Automatic conformance testing of OSPF routers

Dealing with dynamic networks, specified in natural language, and sometimes featured with hierarchical routing architecture, routing protocols face two hard problems in the conformance testing: generation of a large quantity of test data and automation of the test process. For the special case of an interior gateway protocol OSPF (open shortest path first), algorithms and procedures are proposed to test automatically the router under test taking the duty of any router in a given network topology. The OSPF protocol, mainly its routing information processing, is formalized as the basis of discussing routing information generation algorithms, neighboring routers simulation and strategy for automatic test process. Applied in practice, this test method compensates for the shortage of existing test means, covering OSPF intra-area, inter-area and AS external routing information processing functions and increasing the test speed greatly by employing automatic execution.