5G Progress in Chennai

March 28, 2018

Non-3GPP people may wonder whether a group called ‘Indian friends of 3GPP’ may need to find more rewarding ways to spend a weekend, but IF3 are not only healthy in body and mind - they are proving to be an effective means to ensure that India delivers on its promise to be a full partner in standards for 5G.

Thanks to IF3 and to the Telecommunications Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) - some eight (8) 3GPP Working Group or Plenary meetings have taken place in India since the beginning of 2017, culminating in last week’s Technical Specification Group (TSG) meetings in Chennai.

MCPTT tests to be hosted by TAMU, Texas

February 16, 2018

News published by Mission Critical Communications

The second MCPTT Plugtests event will be hosted by Texas A&M University (TAMU) June 25 – 29 in College Station, Texas, USA. The goal of the MCPTT Plugtests event is to validate the interoperability of different mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) implementations on the market using different scenarios and test cases.

MCPTT was specified in 3GPP Release 13. 3GPP Release 14 added mission-critical data (MCData) and mission-critical video (MCVideo).

Interoperability and mission-critical service harmonization are critical challenges to be taken into account for the successful deployment and operation of mission-critical communications. The interoperability of MCPTT, MCData and MCVideo products and services has not been previously tested in the U.S.

Video - 3GPP MC progress and TCCA partnership

February 5, 2018

Our latest video features Tero Pesonen, Chairman, TCCA Critical Communications Broadband Group and Adrian Scrase, ETSI CTO.

It tracks the progress made via 3GPP Rel-13, Rel-14 and Rel-15 features for Mission Critical Services.

5G device certification

January 26, 2018

The Global Certification Forum issued a press release this week, about their initial certification work for 5G devices based on 3GPP Release 15 specifications – for both Non-Stand Alone and Stand Alone 5G NR operation.

The news release details how GCF 5G conformance testing will draw on test cases defined by 3GPP’s RAN5 Working Group, with a new “umbrella Work Item” established to oversee the various areas for which conformance test cases are needed, such as radio reception, transmission and performance; radio resource management (RRM); positioning; radio access protocols; core network protocols and IMS protocols.

BIF to Partner 3GPP

April 16, 2018 (update, original story January 22, 2018)

An official signing ceremony took place last week, in Beijing, following the approval of the Broadband India Forum (BIF) as a 3GPP Market Representation Partner (MRP) in January 2018.

According to the BIF President, T.V. Ramachandran, the Forum will bring Indian market requirements for services, features and functionality to 3GPP. In a letter to the 3GPP Coordination Group (PCG) he outlined the BIF’s mission to support and enhance all policy, regulatory & standards initiatives for the proliferation of broadband in India.