back in the 90's I was on a team that developed the physical layer fiberoptic transcievers for FDDI for a special environment applications. We applied repeating test pattern that was designed for that specific physical layer transcievers to ensure that they met industry technology requirements. Later in the 90's I loaded frame-relay test patterns into icmp packets, to test the frame-relay links that were water logged. The results were very useful in finding lines that were not technically down but were performance wise out of spec and would drop large packets for no apparent reason.
Question is: for todays gigabit interfaces, does anyone know what physical layer encoding spec and test patterns are for copper and fiber? I'm hoping to identify either improper cable installations or dying equipment by loading the icmp packet with these patterns.
Thanks
MIke
