Page 11 - DECT Today - October 2015

STANDARDS, SECURITY AND CERTIFICATION FOCUS
CAT-iq certification, status and next steps
By Sébastien Duchamp, SWISSVOICE R&D Dirctor/ Chairman CAT-iq Working Group
The DECT Forum set up the Cordless Advanced Technology - internet and quality (CAT-iq) initiative in 2005. In Q1 2008, the CAT-iq 1.0 HD Sound certification program was ready and DECT wideband products were on the market, demonstrating impressive audio improvements compared to the standard telephony.
In February 2011, CAT-iq 2.0 Multi Line followed, and the first certified products were then available. CAT-iq 2.0 devices improve on the audio compared to CAT-1.0 devices and thanks to an alignment of audio requirements with the GSMA, since 12 June 2013, DECT CAT-iq 2.0-certified devices may also use the same HD Voice logo as used on mobile phones.
On top of audio improvements and HD audio, CAT-iq 2.0 brings interoperability for essential mandatory features including:
• easy base and handset pairing
• CLIP and CNIP
• shared contacts and call lists
• standardised parallel call procedures
• time settings procedures
• settings handling
• call forwarding settings
• notifications
These enable an advanced, common feature set between gateways and handsets from different manufacturers.
CAT-iq 2.0 certification has three key goals
• promotes CAT-iq to market stakeholders, e.g. end users, carriers, retailers as a technically credible implementation of conformity to a set of standards that will add value to their industry/lives.
• ensures interoperability of devices from multiple manufacturers for functionalities defined in CAT-iq.
• ensures a mandatory level of quality requirement for specific product parameters to achieve consistent user experience of the different stakeholders.
The certification program, which is carried
in addition to any other local product related
conformity requirements, consists of a number of different component parts with the appropriate specialist test equipment as shown above.
Covered are RF Requirements (testing for long slot operation), Acoustic Requirements including tests using Head And Torso Simulator (HATS), and Interoperability Requirements tested using a tester, which was specifically developed by the DF Forum for the CAT-iq 2.0 protocol testing. Devices must fulfil the CAT-iq 2.0 certification requirements with the same hardware and software to be CAT-iq 2.0 certified.
There are some key facts about the certification program which are interesting:
- Onlyendproductscanbeapproved through the certification program (fixed part and/or portable part)
- To enter the certification program, the presenting company must be a FULL member of the DECT Forum
- FULLmemberswhoappliedforand achieved certification have the right to use the certification logo
- In addition, the manufacturer/brand placing the product in the market, with a certificate from a FULL member in their supply chain can also use the certification logo, although the said manufacturer/brand must be an Associate or FULL member of the DECT Forum
- Furthermore,anoperatorplacingthe product in the market, with a certificate from a FULL member in their supply chain can also use the certification logo, although again the said operator must be an Associate or FULL member of the DECT Forum
- AnyFULLmemberoftheDECTForum canusethelogoontheirpromotional material
Now, you may ask: why such regulation on membership - shouldn’t it be free for anybody passing certification tests?
In addition to maintaining the credibility of the certification program by scanning the market for violations, membership income was used to create CAT-iq and is
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