Products by Technology: Interoperability/Certification

Industry standards and interoperability/pre-certification are two of the primary drivers in TI’s broadband strategy.

TI’s silicon, software, and support solutions are designed from the product concept phase, to deliver standards-compliant, flexible, field-tested products. Benefits to OEM and ODM design teams include interoperability with operator infrastructure, ease-in-integrating products with multiple standards, platform scalability, and a high degree of confidence that industry qualification and certification will be awarded on the first try.

Interoperability and pre-certification testing requires a major commitment of time and resources. Broadband products can operate anywhere in a global marketplace, and they encounter a wide diversity of environmental conditions. This makes testing a complex process that requires large, automated validation labs, a wide variety of network equipment, and thousands of person-hours.

TI’s commitment to interoperability and pre-certification testing goes beyond designing to meet specifications.

TI delivers in-depth understanding and an unrivaled knowledge of industry standards through the following initiatives:

• Team leaders and participants in dozens of standards-setting bodies and industry interoperability events
• Dedicated support, SQA, interoperability and pre-certification laboratories in Taiwan; Israel; Germantown, Maryland; Dallas, Texas; and San Jose, California
• Comprehensive post-deployment technical support including hardware design updates, software maintenance updates, and access to TI applications engineers worldwide
• A four-tier broadband software architecture that partitions overall software functionality into flexible, re-usable and interoperable modules

TI’s involvement in pre-certification and interoperability testing covers several product segments:

• Cable: CableLabs® DOCSIS® pre-certification
• DSL: CPE and CO interoperability testing, customer testing and operator test reports through TI interOps Test Labs, as well as participation in DSL Forum interoperability events
• VoIP: Voice quality, fax, modem, signaling, ECAN, and interoperability testing
• WLAN: 802.11 standards and Wi-Fi® certification conformance, rate/reach and interoperability testing
• Ethernet: System performance and interoperability testing; University of New Hampshire certification

Select TI milestones in broadband interoperability and standards initiatives:

• Cable: First silicon and software provider to offer customers a complete, in-house facility to pre-test reference designs, giving customers increased confidence as they approach CableLabs certification
• DSL: Broad range of lab equipment and dedicated interoperability test engineers; numerous participants in DSL Forum, ITU, ETSI TM6, T1E1.4, VDSL Alliance and IEEE 802.3 EFM
• VoIP: Numerous participants in 3GPP2, Packet Cable and Packet Codec bodies, ATM Forum an other industry organizations
• WLAN: Chairman and board member, Wi-Fi Alliance; numerous IEEE 802.11 and JEDEC JC-61 contributors