Regional ITU Consultation on
Conformance Assessment and Interoperability
(Sydney, Australia, 16-17 September 2010)
Approaches from other SDOs to
Conformity and Interoperability,
conformance databases
Paolo Rosa
Head, Workshops and Promotion Division
Telecommunication
Standardization
Bureau
Pros from Members to ITU DB
•
Interoperability as Mission for ITU (Res. 71 – Strategic Plan)
•
Res. 76 intended to assist DCs and manufacturers should contribute to its
implementation
•
Examples of problems associated with interoperability and conformance of
equipments and systems. Documentation submitted to TSB so far
•
The conformance database would be exceedingly useful for operators and end
users for whom equipment are manufactured. Good experience in this field is
proven by existing DBs from other SDOs
•
Confidence of users in the kind of equipment they buy is more important than
how quickly they appear on the market
•
ITU-T Recommendations must be studied in view of conformance assessment and
interoperability testing as relevant
•
Some of them already ensure interoperability of products provided by different
manufacturers. For these Recommendations conformance and interoperability
testing are complementary considering that conformance is the first step to enable
interoperability.
2
Cons from Members to ITU DB
• The database presents both legal and associated financial liability risks for
the ITU and the ICT industry
• A step-by-step approach should be taken in order to take into account the
concerns of the membership as ITU moves forward in implementing the
action lines adopted by Council 2009
• The use of accredited test labs is time consuming and expensive, delaying
users’ access to technology and slowing global trade
• TSB should first prepare a business plan to establish the real costs,
potential liabilities and measurable benefits to society before launching
the ITU-T Conformity Database
• Test centres in developing countries, according to one contributor, would
lead to confusion in the market place
3
Databases by SDOs and Forums able to:
reduce time-to-market
reduce testing costs thanks to Mutual Recognition
Agreements and/or Arrangement (tested once tested
everywhere)
increase competition
increase confidence of end users to products,
be a window available to vendors to show conform
products
Databases from other SDOs are populated by the same
industries claiming for exactly opposite reasons …
ITU-T Recs &
test suites
Test lab
(Certification Body /
Rec.A.5 SDO/Forum lab)
accredited lab
(ISO/IEC 17025)
1st party
Evaluation
Supplier’s Conformity
Declaration
(ISO/IEC 17050)
Route 2 B
Product successfully tested
in a lab recognized by
any Rec. ITU-T A.5
SDO / Forum
ITU C&I services
Supplier’s Request
to ITU
ITU Conformity Database
Test results
(ITU-T X.290)
Route 2 A
Accredited
(ISO/IEC Guide 65)
Certification Body
Evaluation
Conformity
Certificate issued by
Certification
Body
Implementation
of the ITU Conformity
Programme: procedure
Conformity Assessment / Certification
Test results
(ITU-T X.290)
Supplier’s
conformity
route
decision
Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity – SDoC 1/2
6
Tests performed in a lab recognized by: (A.5 – SDO/Forum)
8
The ITU Pilot Conformity Database:
Example
Company
ITU Ref.
code
Prod.
Name
Vendor A
C-12345
AH-1234
Product
category
ITU-T
Recs/Edition
SDOs/
Forums
VDSL 2
G.992.2,
G.995, GPON
IEEE,
IETF, OIF
Vendor B
Vendor C
Single-multisearch
facilities for any fields
9
Date
DD.MM.AA
SDoC
“.pdf”
A possible References data base
for conform products
Company
Member A
Prod.
