Conformance testing
Encyclopedia
Conformance testing or type testing is testing to determine whether a product or system meets some specified standard that has been developed for efficiency or interoperability.
To aid in this, many test procedures and test setups have been developed, either by the standard's maintainers or external organizations, specifically for testing conformance to standards.
Conformance testing is often performed by external organizations, which is sometimes the standards body itself, to give greater guarantees of compliance. Products tested in such a manner are then advertised as being certified by that external organization as complying with the standard.
Service providers, equipment manufacturers, and equipment suppliers rely on this data to ensure Quality of Service (QoS) through this conformance process.
, Compiler
s, for instance, are extensively tested to determine whether they meet the recognized standard for that language.
It is a process of testing an implemented product to confirm that it is based on its specified standards.
and electrical engineering
, some countries and business environments (such as telecommunication companies) require that an electronic product meet certain requirements before they can be sold. Standards for telecommunication products written by standards organizations such as ANSI
, the FCC
, and IEC
, etc., have certain criteria that a product must meet before compliance is recognized. In countries such as Japan, China, Korea, and some parts of Europe, products cannot be sold unless they are known to meet those requirements specified in the standards. Usually, manufacturers set their own requirements to ensure product quality, sometimes with levels much higher than what the governing bodies require. Compliance is realized after a product passes a series of tests without occurring some specified mode of failure. Failure levels are usually set depending on what environment the product will be sold in. For instance, test on a product for used in an industrial environment will not be as stringent as a product used in a residential area. A failure can include data corruption, loss of communication, and irregular behavior.
There are three main types of compliance test for electronic devices, emissions tests, immunity tests, and safety tests. Emissions tests ensure that a product will not emit harmful interference by electromagnetic radiation and/or electrical signals in communication and power lines. Immunity tests ensure that a product is immune to common electrical signals and Electromagnetic interference
(EMI) that will be found in its operating environment, such as electromagnetic radiation
from a local radio station or interference from nearby products. Safety tests ensure that a product will not create a safety risk from situations such as a failed or shorted power supply, blocked cooling vent, and powerline voltage spike
s and dips.
Common Tests - refer to GR-1089, Electromagnetic Compatibility and Electrical Safety - Generic Criteria for Network Telecommunications Equipment :
Radiated Immunity - refer to GR-1089, Electromagnetic Compatibility and Electrical Safety - Generic Criteria for Network Telecommunications Equipment, Section 3.3 : An antenna is used to subject the device to electromagnetic waves, covering a large frequency range (usually from 30 MHz to 2.9 GHz).
Radiated Emissions : One or more antennas are used to measure the amplitude of the electromagnetic waves that a device emits. The amplitude must be under a set limit, with the limit depending on the devices classification.
Conducted Immunity : Low frequency signals (usually 10 kHz to 80 MHz) are injected onto the data and power lines of a device. This test is used to simulate the coupling of low frequency signals onto the power and data lines, such as from a local AM radio station.
Conducted Emissions : Similar to radiated emissions, except the signals are measured at the power lines with a filter
device.
Electrostatic discharge
(ESD) Immunity : Electrostatic discharges with various properties (rise time
, peak voltage, fall time
, and half time) are applied to the areas on the device that are likely to be discharged too, such as the faces, near user accessible buttons, etc. Discharges are also applied to a vertical and horizontal ground plane
to simulate an ESD event on a nearby surface. Voltages are usually from 2kV to 15kV, but commonly go as high as 25kV or more.
Burst Immunity : Bursts of high voltage pulses are applied to the powerlines to simulate events such as repeating voltage spikes from a motor.
Powerline Dip Immunity : The line voltage is slowly dropped down then brought back up.
Powerline Surge Immunity : A surge is applied to the line voltage.
has been used successfully to deploy a number of test systems, including protocol conformance testers for SIP
, WiMAX
, and DSRC.
To aid in this, many test procedures and test setups have been developed, either by the standard's maintainers or external organizations, specifically for testing conformance to standards.
Conformance testing is often performed by external organizations, which is sometimes the standards body itself, to give greater guarantees of compliance. Products tested in such a manner are then advertised as being certified by that external organization as complying with the standard.
Service providers, equipment manufacturers, and equipment suppliers rely on this data to ensure Quality of Service (QoS) through this conformance process.
Software engineering
In software testingSoftware testing
Software testing is an investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software...
, Compiler
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
s, for instance, are extensively tested to determine whether they meet the recognized standard for that language.
It is a process of testing an implemented product to confirm that it is based on its specified standards.
Electronic and electrical engineering
In electronic engineeringElectronic engineering
Electronics engineering, also referred to as electronic engineering, is an engineering discipline where non-linear and active electrical components such as electron tubes, and semiconductor devices, especially transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, are utilized to design electronic...
and electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
, some countries and business environments (such as telecommunication companies) require that an electronic product meet certain requirements before they can be sold. Standards for telecommunication products written by standards organizations such as ANSI
American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international...
, the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
, and IEC
International Electrotechnical Commission
The International Electrotechnical Commission is a non-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology"...
, etc., have certain criteria that a product must meet before compliance is recognized. In countries such as Japan, China, Korea, and some parts of Europe, products cannot be sold unless they are known to meet those requirements specified in the standards. Usually, manufacturers set their own requirements to ensure product quality, sometimes with levels much higher than what the governing bodies require. Compliance is realized after a product passes a series of tests without occurring some specified mode of failure. Failure levels are usually set depending on what environment the product will be sold in. For instance, test on a product for used in an industrial environment will not be as stringent as a product used in a residential area. A failure can include data corruption, loss of communication, and irregular behavior.
There are three main types of compliance test for electronic devices, emissions tests, immunity tests, and safety tests. Emissions tests ensure that a product will not emit harmful interference by electromagnetic radiation and/or electrical signals in communication and power lines. Immunity tests ensure that a product is immune to common electrical signals and Electromagnetic interference
Electromagnetic interference
Electromagnetic interference is disturbance that affects an electrical circuit due to either electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source. The disturbance may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade or limit the effective performance of the circuit...
(EMI) that will be found in its operating environment, such as electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation is a form of energy that exhibits wave-like behavior as it travels through space...
from a local radio station or interference from nearby products. Safety tests ensure that a product will not create a safety risk from situations such as a failed or shorted power supply, blocked cooling vent, and powerline voltage spike
Voltage spike
In electrical engineering, spikes are fast, short duration electrical transients in voltage , current , or transferred energy in an electrical circuit....
s and dips.
Common Tests - refer to GR-1089, Electromagnetic Compatibility and Electrical Safety - Generic Criteria for Network Telecommunications Equipment :
Radiated Immunity - refer to GR-1089, Electromagnetic Compatibility and Electrical Safety - Generic Criteria for Network Telecommunications Equipment, Section 3.3 : An antenna is used to subject the device to electromagnetic waves, covering a large frequency range (usually from 30 MHz to 2.9 GHz).
Radiated Emissions : One or more antennas are used to measure the amplitude of the electromagnetic waves that a device emits. The amplitude must be under a set limit, with the limit depending on the devices classification.
Conducted Immunity : Low frequency signals (usually 10 kHz to 80 MHz) are injected onto the data and power lines of a device. This test is used to simulate the coupling of low frequency signals onto the power and data lines, such as from a local AM radio station.
Conducted Emissions : Similar to radiated emissions, except the signals are measured at the power lines with a filter
Electronic filter
Electronic filters are electronic circuits which perform signal processing functions, specifically to remove unwanted frequency components from the signal, to enhance wanted ones, or both...
device.
Electrostatic discharge
Electrostatic discharge
Electrostatic discharge is a serious issue in solid state electronics, such as integrated circuits. Integrated circuits are made from semiconductor materials such as silicon and insulating materials such as silicon dioxide...
(ESD) Immunity : Electrostatic discharges with various properties (rise time
Rise time
In electronics, when describing a voltage or current step function, rise time refers to the time required for a signal to change from a specified low value to a specified high value...
, peak voltage, fall time
Fall time
In electronics, fall time \scriptstyle t_f\, is the time required for the amplitude of a pulse to decrease from a specified value to another specified value...
, and half time) are applied to the areas on the device that are likely to be discharged too, such as the faces, near user accessible buttons, etc. Discharges are also applied to a vertical and horizontal ground plane
Ground plane
In electrical engineering, a ground plane is an electrically conductive surface.-Radio antenna theory :In telecommunication, a ground plane structure or relationship exists between the antenna and another object, where the only structure of the object is a structure which permits the antenna to...
to simulate an ESD event on a nearby surface. Voltages are usually from 2kV to 15kV, but commonly go as high as 25kV or more.
Burst Immunity : Bursts of high voltage pulses are applied to the powerlines to simulate events such as repeating voltage spikes from a motor.
Powerline Dip Immunity : The line voltage is slowly dropped down then brought back up.
Powerline Surge Immunity : A surge is applied to the line voltage.
Telecom and datacom protocols
In protocol testing, TTCN-3TTCN-3
TTCN-3 is a strongly typed test scripting language used in conformance testing of communicating systems and a specification of test infrastructure interfaces that glue abstract test scripts with concrete communication environments. TTCN-3 has been developed by ETSI and its predecessor is TTCN-2...
has been used successfully to deploy a number of test systems, including protocol conformance testers for SIP
Session Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
, WiMAX
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
, and DSRC.
See also
- Conformity assessmentConformity assessmentConformity assessment, also known as compliance assessment , , , is any activity to determine, directly or indirectly, that a process, product, or service meets relevant technical standards and fulfills relevant requirements....