Handsets & the Global Certification Forum (GCF)
... providing test specifications designed to maintain the balance between speed to market and product quality.
The GCF is a partnership between network operators and handset manufacturers, with the aim of cutting through the red tape and establishing an independent programme to ensure global interoperability of mobile terminals.
>> Clearing The Route To 3G
GSMA
Media Article
August 2002
The pressure is on for manufacturers to deliver 3G terminals to operators looking to make an early impact with 3G. The Global Certification Forum explains how it is creating a series of test specifications designed to maintain the balance between speed to market and product quality.
Imagine spending billions of dollars building a road network, but not having any cars. Or a railway connecting the continents, but no trains. So far, the mobile telecommunications industry has managed a similar feat twice. When GSM digital mobile services were introduced in the early 1990s, it was lack of handset availability that held up the market, with the GSM acronym famously redefined as “God Send Mobiles”. With GPRS mobile data, it was again the handsets that failed to materialise in any useful volumes at the same time as the networks.
Let us be forgiving. In an industry as fast-moving as mobile communications, it is not surprising that the complex interoperability and certification acceptances of myriad technologies sometimes lag a demanding market. The bottleneck occurs with the multiple certification procedures required for the handsets to sit happily on international networks.
Technological Red Tape
The situation could have been exacerbated by the relaxation of regulatory type approval in April 2000 within the European Community following the implementation of the Radio & Telecommunications Terminal Equipment (R&TTE) Directive and the repeal of the previous Telecommunications Terminal Equipment (TTE) Directive.
However, in 1998, when it became clear that the then type approval regime in Europe was going to change dramatically, the GSM Association (GSMA) took the initiative to talk to manufacturers about the possibility for establishing a voluntary scheme. In 1999 this resulted in the formation of the Global Certification Forum.
The GCF is a partnership between network operators and handset manufacturers, with the aim of cutting through the red tape and establishing an independent programme to ensure global interoperability of mobile terminals. Current membership is some 142 network operators and 33 terminal manufacturers.
The GCF is now a completely an independent body, although still fully endorsed by the GSMA, which in turn represents over 644 operators and associated companies in the wireless industry. It is globally recognised scheme which helps reduce time-to-market and complements existing regulatory certification requirements. It provides a universally accepted voluntary terminal certification programme for new products and features that will permit verification against identified technical requirements.
Crucially, for an industry looking for efficiency in its market introductions, the GCF works to eliminate duplicate testing. While actively working with GSM and GPRS terminals as they evolve in sophistication, the GCF’s first full cycle will be with third generation handsets, with a global consensus-based certification programme, comprising on both laboratory testing and interoperability testing on multiple live networks.
Test Principles
Wireless terminals are complex devices, none more so than those designed to operate on 3G networks. It is critical to the market success of 3G terminals that a programme of industry-specified testing exists, both lab and field based, to ensure the products meet industry standards across multiple platforms.
Earlier this year, the GCF worked closely together with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to develop a joint list of interoperability issues to be prioritised for verification during deployment of 3G networks. The test cases will demand increasing levels of functionality, with the first series meeting the Interim Approval Level as specified by 3GPP.
GCF work on 3G terminals began in earnest at the beginning of 2002, right on time for the market, says Adriana Nugter, Chair of the GCF and the GCF representative for global operator, Vodafone. In June, the first batches of tests were identified to validate the early 3G terminals, with the basic rules laid down and the tests prioritised.
Working with the market rather than catching it up does present problems, as the live 3G networks available for testing purposes do not yet exist in true commercial form in any useful quantity. However, as Nugter points out, it is an evolutionary process. “GSM handsets have been around for ten years but are constantly becoming more sophisticated and continuous testing is required to ensure ongoing interoperability of new features – for instance the GCF handled the specification and verification testing for the SIM Toolkit. Similarly, we have been validating tests on GPRS terminals since 1999 and the work is very much ongoing.
Essentials First
“We have prioritised the initial 3G tests, which have to be written and validated, test equipment developed, and valid tests identified to support the 3G features. All being well, we are aiming for full GCF certified 3G terminals in early 2004, when enough test cases will have been completed to enable the certification to have true value – the number of acceptable tests for 3G is currently set at 361,” said Nugter. “The GCF exists to provide operators with the comfort factor that certified terminals will behave on their networks. With a non-certified terminals, the operators will need to satisfy their concerns by conducting tests themselves, risking the equilibrium of the network and incurring unnecessary costs.”
In addition to the current scope of GCF, i.e. GSM, GPRS and W-CDMA (FDD and TDD), the GCF is developing plans to certify terminals utilizing GSM 850 MHz, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and TD-SCDMA.
It is all too easy, especially with the maelstrom of negative publicity surrounding third generation hype and the current state of the telecoms market, to be cynical about the chances of 3G success. What is seemingly overlooked is the fact that the technology is remarkable, it is still developing and refining itself into a commercial proposition and will no doubt become accepted into the market eventually, just as GSM has been. 3G doesn’t have the novelty factor that made GSM so easy to sell, nor does it have an unsophisticated market in which to tout its wares. But the industry is mature and knowledgeable, the consumers so far patient. Let’s wait and see what transpires – we could yet have the benefit of the mobile information superhighway delivered at the same time as fully specified high performance vehicles with which to realise its potential. <<
- Eric - |
