Wi-Max Certification releases
The certification scope of Wi-Max expands through time with the addition of new test cases; however the list of requirements as defined in the system profiles does not change to ensure backward compatibility and technology stability.
The new test cases are introduced either to include new features in the certification process or to expand coverage of existing ones, this is an incremental process that retains all previously used test cases. A release framework is used to add new test cases. Several releases are defined for each system profile, each of them including additional tests and, if relevant, new certification profiles to be tested. The first release covers all the basic mandatory features required for network operation. Subsequent releases may include additional tests for mandatory features that all WiMAX products are required to support and tests for optional features that vendors may choose whether to support or not.
Three releases are planned for fixed WiMAX, Release 1, 2 and 3. As of May 2006, equipment is being certified under Release 1. Release 2 is slated to be introduced in the third quarter of 2006. Release 1 for fixed WiMAX only covers mandatory features and includes testing for the air interface, network entry, dynamic services and bandwidth allocation. Release 2 will introduce three optional modules:
A) Quality of Service (QoS). QoS enhances WiMAX support for real-time applications that require low latency, such as Voice over IP (VoIP), video and audio streaming, video-conferencing and gaming. This makes possible prioritization of real-time applications traffic over best-effort traffic.
B) Advanced security with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). All fixed WiMAX equipment is required to support Data Encryption Standard (DES) for security. More advanced security functionality is offered by AES, which is an encryption standard adopted by the US government.
C) Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ). ARQ is an error correction mechanism that leads to a better link budget and thus improved performance.
No new module has been announced yet for Release 3.
Further optional features, such as sub-channelization in the uplink, Convolutional Turbo Coding (CTC) and Space Time Coding (STC) can be tested for any certification profile when at least three vendors submit products that support them. Backward compatibility ensures that equipment certified under a certification profile will always interoperate with others certified in the same or previous release.
Moreover new releases enable operators to introduce new features in their deployments and to know which equipment supports those features. In a fixed WiMAX network with equipment certified in different releases, interoperability will be limited to the features tested in the earliest releases.
The new test cases are introduced either to include new features in the certification process or to expand coverage of existing ones, this is an incremental process that retains all previously used test cases. A release framework is used to add new test cases. Several releases are defined for each system profile, each of them including additional tests and, if relevant, new certification profiles to be tested. The first release covers all the basic mandatory features required for network operation. Subsequent releases may include additional tests for mandatory features that all WiMAX products are required to support and tests for optional features that vendors may choose whether to support or not.
Three releases are planned for fixed WiMAX, Release 1, 2 and 3. As of May 2006, equipment is being certified under Release 1. Release 2 is slated to be introduced in the third quarter of 2006. Release 1 for fixed WiMAX only covers mandatory features and includes testing for the air interface, network entry, dynamic services and bandwidth allocation. Release 2 will introduce three optional modules:
A) Quality of Service (QoS). QoS enhances WiMAX support for real-time applications that require low latency, such as Voice over IP (VoIP), video and audio streaming, video-conferencing and gaming. This makes possible prioritization of real-time applications traffic over best-effort traffic.
B) Advanced security with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). All fixed WiMAX equipment is required to support Data Encryption Standard (DES) for security. More advanced security functionality is offered by AES, which is an encryption standard adopted by the US government.
C) Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ). ARQ is an error correction mechanism that leads to a better link budget and thus improved performance.
No new module has been announced yet for Release 3.
Further optional features, such as sub-channelization in the uplink, Convolutional Turbo Coding (CTC) and Space Time Coding (STC) can be tested for any certification profile when at least three vendors submit products that support them. Backward compatibility ensures that equipment certified under a certification profile will always interoperate with others certified in the same or previous release.
Moreover new releases enable operators to introduce new features in their deployments and to know which equipment supports those features. In a fixed WiMAX network with equipment certified in different releases, interoperability will be limited to the features tested in the earliest releases.
posted by iddy @ 1:25 PM
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