TCP Stress Test Application

Overview

This is a NetBurner embedded TCP stress testing application designed to measure various network performance metrics and response times. The application runs a series of sequential tests to evaluate TCP connection handling, data transfer speeds, and select() function performance.

Description

The TCP Stress Test application is designed to work in conjunction with a Windows program to exercise various test cases and measure network performance. It provides comprehensive testing of TCP socket operations including connection establishment, data exchange, and bulk data transfer capabilities.

Features

The application performs five sequential stress tests:

1. Listening Test

Listens for incoming TCP connections on port 10000
Exchanges single characters with connecting clients
Measures the time and number of connections processed
Terminates when it receives an 'X' character from a client

2. Connecting Test

First accepts one incoming connection to determine the client's IP address
Then repeatedly makes outgoing connections back to that client
Exchanges single characters with each connection
Measures connection establishment performance
Terminates when it receives an 'X' character

3. Response Test

Tests worst-case TCP performance by sending one byte at a time
Listens for incoming bytes and echoes them back immediately
Measures response time for single-byte exchanges
Demonstrates TCP overhead for minimal data transfers

4. Select Response Test

Tests the select() function performance for monitoring multiple file descriptors
Uses select() to wait for data availability before reading
Measures the response time of the select() system call
Includes error handling for select() failures

5. Bulk Speed Test

Tests maximum data transfer throughput
Sends large buffers (TCP_BUFFER_SEGMENTS * 1460 bytes per write)
Uses socket options for optimized bulk transfer (SO_NOPUSH)
Measures total bytes transferred until connection closes

Configuration

Listen Port: 10000 (default)
Buffer Size: 20,000 bytes for bulk data test
Time Resolution: 20 ticks per second (TICKS_PER_SECOND)
Stack Size: USER_TASK_STK_SIZE for the test task
Priority: MAIN_PRIO - 1 for the test task

Technical Details

Key Components

TestTask: Main task that runs all five tests sequentially in a loop
UserMain: Initialization function that sets up networking and creates the test task
DataBuffer: 20KB aligned buffer used for bulk data transfers
Socket Options: Uses SO_NOPUSH and custom ACK buffer settings for optimization

Network Requirements

Active network connection required
Compatible with NetBurner hardware platforms
Requires a Windows client program (not included in NetBurner project)
Uses standard TCP/IP sockets

Timing and Measurements

All timing measurements are reported in "ticks" where the default resolution is 20 ticks per second. The application measures:

Connection establishment time
Single-byte response time
Select() function response time
Bulk data transfer rates
Total connections processed

Usage

Compile and deploy to NetBurner hardware
Ensure network connectivity is established
Run the corresponding Windows client program
The application will automatically cycle through all five tests
Press any key during execution to display network counters
Monitor serial output for test results and timing information

Project Structure

tcp-stress-test/
    main.cpp          # Main application source code
    ReadMe.txt         # Original documentation
    pc/               # Windows client program (exclude from NetBurner build)

Warning: Do not include the pc folder in your NetBurner project build as it contains Windows-specific client code.

Output Format

Each test provides timing results in the following format: Output Format Each test provides timing results in the following format:

"Accepted X times in Y ticks" (Listening Test) "Connected X times in Y ticks" (Connecting Test) "Responded X times in Y ticks" (Response Test) "Select Responded X times in Y ticks" (Select Response Test) "Nsent = X" (Bulk Speed Test)