Traffic Rates/Mix

Use Traffic Rate/Mix as a tool to visualize and adjust your current Tx and Rx rates and mix. The Estimated Traffic Mix and Payload Throughput window allows you to configure groups of DMFs by type and edit both the mix and throughput of the groups. You may change the throughput in one of the following ways:

By editing the number of transactions/sec (Instances tab)
Adjusting the Tx/Rx % Pipe (Instances tab)
Changing the Mix-Type by Rx or Tx (Tx by Mix-Type/Rx By Mix Type tabs)
Changing the overall throughput pipes (at the bottom of the window next to the pie charts)

NOTE: The Traffic Mixer doesn’t show flow over time, it shows steady state continuous flow.

The Traffic Rate/Mix allows you to adjust the rates and mix type (Rx/Tx) of the selected DMFs (up to the maximum rate allowed. Make sure you select/setup test case relevant DMFs).

The Traffic Rate/Mix helps you determine the correct/appropriate DMF Profiles and allows you to see if you are setting up invalid DMF profiles. (Without the Traffic Rate/Mix tool, the only way to determine/see invalid profiles is during test execution).

Using the Traffic Rate/Mix tool helps you understand the following and then adjust as required:

How your traffic setup is attempted
How much traffic each Mobile generates/receives
The total traffic attempted/generated/received by the test case

NOTE: You may have to edit data in the Test Case window or the DMF Editor to adjust throughput according to your requirement.

The following lists some of the variables involved in determining the Traffic Mix and where in the Test Case window you may edit them.

Variable/Parameter	Location/Landslide Window
# of Sessions or Mobile Nodes	Test Configuration tab \| Mobile Subscribers pane
# of DMF Instances	Test Case DMF Instances and Assignments
DMF Tx & Rx Bytes	Data Message Flow Window \| Tx/Rx Ratio
DMF Transaction Rate	Data Message Flow Window (default value), Traffic Mixer
DMF Traffic Mix Type	Traffic Mixer
Set (%)	Set to adjust the Data Profile Rate % across all defined DMFs during a running test while preserving the configured data mix. Data Traffic Tab - Traffic Mixer and Traffic Mixer

NOTE:

Max DMF Rate = 1000.0

Max DMF Tx Throughput kbs = 1000.0 trans/s * DMF Tx Bytes/trans * 8 / 1024

Max DMF Rx Throughput kbs = 1000.0 trans/s * DMF Rx Bytes/trans * 8 / 1024

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Editing Traffic Rate/Mix

Once you edit the estimated Traffic Rate/Mix and Throughput in this window, the Traffic Mixer rate is fixed. Any changes you make on the individual DMF rate from Data Message Flow window have no effect. However, if you have never changed the default rate in the Estimated Traffic Mix and Payload Throughput window, the DMF rate will be updated based on the DMF rate defined on the Data Message Flow window.

NOTES: Each DMF Profile has a limiting DMF, whose rate will be adjusted beyond the maximum rate at some point. This limits the total throughput per MN. To reach higher throughputs you must:

Increase the number of DMF instances via Instances and Assignments or the DMF list
Increase the number of MNs via Test Case
Increase the Tx/Rx bytes via DMF Editor window

(The following illustration is an example, and does not define accurate rates and throughput data)

NOTEs:

Identify the locations within DMF messages where filler data will be added before you perform quantity edit. For example, identify the point in a video stream that would represent a longer/shorter movie before you perform the edit.
The Pipe Sizes currently supported are 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G and 100G. The Traffic Mixer auto-selects the smallest Pipe Size based on MAX(Tx,Rx) value to allow < 100% full pipe. I.e. if either Tx or Rx is between 25GB and 40GB, the 40GB pipe size will be selected/shown by default.

