Wimax standards and Security The Wimax

Introduction

Testing and certification of telecommunication products have been a challeng- ing task owing to the rigorous and complex nature of the testing process and the related infrastructure involved. Telecommunication product manufactur- ers often spend a large portion of their time and budget on testing activities, as they are very critical to the overall success and marketability of the product. The testing time of wireless products can easily account for 70% of the cost of the product as engineers test for certification, government compliance, and electromagnetic compatibility and electromagnetic interference mitiga- tion [13]. WiMAX technology is a standard-based form of wireless broadband in which products from different vendors are intended to be interoperable, thus boosting competition and driving down prices through high-volume product production. WiMAX product testing and certification are more com- plicated due to complexity in several factors, including radio, protocol, and interoperability testing issues.
The telecommunications industry tests its products for performance, inter-
operability, conformance, integration, stress, volume, etc. Conformance testing is the act of determining to what extent a single implementation con- forms to the individual requirements of its base standard [1]. In the case of WiMAX, the conformance testing may include unit testing, mandatory reg- ulatory/compliance type testing, and testing against underlying standards. The role of conformance testing is to increase the confidence that the prod- uct conforms to its specifications, and to minimize the risk of malfunctioning when the product is put into place. Interoperability testing verifies if the end- to-end functionality between (at least) two implementations of communicat- ing systems is as required by those base systems’ standards. It is to be noted that interoperability testing is not a substitute for conformance testing. Both conformance and interoperability testing are needed, as one can argue that two implementations following the same wrong specifications could be still interoperable.
One of the main elements of WiMAX technology is the interoperability of
WiMAX products, certified by the WiMAX Forum [2], resulting in mass vol- ume and confidence for the service providers to buy equipment from more than one company and that such integration works together. The WiMAX Forum defines and conducts conformance and interoperability testing to

ensure that different vendor systems work seamlessly with one another. Those that pass conformance and interoperability testing achieve “WiMAX Forum Certified’’ designation and can display this mark on their products and mar- keting materials. The certification program demonstrates a certain measure of compliance and interoperability. However, since it is unrealistic and imprac- tical to test products for every single aspect of the specifications, certification does not provide full guarantee. It gives a reasonable and acceptable degree of confidence [3].

This chapter provides details about the different types of testing and cer- tification needed for WiMAX products. It also describes some major test equipment used for WiMAX product testing.

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