Use the LOOP CIRCUIT command to test a specified circuit in the network. This command does not apply to X25 circuits. The parameters are optional and can be entered in any order. LOOP CIRCUIT circuit-id ASSISTANT PHYSICAL ADDRESS address ASSISTANT NODE node-id COUNT number HELP help-type LENGTH number NODE node-id PHYSICAL ADDRESS address WITH MIXED ONES ZEROES All underscores found in parameters must be replaced with spaces when parameters are used in NCP commands.
1 – ASSISTANT
1.1 – PHYSICAL ADDRESS address
Applies only to broadcast circuits. Identifies the physical address of the node that will perform the role of loopback assistant for third-party loop testing. This parameter must be specified if HELP is included in this command. The address cannot be a multicast address. This parameter can be used instead of the ASSISTANT NODE parameter.
1.2 – NODE node-id
Applies only to broadcast circuits. Identifies the name of the node or the address of the node that will perform the role of loopback assistant for broadcast third-party loop testing. This parameter can be used instead of the ASSISTANT PHYSICAL ADDRESS parameter.
2 – COUNT number
Specifies the number of blocks to be sent during loopback testing over the circuit. The count must be a decimal integer in the range of 1 through 65535. If the parameter is omitted, only one block is looped.
3 – HELP help-type
Applies only to broadcast circuits. Indicates the amount of assistance to be provided during broadcast loopback testing by the assistant node, whose address is specified in the ASSISTANT PHYSICAL ADDRESS or node-id as specified in the ASSISTANT NODE parameter. There are three possible values of help-type: TRANSMIT The assistant node relays the request to the destination node, which replies directly to the executor node. RECEIVE The executor node sends the request directly to the destination node, which relays the reply to the assistant node for transmission to the executor node. FULL The assistant node relays the request and the reply between the executor node and the destination node. If HELP is specified, ASSISTANT PHYSICAL ADDRESS or ASSISTANT NODE must also be specified.
4 – LENGTH number
Specifies the length (in bytes) of the blocks to be sent during loopback testing. The length must be a decimal integer in the range of 1 through 4096. Note that the LENGTH parameter must be less than 50 for the DMC-11 circuit operating in either controller loopback mode or cable loopback mode (a DMC-11 with an attached loopback cable). If the parameter is omitted, a block length of 4096 bytes is used.
5 – NODE node-id
Applies only to broadcast circuits. Identifies the destination node to be used for loopback testing of the specified broadcast circuit. Can be used instead of the PHYSICAL ADDRESS parameter.
6 – PHYSICAL ADDRESS address
Applies only to broadcast circuits. Identifies the physical address of the destination node to be used for loopback testing of the specified broadcast circuit.
7 – WITH data-type
Specifies the type of binary information to be sent during testing. Three types of data can be sent: MIXED ONES ZEROS If omitted, a combination of ones and zeros (MIXED) is sent.
8 – Examples
NCP>LOOP CIRCUIT DMC-0 COUNT 5 LENGTH 20 This command initiates a circuit-level loopback test over circuit DMC-0. The software loops five messages, 20 bytes in length with mixed binary information. NCP>LOOP CIRCUIT UNA-0 NODE 224 This command initiate an Ethernet circuit-level loopback test with a node whose address is 224. In this example, the NODE parameter with a node-id of 224 was used in place of the PHYSICAL ADDRESS parameter.