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Window Components

NOTE: You can edit data directly in certain cell of the table to set an exact value or you can click one of the buttons to increase or decrease its value by +/- 1% or +/-10% (i.e., to turn it up or turn it down). You may raise/lower traffic volume by clicking the rate or throughput button a few times, since it compounds. The flow size is determined based on the Algorithm To Determine Tx/Rx Ratio.

Adjust Rate/Throughput Buttons

These buttons become available when you select a Rate or Throughput cell that you may edit (see illustration).

Click +/- 1% or +/-10% buttons to increase/decrease rate/throughput value. Using +/- 10% to raise/lower traffic volume compounds the value.

If you change the rate of a DMF, both Tx and Rx will adjust based on how much Rx bytes or Tx Bytes there are per transaction.

NOTE: For example, if an Advanced DMF defines more Tx, adjusting the rate may look like no Rx changed, even though it did.

The + buttons is not available (turns Grey) when any DMF instance reaches it's maximum threshold.

The Taffic Mixer does not allow control over rtpfile rates (DMF | protocol > rptfile), they will display as you define them on the RTP File tab, and you will not be allowed to adjust the rate.

See Algorithm To Determine Tx/Rx Ratio.

Window/Tabs

The Window (Estimated Traffic Mix and Payload Throughput) defines three tabs: Instances, Tx By Mix-Type, Rx By Mix-Type.

Fit Columns/Scroll Columns

Select to Fit Columns (all field are fitted to the window) or Scroll Columns (horizontally scroll the table columns).

Show Packets & Bytes Show Packets Show Bytes

Due to the increased number of columns, you can select 3 different columns views for ease of viewing.

Options: Show Packets & Bytes, Show Packets, Show Bytes

Reset

Click to Reset the selected DMFs to default transaction rate and disable the overridden rate mixer.

NOTE: Clicking resets the rate to the current DMF Default rate, and also clears the Bold Italic text. It also disables the Test Case from overriding the rate defined in the DMF.

For example, If you select one of the instances and click , the rate returns to the default value and the Bold Italic text style is cleared.

Undo

Click to undo any changes made to the Traffic Mix the Rate, Tx, Rx % or the Pipe Slider.

Instances Tab

Lists all the DMF Mainflow Instances in order of the instances defined via the Data Message Flows/Instances and Assignments option.

NOTES: A DMF is overloaded when transaction is > 2000 trans/s (that is, the Rate cells in Red).

When using DMF with rtpfile protocol, increasing the overall Throughput on the Test Case does not change the rtpfile, they will display as you define them on the RTP File tab.

Inst #

Instance ID assigned automatically. Lists the components in the traffic Mix. That is, Test Case (TC), Mobile Node (MN), and instance flows displayed as mainflow and sub-flows ([Instance]-[Mainflow]). For example, TC, MN, 0-0,
1-2, 2-1, 3-2, 4-2, and so on.

DMF/Library Name

Displays the name and location of the DMF file.

DMF Protocol

Set up in the DMF.

User-Defined Mix-Type

Applies for each Mainflow instance. You can define/change the Mix-Type (protocol) on a per-Mainflow basis. For example, if the Estimated Traffic Mix and Payload Throughput window includes multiple instance of the same DMF Main Flow, changing the Mix-Type for one, changes it for all. That is, DMF re-groups based on the new/changed Mix Type and automatically adjusts related values (throughputs/ratios).

Rate (Trans/s)

Set up in the DMF. Editing Transaction Rate for an individual DMF results in all other values (throughputs/ratios) adjust accordingly.

NOTES:

The rates display in Bold Italic text in the Rate cell when DMF instances rates are overridden by the test case.
When the rates defined in DMF Editor are overridden by the Test Case, the test Case defined rates takes precedence.
If you change the messages/packets in the DMF editor, the Traffic Mix window is affected accordingly.

For example, you may use the defined DMF rate and ensure that this rate is maintained even if it is changed.

Click the rate cell and edit the Rate, but do not change the value or re-enter the same value. (The rate value displays in Bold Italics, which indicates Test Case defined value). See example illustratration.illustratration.

