Ravi Subramaniam – Technical

Director, ICAP

20 April 2012 Prague, Czech Republic

IEEE Conformity Assessment Program (ICAP) for SIEPON

20 April 2012 1

Why Does SIEPON need a Conformity Assessment Program?

• Conformity assessment is the accepted way of demonstrating that a product adheres to a standard

• Opportunity for participants to demonstrate adherence to Testing requirements

• IEEE 1904.1 standards based • New Technology – Instill consumer or end-user

confidence • Supports free flow of SIEPON related products

and services across national boundaries • Increased adoption

3 possible models

Conformity Assessment System

Independent Lab

Vendor

Buyer

• 1st Party – Vendor • 2nd Party – Buyer or

User • 3rd Party –

Independent Entity

20 April 2012 3

2nd Party Testing

• Logo Usage with TMLA

IEEE/SIEPON Certified Product

• ICAP Review Prior to Certification • ICAP to Determine Surveillance

Needs

Buyer or Network

Operator Tested

• 2nd Party Lab tested • Authorized Tools

Product

3rd Party Testing

• Logo Usage with TMLA

SIEPON Certified Product

• Independent lab recommends for Certification

• ICAP Issues Certification • ICAP to Determine Surveillance Needs

3rd Party Declaration

• Authorized Labs • 3rd Party Lab tested • Authorized Tools

Product

Self vs. 3rd Party Certification

• Speed of Implementation • Time to Market • Cost of Test Tools • Vendor Misrepresentation • Regulatory Risks • End-Buyer confidence

Why interoperability is hard in digital communications?

20 April 2012 7

Interoperability

PerformanceConformance“Can you hear me now?”

Are the “1”s and “0”s

right?

Is transmission and reception good enough?

Considerations for a harmonized technical approach

• Harmonized test procedures, use cases and derived test sets may enhance confidence in fielded interoperability

• There may be no clear regulatory or coordinated marketplace demand driver to drive technical harmonization

• Lots of choices and unique system implementation – I am special!

• Testing – “to infinity and beyond” • performance • digital conformance (may be lots of permutations) • interoperability testing (for all equipment models –

software changes)

28 April 2012 8

Performance/Design Requirements

ISO/IEC 17025 + competency requirements

SIEPON Certification Scheme

20 April 2012 9

Products

ISO/IEC Guide 65 Best Practices

Certification Authority (ICAP)

Laboratories

Roles of Entities

IEEE 1904/SIEPON

Certified Products

P1904 WG • IEEE 1904 Standard •Test Specification

ICAP (Certification Authority) •Entry/Exit Point for Certification Process •Policies & Procedures •TMLA •Test Labs Facilitation •Market Certification Program •Certified Product Registry •Committee of Experts

Test Laboratories • Independent •2nd Party •Test bed/tools

implementation

A Scenario to consider

Vendor submits application to ICAP

ICAP – Initiates Certification Agreement &

invoices vendor

Vendors choose lab from list of approved labs

Test Program starts at Test Lab

Test Lab delivers Final Test Report

to ICAP for Review

ICAP delivers certificate and authorizes logo

usage

ICAP publishes on Certified Product

Registry

20 April 2012 11

SIEPON Certification

Role of Committee of Experts

• Entity based participation • Major responsibilities will include

– Determine compliance levels – Act as advisors on test methods and interpretation of

standards – Test Lab Requirements/Audits – Test Tool Validation – Time required for implementation – Validate Test Report template

20 April 2012 12

Current Labs that participate in WG

• CableLabs (3rd Party) • RITT (3rd Party) • Shanghai Institute of China Telecom (2nd Party) • University of New Hampshire –Interoperability

Lab (3rd Party) • Future Lab in Japan

20 April 2012 13

SIEPON Brand Awareness

• Tested products will be awarded a certification mark • The “SIEPON Certified” mark will convey trust in

the device and the certification program. • Drive to ensure that End-Users are committed to

purchase certified products to minimize negative impact on the network

• Certified Product Registry to be maintained

20 April 2012 14

Questions & Discussion

15 20 April 2012