled to outputs thereof. All the multicast packets are transmitted in series via the single device output (IN) so that only the corresponding single inlet (IN1/m) of the switching network (SN) is used for performing point-to-multipoint or multicast connections independently of the number of multicast packets to be derived from each original packet.

Abstract: Transmission quality assessment arrangement for a communication switching system wherein a stream of cells of information is transmitted from an input (I) to an output (O) over a same communication path. It is adapted, at the input, to insert in the cell stream test cells each having a tag indicative of its position in the resultant cell stream and to count, at the output, the position of each test cell in the latter cell stream. From the difference of the position counted and that stored in the leg of a test cell an indication of the number of added or lost cells--indicative of the transmission quality--is derived.

Abstract: A device (PMD) and a method for measuring the performances characteristics of a communication path of a telecommunication packet switching network (ATM) by transmitting test packets through this path while other live traffic is operating. The test packets are live data communication packets of the live traffic and of which the communication data has been replaced by performance measurement data. No traffic of test packets is thereby added to the existing live traffic and the latter is not disturbed by the measurements.