Tx PPS/ Tx PPT/ Tx Avg Packet

With the ability to set a L4 Header Size to DMF and along with Segment size, Estimate Packet rate per DMF transaction can now be calculated. Three fields in the Tx/Rx have been added to show Packets Per Second (PPS), Packets Per Transaction (PPT) and Average Packet Size.

NOTE: These estimates are solely based on the estimates provided by the DMF definition and currently do not include any Transport Control (ACKs) packets

Tx (Bytes/trans)

Set up in the DMF.

Tx Throughput (kbs/s)

Set up in the DMF. Editing Throughput for a DMF (Tx Throughput column) changes value in Rate/Trans, Tx %, and Ratio Rx/Tx (throughputs/ratios for the TC and MNs) adjust accordingly.

Tx %

Value relative to other Main flows. Change an individual DMF % and the total throughput for Tx is maintained. Other DMF % is increased or decreased to maintain relative ratios.

Rx (Bytes/trans)

Set up in the DMF.

Rx PPS/ Rx PPT/ Rx Avg Packet

NOTE: These estimates are solely based on the estimates provided by the DMF definition and currently do not include any Transport Control (ACKs) packets

Rx Throughput (kbs/s)

Set up in the DMF. Editing Throughput for a DMF (Rx Throughput column) changes value in Rate/Trans, Rx %, and Ratio Rx/Tx (throughputs/ratios for the TC and MNs) adjust accordingly.

Rx %

Value relative to other Main flows. Change an individual DMF % and the total throughput for Rx is maintained. Other DMF % is increased or decreased to maintain relative ratios.

Tx/Rx Ratio (%)

Set up in the DMF. Change Tx/Rx Overall Throughputs. The Mix ratio for individual DMF Tx/Rx is maintained.

Tx/Rx Pipe

Displays percentage of Tx/Rx flow per instance of a protocol when you select a cell in the Tx %/Rx % .

Pipe Size:

The pipe displays red (a warning) when the projected value is greater than the current Pipe Size (pipe is overloaded). The pipe turns red when the throughput you have specified is > the pipe size.

NOTE: The pipe size limiting factor is the DMF max rate and max throughput (rate * bytes/trans). In addition, throughput is based on several factors, including # MNs, DMF bytes/transaction, DMF trans/s, and so on.

See Algorithm To Determine Tx/Rx Pipe Slider Throughput.

NOTE: You cannot edit any DMFs that define 0 bytes of Tx/Rx value.

Flow Usage : Indicates how much of the "Flows" are available on each license and how much the test case is using against it:

Tx By Mix Type /

Rx By Mix Type

Lists the Tx/Rx Mix Type for the DMFs displayed on the Instances tab.

The Adjust Mix Type buttons (-10%, -1%, +1%, +10% buttons on the top of the window) become available when you select a Rate or Throughput cell that you may edit (see the illustration).

Mix-Type

Indicates the Traffic/DMF type. The Mix tabs are not listed in any specific order. Each Mix Type display in separate rows. Multiple DMF Instances may be of the same Mix type.

In the example illustratedexample illustrated, the Mix Type displays in the reverse order of the User-Defined Mix Type appearing in the Instance tab.

Percentage (%)

Tx/Rx Individual Mix percentage. Change individual mix percentage and the total throughput for the respective (Rx/Tx) is maintained. Other Mix Type % is increased or decreased to maintain relative ratios. The ratio of DMFs within the Mix-Type is also maintained.

Per Test Case Throughput

Tx/Rx Throughput for individual Mix type. Change the transaction rate for all DMF instances in the mix-type and all other values (throughputs, ratios, percentages) adjusts accordingly.

Tx/Rx Overall Throughputs can be changed, when changed the Mix ratio will be maintained for the respective side (Tx/Rx).

NOTE: The Per Test Case Throughput column displays when you have a test session with multiple test cases that have data enabled. The column does not display if have only a single test case in the session.

