Agilent/Keysight Network Emulator II

The Agilent/Keysight Network Emulator II is a precision test instrument that emulates real-world network conditions within a controlled laboratory environment. It enables validation, performance testing, and interoperability assessment of hardware, protocols, and applications by simulating network impairments including latency, jitter, packet loss, and bandwidth constraints. The NE II reproduces field issues in the lab, validates system resilience under worst-case scenarios, and integrates with Keysight IxNetwork, IxLoad, and BreakingPoint test platforms to deliver repeatable, predictable results without affecting production networks.

– Technical Specifications

Hardware Architecture:
• 8-port FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) design with port count for Ethernet FPGA emulation
• Dual processor banks: 4 ports per bank with dedicated FPGA processors per bank
• 1U rack-mountable chassis

Supported Interfaces:

Ethernet speeds: 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GE), Gigabit Ethernet (1GE), 100 Megabit Ethernet (100MbE)

Fibre Channel speeds: 16 Gigabit Fibre Channel (16GFC), 8 Gigabit Fibre Channel (8GFC), 4 Gigabit Fibre Channel (4GFC), 2 Gigabit Fibre Channel (2GFC)

Protocol flexibility: Single platform supports both Ethernet and Fibre Channel. Each bank operates independently, enabling mixed-speed and mixed-protocol testing simultaneously.

– Key Features

• Simulates latency, jitter, packet loss, and bandwidth constraints
• Emulates real LAN/WAN production network conditions
• Dual-bank architecture allows different speed/protocol per bank for concurrent mixed testing
• Reproducible impairment testing in controlled laboratory environment

– Typical Applications

• Assessing application performance across distributed data centers
• Testing data center backup under realistic network conditions
• Simulating outage and degradation scenarios to validate failover protection
• Troubleshooting and reproducing field issues in the lab
• Validating system resilience and performance of high-throughput connections

– Compatibility & Integration

Designed to integrate with Keysight IxNetwork, IxLoad, and BreakingPoint test systems for comprehensive network validation workflows.