Communication cable breaker and method using same

#1. Field of Invention

#Embodiments of the invention relate generally to techniques for testing the integrity of a communication network, and more particularly, to a cable breaking apparatus and methods of testing a network using the cable breaking apparatus.

#2. Discussion of Related Art

#The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one example of a communication network in accordance with one embodiment;

#FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of one example of a communication cable breaker in accordance with one embodiment; and

#Embodiments of this invention are not limited in their application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Embodiments of the invention are capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and variations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.

#As discussed above, one conventional technique of testing a redundant network is to simply disconnect one of the network cables from the rest of the network, which physically severs one of the network connection paths and prevents data from reaching its destination along the severed path. The network may respond to the disconnected cable by rerouting the data along a different, intact path.

#It is the ability of the network to recover, and the speed at which the recovery occurs, that may be of interest to someone who is testing the network because these factors, among others, are indicators of network reliability. Therefore, according to various aspects, it is appreciated that a new technique for repetitive simulation of a broken cable in a network is needed. In particular, such a technique may be used to facilitate testing. The testing may, for example, be in-lab testing or on-site testing to prove system installation integrity and/or network recovery (healing) ability to a customer. In one embodiment, a cable breaking device is connected to two communication cables that form part of the network. The cable breaking apparatus includes a plurality of controllable switches that, depending on their respective positions (e.g., open or closed), either permit or prevent data from passing through the cable breaker. By controlling the operation of the switches, a user can simulate a broken cable without manually disconnecting any cables or using network traffic blocking software.