Name
Product
category
AH-1234
F.O. modem
Applications
GPON, Access,
multilambda
SDOs
stand.s
ITU,
IEEE,
IETF, OIF
Member B
Member C
Single-multisearch
facilities for any fields
10
Customers
A, B, C, E, F
Transitive property for C&I
Conformity : necessary but not sufficient condition to increase the probability of interoperability
and improve quality of service
Customers: looking for conformity as the main requirement to increase interoperability and
confidence in vendors, to optimize investments and to benefit of improved quality of service
Vendors : claiming for conformity to standards and interoperability as key elements able to create
better business opportunities and to demonstrate the excellence of products with respect to the
competitors in the marketplace
THEREFORE
ITU Conformity Database showing products claimed as successfully tested for conformity is a “key
tool” to:
a) to help customers find best solutions for their needs
b) to offer vendors a for-free additional opportunity to make business giving visibility to their
conforming products
11
Existing DBs from
some other SDOs
•
IEEE – ICAP Product Conformance Registry
www.ieee-isto.org/icap-program/products
•
Open Mobile Alliance – Products Listing www.openmobilealliance.org/Application/ProductListing/products
•
FCC part 68 - www.fcc.gov/wcb/iatd/part68faqs.pdf “The rules also provide for the development and maintenance of a publicly
accessible database of approved TE and for labeling TE that have been shown to comply with the technical criteria. All approved TE
are required to be listed in the database and to be properly labeled”. The Administrative Council for Terminal
Attachments (ACTA), joint sponsorship of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry
Solutions (ATIS) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), mandate “for
maintaining a publicly accessible database of all approved TE”
•
WiMAX Forum Spectrum and Regulatory Database: www.wimaxforum.org/resources/wimax-forum-
•
spectrum-and-regulatory-database
http://www.wimaxforum.org/certification/certified-product-showcase
•
Wi-Fi certified products database: www.wifi.org/certified_products.php
•
Global Certification Forum (GCF) (mobile phones and wireless devices based on 3GPP standards) GCF's guiding
maxim is "test once, use anywhere."
http://www.globalcertificationforum.org/WebSite/public/home_public.aspx
12
The FCC Conformity Database
FCC – 00 – 171
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING
Adopted: May 15, 2000
•
Item 68 : Declaration
Released: May 22, 2000
of Conformity.
(omissis)……DoC is a procedure under which the party responsible for the equipment's compliance with specific technical
parameters, the manufacturer, importer, or assembler, causes measurements to be made of equipment performance with
regard to those parameters. The party performing such measurements must be accredited for
doing so by an authorized accreditation body based on the International Organization for
Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission ("ISO/IEC") Guide 25. (omissis)
•
Item 76
Database of Approved or Certified Equipment
•
Currently, the Commission maintains a data base of terminal equipment registered
pursuant to Part 68……..a private entity be responsible for sponsoring and maintaining a
similar database.
•
……….entities using
either DoC or verification be required to submit pertinent
information regarding their identity and approved equipment to a database
administrator. (omissis)
The FCC-Administrative Council for Terminal
Attachment
ACTA (TIA-ATIS) Database
Ref. FCC 00-400 of 21 December 2000
•
•
(item 108) the database “will permit interested parties such as the Commission, providers
of telecommunications, and consumers to track and identify suppliers or importers of noncompliant equipment. As such, the database should ameliorate concerns regarding the
potentially adverse impact of non-compliant terminal equipment on the PSTN by ensuring
that suppliers are held accountable for any damage their equipment may cause to the
PSTN”
Registration Numbering and Labeling
(Item 81) As stated previously, when the Commission determines that a piece of terminal
equipment meets the technical requirements for that equipment, the Commission assigns a
unique registration number to that piece of equipment. We tentatively conclude that
although the Commission will no longer be responsible for CPE registration, some form of
unique identifying label must be applied to all terminal equipment. This identifying label is
necessary to adequately identify CPE as an approved piece of terminal equipment that
customers are entitled to connect to the PSTN (omissis)
IEEE
Interoperability & Conformity
Assessment Program (ICAP)
• The ICAP website (www.ieee-isto.org/icap) is the externally
facing “storefront” for the ICAP program
• Providing a home base for industry groups involved with
conformity programs associated with IEEE standards
– Includes Laboratory Services Listing
– Includes Registry of Conforming Products
Is ITU C&I DB creating confusion on the marketplace? The GCF –
Certific. explained
•
GCF Certification delivers extra confidence throughout the mobile value chain by
demonstrating that a mobile phone or wireless device:
is compliant with requirements agreed by GCF, which in turn reference core and test
specifications published by recognised standards organisations and other industry forums
•
will interoperate correctly when used on a variety of digital mobile networks
•
Manufacturers who certify their mobile devices to GCF rules and procedures are
assured that:
– their products will benefit from a high degree of interoperability
– time-to-market for new products is reduced using this respected 'one-stop' verification
process
– expensive and time-consuming duplication of testing effort can be avoided
•
With GCF's 'tested once, use anywhere' maxim, manufacturers can significantly
reduce the requirement for operator acceptance testing if presenting GCF certified
devices.
