Patent ID: 8307332

Claim:
A method of editing a set of operating instructions for a waveform processing system, the operating instructions operable to modify protocol defined traffic embodied in an electrical signal being transmitted between two electrical devices in a predetermined manner in accordance with a defined protocol, by receiving a user input through a graphical user interface (GUI) editor, whereby a user is permitted to edit code to introduce at least one instruction that renders the code invalid for the waveform processing system, the method comprising: (a) receiving the user input to modify a instruction in the set of operating instructions to be converted into an executable code for execution by a processor in a target waveform processing traffic modification system, wherein execution of the executable code causes the processor to perform operations to process the electrical signal by modifying the electrical signal to introduce one or more errors in the electrical signal in accordance with the defined protocol; (b) updating the set of operating instructions to include the instruction modified according to the received user input so that upon execution by the wave form processing system, the electrical signal is modified in accordance with the modified instruction; (c) determining a validity of the updated set of operating instructions, wherein the validity determination is based on a set of validity rules associated with executing executable code on the target waveform processing traffic modification system so that modified electrical signals present one or more desired electrical signal modification scenarios in accordance with the defined protocol, and wherein the validity rules comprise a rule defining a maximum number of independently programmable state machines on the waveform processing system for a valid set of operating instructions; (d) selectively generating an optional error message when the updated set of operating instructions is invalid; (e) selectively sending information to cause a display device to display the optional error message; and (f) repeating steps (a)-(e) for at least one subsequent instruction in the set of operating instructions.