Systems and methods for providing a boundary scan test of a wired or
wireless network having a plurality of network nodes are presented. The
system includes a test station communicatively coupled with the network.
The test station creates a MAC layer scan test route sequence that
includes each link in the network and is independent of the routing
mechanism and protocol used for the network. The test station also
creates a test agent that is configured to traverse each link in the scan
test route sequence. The test agent is then deployed on the network and
information about a link is reported back to the test station after the
test agent examines the link. The scan test route sequence can be created
by sending out a series of broadcast messages from one or more nodes in
the network, sequentially applying a network tour to cover the entire
network, or performing a depth first search on the entire network.