Missionskritisk bredbåndscertificering med ny standard interoperatibilitetstest

GCF (Global Certification Forum) præsenterer interoperatibilitetstest til brug i forbindelse med missionskritisk bredbåndscertificering (in english).

The Global Certification Forum (GCF) and TCCA announce that Interoperability (IOP) testing is now available as an active part of GCF Certification for 3GPP-based Mission Critical Services (MCS), supporting efficient deployment of 5G and LTE networks for first responders, public safety agencies, and critical infrastructure providers.

Ericsson’s Device and Network Test Lab and RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) test infrastructure AstaZero are now officially recognised as IOP-RTOs (Recognised Test Organisations) and can offer testing services to the industry. This has been possible thanks to industry collaboration of GCF and TCCA Members at the Mission Critical Services Workstream (MCS-WS).

Vendors can now test their products in controlled environments with live 4G and 5G networks supporting Mission Critical Services, without the need to secure testing in live Mission Critical networks that are in various stages of deployment globally. The Interoperability testing provides an additional layer of confidence to Mission Critical Communications Operators who are looking to procure certified solutions for their services.

The MCS-WS has been actively developing, with the leading support of Frequentis and Eviden, a testing scheme for MCS product certification to check functional interoperability of MCS clients and devices against various commercial MCS network servers, over live 4G and 5G private networks. All product manufacturers aiming to certify their MCS implementation must successfully pass both Conformance and Interoperability Testing to become GCF MCS Certified.

Freddie Södergren, Head of Mission Critical Networks and Defense, Ericsson says:

- The launch of the Interoperability testing for GCF Mission Critical Certification programme marks an important milestone for the entire public safety ecosystem. As one of the first GCF Recognized Test Organizations for MCS Interoperability testing, Ericsson’s Device & Network Testing Lab is proud to support our customers in validating that their MCS clients and devices meet both 3GPP standards and real-world interoperability requirements. 

- Ultimately, the GCF Certification programme helps build a truly interoperable ecosystem, where devices, networks and applications can connect and perform consistently under the most demanding conditions, supporting first responders and critical infrastructure operators with secure, reliable and standards-based communications when it matters most.

Peter Janevik, CEO, RISE test infrastructure AstaZero adds: 

- We are proud to contribute to the advancement of interoperable MCS solutions together with our industry partners. Looking forward we are now able to help our customers throughout their journey towards MCS standards compliance, providing knowledge transfer, GCF Conformance test and now also GCF Interoperability test. This work also complements our broader focus on mission critical communications, connected transport and resilient, larger systems of systems relying on 3GPP connectivity.

Charlotte Roesener, Head of MCX Product & Technology, Frequentis says: 

- This progress is a strong testament to the power of global collaboration. The rapid advancement we are seeing highlights the industry’s shared commitment. IOP testing marks the next critical milestone in ensuring true interoperability across systems from different vendors.

Ensuring that mission critical devices and networks are interoperable is a vital part of GCF and TCCA’s work to enable high quality, reliable and secure wireless communications around the globe. 

GCF’s certification process, developed closely with TCCA, ensures that broadband 5G/LTE devices and mission critical applications are interoperable with mission critical networks and services. Collectively known as MCS, these applications include Mission Critical Push-to-Talk (MCPTT), Mission Critical Video (MCVideo) and Mission Critical Data (MCData).