Latest Round of 3G Interoperability Testing for Music, Video and Mobile TV Applications

US : The International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium's Packet-switched Streaming Services Activity Group (PSS-AG) staged a live face-to-face interoperability test event in June, kicking off its latest cycle of interoperability testing of 3GPP and 3GPP2 streaming standards.

The PSS-AG is focused on testing the interoperability of cutting-edge features from the latest 3G multimedia streaming specifications, including streaming bit-rate adaptation, multi-track signaling, and progressive download of the latest codecs including H.264 Video and Enhanced aacPlus Audio.

The face-to-face kick-off event was hosted by RealNetworks in Seattle, Wash., USA. Thirty-two people, representing 13 member companies, participated in the event. Testing was conducted using commercially available 2.5 and 3G cellular networks in addition to local area wired and wireless networks instrumented to simulate network congestion.

The PSS-AG focuses on interoperability testing of multimedia streaming and playback for mobile devices, serving the needs of its member companies and the overall market. Participating companies can dramatically improve their time to market and avoid costly support issues in the field by finding and eliminating interoperability issues early in their product development cycle, before their products are released. Testing tasks and problem resolution are efficiently tracked using a highly customized test-tracking tool.

Mobile operators who deploy music, video and mobile television services based on streaming seek companies that have participated in PSS-AG testing activities, since their products tend to be more mature and have fewer problems during validation and initial deployment. The PSS-AG also works to improve the relevant standards via liaison relationships with organizations such as 3GPP. Information learned through testing can be used to improve clarity or to discover and resolve technical issues in the specifications.

"The PSS-AG is an active and highly collaborative group of industry leaders working together to solve interoperability problems and to enable features ahead of the market," said Ralph Neff, co-chairman of the PSS-AG and senior member of technical staff at PacketVideo.

"New features such as rate adaptation, where streaming quality is optimized to changing network conditions, cannot be deployed without extensive interoperability testing," said Amir Wolf, co-chairman of PSS-AG and IMTC Fellow. "This is the essential role that our group provides for the industry."

The current test cycle is expected to continue throughout the year, culminating in a second live test event at the end of 2006. Other companies are welcome to join the PSS-AG and to participate in the ongoing tests.

About the Packet-switched Streaming Services Activity Group (PSS-AG)

The IMTC established the PSS-AG in 2000 to perform interoperability tests for Packet-switched Streaming Services according to 3GPP Technical Specifications 26.233 and 26.234, delivering/streaming multimedia content over wireless networks. The PSS-AG continues to grow an impressive company membership roster that includes: Alcatel (France), Apple (USA),

Comneon (Germany), Emuzed (USA), Ericsson (Sweden), France Telecom (France), Fraunhofer IIS (Germany), GmBH & Co. (Germany), Hantro Products Oy (Finland), LogicaCMG (USA), Mcubeworks (South Korea), Mobixell Networks (Israel), Motorola (USA), Nextreaming Corporation (Korea), Nokia (Finland), PacketVideo (USA), Qualcomm (USA), Royal Philips Electronics (The Netherlands), RealNetworks (USA), Sasken (India), Sharp Corporation (Japan), SKY MobileMedia (USA), Sony-Ericsson (Sweden), ST-Microelectronics (France), Texas Instruments (USA), Vidiator Technology (USA) and Ximpo Group (Israel).

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