July 9, 2015By Olivier Genoud, TF160 Leader
3GPP has always recognized the importance of having standardized test
specifications available to manufacturers and certification bodies, in
order to ensure the highest level of interoperability of mobile devices.
In the first half of 2015 a new important milestone was reached by the test experts from 3GPP Task Force 160 (
TF160).
In collaboration with test platform vendors (providing wireless network
simulators) and device manufacturers (providing real wireless
handsets), TF160 have completed the verification of Release 11 TTCN-3
protocol test cases specified for the FDD part of the eMBMS Service
Continuity (eMBMS-SC) Feature.
The Evolved Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service for LTE (eMBMS),
or “LTE Broadcast”, enables the delivery of the same content
simultaneously to a very high number of users through the efficient
usage of radio resources. It is particularly suited to the delivery of
live video events, public alerts and the distribution of software
updates for mobile devices.
eMBMS was initially introduced in 3GPP Release 9 with improvements
arriving with both Release 10 and Release 11, including the enhancement
of mobility procedures to ensure the continuity of both unicast and
broadcast services when the wireless device is moving around and
regularly changing access points.
The conformance test cases delivered by TF160 for Release 11
eMBMS-SC, in addition to the test cases delivered for Release 9/10
eMBMS, ensure that the mobile devices correctly implement the eMBMS
protocol requirements specified in the LTE standards. These tests have
already been selected by the Global Certification Forum (GCF) to create
and operate an eMBMS certification scheme to ascertain that
eMBMS-capable mobile devices will work effectively on any LTE network in
the world having deployed eMBMS services.
For the future, both 3GPP working group
RAN5
and TF160 are now developing conformance test cases for the new
Features added in Release 12. Two key Features are of particular
interest to the industry:
- Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)/3GPP radio interworking (to
improve offload to/from WLAN decisions by the network, thus enhancing
the user experience).
- Device-to-device proximity services (the first set of LTE-Advanced
enhancements to support the requirements of public safety and critical
communications).
About 3GPP RAN5 & the ETSI CTI
The development of test specifications is the responsibility of the Technical Specification Group (TSG) RAN Working Group 5 (
RAN5)
within 3GPP. RAN5, however, uses the services of the Centre for Testing
and Interoperability (CTI) within ETSI to implement the test cases in
the ETSI-standardized language TTCN-3 (Testing and Test Control Notation
version 3).
The ETSI CTI manages a 3GPP-specific task force (
TF160)
of 20 testing experts drawn from 3GPP member companies. TF160 maintains
a set of 2800 test cases, adding up to 200 new tests per year. These
tests are in turn used by the Global Certification Forum (GCF), an
independent certification scheme for mobile phones and wireless devices
that are based on 3GPP and 3GPP2 standards, and by the PTCRB, the
wireless device certification forum established by North American mobile
network operators.
Further Reading:
- Details of 3GPP features can be found in the Work Plan, which can be filtered by Feature name.
- UE Protocol Conformance Test Aspects for Service continuity
improvements for MBMS for LTE are standardized in the following
Technical Specifications: