Patent ID: 11870676
Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A method for testing a network that comprises multiple devices, the method comprising:
sending, by a first device that is a regular participant of the network, on a path through the network, a test data flow to a second device that is another regular participant of the network;
sending, by the second device, the test data flow to a diagnostic entity; and
determining, by the diagnostic entity, based at least in part on the test data flow received from the second device, whether a path through the network is performing according to at least one predetermined criterion;
publishing, by the diagnostic entity, to a topic and/or channel to which the first device is subscribed, an instruction to send the test data flow to the second device; and
publishing, by the diagnostic entity, to a topic and/or channel to which the second device is subscribed, an instruction to send the test data flow received from the first device to the diagnostic entity,
wherein the first device and the second device are chosen to be end devices that are sources and/or sinks for traffic in the network during the intended regular operation of the network.