Per-MN Throughput (kbs)

Tx/Rx Throughput for individual Mix type. Change the transaction rate for all DMF instances in the mix-type and all other values (throughputs, ratios, percentages) adjusts accordingly.

When you change Tx/Rx Overall Throughputs, the Mix Type ratio is maintained for the respective side (Tx/Rx).

Traffic Pipe

Displays percentage of Tx/Rx flow per instance of the protocol when you select a cell in the Tx %/Rx %.

Pipe Size:

The pipe displays red (a warning) when the projected value is greater than the current Pipe Size (pipe is overloaded). The pipe turns red when the throughput you have specified is > the pipe size.

See Algorithm To Determine Tx/Rx Pipe Slider Throughput.

NOTE: You cannot edit any Mix-Types that define 0 bytes of Tx/Rx value.

Chart Pane

The pie charts shows the traffic mix by type for each direction, Tx/Rx. And the Pipes show how full a 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G or 100G pipe is in either direction and turns red when over 100%.

Pie Charts

Two pie-charts, one for Tx and Rx, shows the percentage of each Mix-Type in the stream. The stream is Per-MN for the Test Case.

Pipe Slider

Use the Pipe Slider to adjust/override the DMF transaction rates to maintain the traffic mix.

Pipe Size:

The pipe displays red (a warning) when the projected value is greater than the current Pipe Size (pipe is overloaded). The pipe turns red when the throughput you have specified is > the pipe size.

See Algorithm To Determine Tx/Rx Pipe Slider Throughput.

NOTES:

When a Mainflow DMF is not set for Continuous transactions, its name will be prefixed with an asterick (*). That is, the displayed throughput is valid only untill the DMF completes all transactions.

When you open the Estimated Traffic Mix and Payload Throughput window, any errors detected displays before launching the window:
- A mainflow or subflow is not found
- A mainflow or subflow is not using a protocol valid for this feature.
- A subflow's # of transactions is set to continuous, 0.
- A subflow's total time to execute is greater than the mainflow's rate allows.
- A filler TDF is not found.
The Traffic Mix feature does not work with eDMFs and registers 0bytes. Only Basic and Advanced protocols are supported.

Clicking OK saves your traffic Mix and Payload throughput definitions.

NOTE: The Traffic Mixer doesn’t show flow over time, it shows steady state continuous flow.

Test Case Pause/Resume does not affect the Traffic Mixer. It (Traffic Mixer) shows you what the traffic would be like if all DMFs are running continuously and successfully.
Multiple instances of the same DMF Mainflow must have the same Mix-Type. If you edit the mix type of one, it will automatically update the rest. For example, if you have 3 of the same mainflow DMF, with a total of
5 transactions/second. Running this setting with per-DMF Report Option, reports total as 5 transactions/second.

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(The following illustration is an example, and does not include accurate rates and throughput data)

NOTE: The Pipe Sizes currently supported are 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G and 100G. The Traffic Mixer auto-selects the smallest Pipe Size based on MAX(Tx,Rx) value to allow < 100% full pipe. I.e. if either Tx or Rx is between 25GB and 40GB, the 40GB pipe size will be selected/shown by default.

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Algorithm To Determine Tx/Rx Ratio

The following logic applies when sizing a DMF

If the DMF Instance's Role (defined on the Data profile | Assignments tab) is not what the test case expects, then the Tx and Rx values are reversed. For example, during Network Host test case, if the Role is set as Client (on the Data profile | Assignments tab), the DMF Tx will be from Server-To-Client, whereas normally, Server is the Role of a Network Host test case.

