The Maxwell network emulator helps network managers, building managers, and software developers learn how their products will perform in real-world BACnet/IP production networks including the Internet and remote sites. By capturing and changing network flows, Maxwell can induce the conditions that cause network congestion, slow links, time outs, and many other adverse network conditions. Building automation developers and network engineers can see the effects on the control units and the network to find and fix bugs, solve network problems, and learn the limits of device and application performance.

Simple Setup and Operation

Attach Maxwell at any point in the BACnet/IP network without any special configuration. Point and click to introduce bandwidth limited conditions or network impairments. Then observe the behavior on applications and devices. In this way, you can quickly and efficiently determine how resilient your product is to the unfavorable conditions that occur on real-world networks.

Multi-purpose and Versatile

• For testing, validation, and troubleshooting, Maxwell helps test and replicate bugs in new releases and at customer sites by replicating a BACnet/IP production network
• For demonstrations, tradeshows, training, and learning, Maxwell emulates a real-world BACnet/IP network so that engineers can understand how to correlate network behavior with the cause of the behavior to learn how BACnet/IP works and how your product performs
• Use Maxwell for all network technologies and applications, including VoIP, video, conferencing, SANs, wireless, mobile, VPN, and many more...

Maxwell Key Benefits

• Scenario driven user interface – select the situation you wish to emulate
• Graphical, command line, or script-driven interface for maximum flexibility
• Highly accurate and realistic network traffic emulations via multiple flows
• Saves testing time by permitting changes on the fly without reloading or restarting
• Enhances regression testing by saving and reloading config files and logging data
• Fully programmable and customizable using C or C++
• Quick and easy setup -- less than fifteen minutes

Emulating a BACnet/IP Network in your Lab

Maxwell helps the BACnet/IP implementor by emulating a BACnet/IP network in the lab. Maxwell can introduce standard packet impairments (e.g. drops, delays, duplicates) to the flow of traffic and the user can observe the effects on multiple BACnet/IP devices.

The BACnet/IP implementor can confidently articulate the performance limits of the product and make recommendations to customers about the minimum requirements for their network.

BACnet/IP Stack Testing

BACnet/IP, like any other network protocol, depends on a software "stack" operating properly to drive the protocol and applications that use it. Most stacks and applications work under perfect conditions. Unfortunately, stacks, applications, and devices operating at real-world customer networks are rarely perfect.

Applications and stacks encounter:

• Periodic link failures
• Routers suffering from periodic congestion
• Routers that are misconfigured
• DNS name resolution delay
• Temporarily unavailable nodes (servers, routes)

Even worse, anti-social hackers create unusual or hostile packets and malicious protocol changes to wreak havoc on the network devices.

The Solution: Maxwell

Maxwell creates these real-world network anomalies to help you find and fix the problem in your lab, prior to deployment. Since Maxwell is programmable, you can create even more test cases and scenarios to fully test the BACnet/IP virtual circuit mechanism and various protocol impairments.

BACnet/IP traffic can be filtered and segregated from other network traffic and protocol or packet impairments can be applied to just the BACnet/IP traffic; all other traffic will flow through unimpeded.

For more information on how the Maxwell Network Emulator can help you with BACnet/IP, please contact us.