March 8, 2016

Having one comprehensive set of 3GPP conformance test cases for TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE devices has been made possible thanks to the manpower provided by the Telecommunication Development Industry Alliance (TDIA) of China, within the 3GPP Task Force 160 (TF160).

In 2016, the TDIA will again provide experts to TF160 to develop TTCN-3 test cases for LTE-Advanced Pro, prioritizing NB-IoT, the new Internet of Things technology from 3GPP.

Olivier Genoud, the TF160 Leader says: “Conformance test cases specification and implementation will need to come swiftly in order to align with the IoT industrial priorities. TDIA experts within TF160 are again set to play a key role in ensuring the on-time delivery of high quality conformance test cases to meet this need.”

TF160 maintains a set of over 3000 conformance test cases, adding up to 200 new tests per year. These tests are in turn used by Certification Fora such as GCF and PTCRB to certify the compliance of mobile devices (e.g. smartphones) against the 3GPP standards.

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By Olivier Genoud, TF160 Leader and Xiaozhong Chen, TDIA R&D Director

The Telecommunication Development Industry Alliance (TDIA), a Market Representation Partner of 3GPP, has renewed its strong commitment and involvement into 3GPP standardized conformance tests implementation, by agreeing to provide 7 skilled engineers specialized in wireless protocols and testing for the year 2016, to take part in the 3GPP Task Force 160 (TF160) project.

In 3GPP the development of conformance test specifications for User Equipment (UE) is the responsibility of the Technical Specification Group (TSG) RAN Working Group 5 (RAN5). RAN5, however, uses the services of the 3GPP Mobile Competence Centre (MCC) and ETSI Centre for Testing and Interoperability (CTI) to implement the test cases in the ETSI-standardized language TTCN-3 (Testing and Test Control Notation version 3).

MCC/CTI manage a 3GPP-specific task force (TF160) of 20 testing experts drawn from 3GPP member companies. TF160 maintains a set of over 3000 test cases, adding up to 200 new tests per year. These tests are in turn used by Certification Fora such as GCF and PTCRB to certify the compliance of mobile devices (e.g. smartphones) against the 3GPP standards.

Founded in 2002, TDIA is a non-profit social organization formed voluntarily by enterprises who actively commit themselves to the development of mobile communication technology and engage in standard, R&D, products and services. By integrating and coordinating industry resource, TDIA aims at stimulating the development progress of TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE and their evolution technologies, and at preparing the global deployment and operation of 5G.

Since the beginning, TDIA has recognized and been a supporter of the 3GPP working model of standardizing one implementation (in TTCN) of conformance test cases for mobile devices. TDIA joined the TF160 project in 2004. The initial focus was on developing TTCN test cases for the Low Chip Rate Time Division Duplex (LCR TDD) variant of the UMTS radio access, also known as TD-SCDMA. More than 600 TDD test cases have been developed and delivered by TF160 through this collaboration. Since 2009 TDIA have also been providing expertise to TF160 for the development of TTCN test cases for the Time Division Duplex variant of LTE and LTE-Advanced (TD-LTE), resulting in around 1500 TD-LTE test cases implemented.

The development and provision of one standardized conformance test cases implementation is essential to enable the availability of certified TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE devices, and ascertain their inter-operability with the TDD mobile networks deployed around the World. This has been possible in a significant part due to the voluntary contributions to TF160 coming from TDIA, which have been kept above 10 man-months yearly and is the biggest manpower supporter among 3GPP members. In 2016 the total manpower provided by TDIA to the TF160 project will amount to 10.6 man-months.

In 2016, TF160 will be expected to focus on the TTCN test cases development for the next iteration of the LTE platform called LTE-Advanced Pro. One key feature of LTE-Advanced Pro of particular interest to the industry is NB-IoT, one of the Internet of Things connectivity solutions standardized by 3GPP. Conformance test cases specification and implementation will need to come swiftly in order to align with the aggressive deployment plans of mobile network operators. TDIA experts within TF160 will once again play a key role in ensuring the on-time delivery of high quality conformance test cases implementation for the industry.

Contact for this article: Kevin FLYNN, Marketing and Communications Officer, 3GPP