Just an example from WiMax Forum…
Or better two examples…the GCF DB
The parallel TSB step-by-step approach
Res. 76 (WTSA-08)
Conformity and interop tools
S-by-S STND
Standardization needs
S-by-S FIN
Financial issues
Res.47 WTDC-10
Capacity building / test centres
Conformity Data Base available to
the public immediately
SDoC completeness & liability advices,
database layout, criteria to reduce
costs
Comparison and evaluation of
certified vs non-certified testing
costs (%)
Analysis of the results of the ITU-D
Questionnaire on C&I labs in the
regions
Promote conformity / interop testing
and the ITU-T database(s)
Inputs from any vendor and free
access by end users
Continue monitoring of main C&I
requirements from developing
countries linked to applications and
technology, neutrality
Comparison of financial impact of
certification testing on final
manufacturing costs of products and
final cost to the end users (%).
Creating a conformity testing and
interoperability culture in the
regions: workshops & Capacity
Building opportunities
Create a C&I portal managed by ITU
to provide a general overview on C&I
and links to activities of other
SDOs/Industry/regulators/
Governments and to Labs
Comparison of test methods, creation
of ITU reference test methods and
alternative test methods (ITU
SGs/SDOs).
Overlapping/duplication issues
Stimulate MRAs in the regions
Analysis of the status of MRAs
worldwide.
Benefits of MRAs in terms of time to
access markets and savings on
unnecessary repeated testing
worldwide.
Status of the existing labs in regions.
Type of testing labs
Development of criteria to establish
test centres in the regions
Coordination with ILAC, IAF, BIPM,
UNIDO, Financial Institutions and
other SDOs / Forums
Study new / adapt existing test suites
where needed and still not available
SGs, JAC-CIT
Evaluate costs incurred by end users
and vendors due to the lack of C&I.
Services, image, market,
competition
Establishment of costs for the
establishment / enhancement of labs
in the regions and creation of
regional networks
Review the conformity data base and
procedures according to vendors /
users needs. SDO/Forums Labs
Review the existing market
surveillance tools
Evaluation of possible financial
contributions by non members to
input data in the ITU Conformity
Database
Establishing capacity building
programs in the regions creation of
labs networks
Review interop capabilities /
technologies and C&I portal
Create synergy
users/vendors/regulators/SDO to
improve the C&I program
Preparation of the long-term
Business Plan based on the dynamics
of the C&I process
Create criteria and procedures to
prepare RFPs for private and public
entities (e.g. the Germany Project)
Periodical review of whole
implementation of Res.76 din
function of the S-by-S parallel
approach
Study new tools to parallel the
database and to give feedback to ITUT SGs for standards review and
studies.
Conclusions
•
•
•
•
•
•
The open consultations demonstrated a strong support to the
ITU-T C&I programme, the contributions received and the
demonstration of the databases produced by other SDOs /
Forums urged the TSB to:
not delay anymore the implementation of Res. 76 and of the
action lines endorsed by the council-09
Made publicly available the ITU conformity database
Create an interoperability database
Set up a C&I portal for information, links to other SDOs and to
Labs institutions
Implement the “parallel” step-by-step approach where the
views of the industry are taken into account
Contributions from stakeholders to enrich the contents of the
ITU C&I Portal are welcome
Thank you