Basic Data

Tx Bytes = Packet Size
Rx Bytes = Packet Size * Host Data Expansion
Throughputs = (Bytes * Traffic Rate * 8(bits/byte)) / 1000 (kilobytes/byte)

Advanced Data

Advanced Data calculations are a best estimate and depending upon the sequencing you defined, the calculations may bot be accurate, as some sequences may be very difficult to quanitify. The following shows the calculations based on an estimate:

Tx Bytes = Total of all Client-to-Server messages sizes + all subflow instances Tx total bytes

Rx Bytes = Total of Server-to-Client messages sizes + all subflow instances Rx total bytes.

Message Size

A Message size is determined based on pasting auto-fills, automatic padding, TDF fill and user specified message data. Logic to calculate a single message size:

Message Size = User-defined message

For each Pasting Autofill:

Message Size + = Autofill Format size (1, 2, 4, 8, 10 for fixed size formats or 5 for Ascii/Binary)

If using Automatic Padding:

if (Automatic Padding size > Message Size)

Message Size = Automatic Padding Size

else if using TDF

Message Size += TDF size

Subflow

Subflow bytes are equal to # of Tx-Rx bytes per Transaction * # of transactions.
Subflow bytes for a single transaction are calculated using the same algorithm as mainflow, however, a subflow must be a FINITE action, the total time or a subflow to execute is its rate * # of transactions.
You can call a subflow multiple times from a mainflow (hence, # of subflow instances), the TAS counts how many times a particular subflow is started. Therefore final subflow calculation looks like this:

For each Subflow in the Mainflow:

Total Subflow Tx Bytes += Subflow Instance Count * Subflow Tx Bytes * Subflow Transactions
Total Subflow Rx Bytes += Subflow Instance Count * Subflow Rx Bytes * Subflow Transactions
Throughputs is calculated the same as Basic Data:
Throughputs = (Bytes * Traffic Rate * 8(bits/byte)) / 1000 (kilobytes/byte)

Algorithm To Determine Tx/Rx Pipe Slider Throughput

Total TX Pipe Throughput =

{ SUM { each DMF instance (Tx bytes/trans) * (trans/s) } } * (#MNs)

Total RX Pipe Throughput =

{ SUM { each DMF instance (Rx bytes/trans) * (trans/s) } } * (#MNs)

Adjust the Data Profile Rate % across all defined DMFs during a running test while preserving the configured data mix (using Set (%))

Instead of having to manually set the transaction rate of each DMF individually, via opening the DMF editor, now you can quickly adjust the rates of the entire data profile by % in one function.

A new button (Set %) has been added to the Mainflows and Traffic Mixer tabs only when viewing the test case while the test is running:

You are setting the percent % of the configured rate. Thus, 100% represents the configured values from the saved test case. If you choose 200% that will be double the rates for all DMFs. The max % allowed will be calculated and used to validate the max % allowed. No DMF should be allowed to go higher than 1000 trans/s, or not above any other transaction rate limit determined via message delays/timers.

If you change the rate and the TS does not return an error, the Traffic Mixer will automatically reflect the new rates, if we set the profile above to 150% we see this:

Note the mix remained the same, each DMF transaction rate was increased by 50%.

If the TS returns an error, an error dialog will be displayed and with no update to the mixer.

If you change the overall rate from 100% and if you close and reopen the test case editor, it will reset it’s view back to 100% of configured rate. The TS will still be running at the changed rate, but the test case editor is not persisting your changes. You can then use editor to change the rate to any new %. The idea for this use-case is to keep the TC open while you figure out the optimum rate that you need. Also once the test is completed, and you close and reopen the test case editor it should return to the original configured rates (i.e. 100%).

When adjusting DMF rates on a running test, you should choose between using “Set %” or via each DMF.

When you use the “Set %” method to adjust DMF rates, the TAS will also be adjusting the “Configured Rate” measurement that you see in the live reports, which in turn should adjust the % Attempted measurements. The use-case for this feature is to monitor the % Attempted measurements along with other key DMF KPIs that indicate performance, side by side with the Data Profile to adjust the rates:

You might also include tracking the “Configured Rate” so that you can confirm the rates are changed:

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