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Cellular Certifications Part 3

Anuja Upale in Blogs on April 05, 2023

About Anuja Upale

Anuja Upale is an Engineer with a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Electronics & Telecommunications from Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, and a Master’s in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Maryland. With eight years of hands-on experience in the tech and electronics industries, Anuja serves as an excellent technical consulting resource for design engineers. Specializing in wireless technologies, including Cellular, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, LoRa®,and GPS–Anuja develops insightful reference designs, application notes, white papers, and product kits to support the advancement of innovative technologies.
Symmetry-Electronics-Applications-Engineer-Anuja-Upale-Releases-Her-Third-Installement-Of-Her-Cellular-Certification-Series

In the first and second installments of our Cellular Certifications series, we comprehensively covered the topics of chipsets, modules and modems, regulatory certifications, and industry-level certifications. In Part III, we’ll focus on the finer details of carrier certifications.

1. What are carrier or MNO approvals?

Despite a device having regulatory and industry approvals, carriers may mandate their own testing requirements. Carriers are also known as Mobile Network Operators (MNO), and every carrier has their own testcases, limitations, and standards on testing results. Developers must adhere to MNO testing requirements to get on their network.

2. Which MNOs have certification requirements in US?

AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile all have enforced their own processes to get devices certified before allowing access to the network.

3. What is AT&T Certification process?

AT&T employs the “Get Network Ready” program to ensure devices comply with AT&T standards. This program includes simple processes that determine if a device operates as intended.

To initiate AT&T certification:

4. What is the Verizon certification process?

Verizon’s certification process is referred to as the Open Development Device Certification Process. There are 4 major steps involved in the certification process (Figure 1):

  • Register:
    • First and foremost, a developer must register with the Verizon Open Development portal and sign NDA.
  • Submit Device:
    • A developer also needs to submit all relevant information regarding the device such as FCC grants, User Guides, troubleshooting, and device pictures. This includes the Device Lockdown (DLD) before testing.
  • Certify Device:
    • Verizon will create a Test Campaign for the device that details the required testcases. Test labs will execute these tests.
  • Prep for Market:
    • Once all tests have been successfully completed, the developer will receive letter from Verizon about certification. Device will be eligible to operate on the Verizon Network.
Verizon-Cerification-Process-Flow-Chart
Figure 1: Verizon certification process flow chart.

5. What is the T-Mobile certification process?

T-Mobile employs their own validation process for certification of cellular devices. This process determines whether a device is compatible on their network and will not cause interference. Devices must have a T-Mobile certified module/chipset, FCC approval, and PTCRB approval. The T-Mobile Certification Process includes the following steps (Figure 2).

  • Open Account on Certification Portal:
    • Once a developer has provided their contact information, they can get account details along with instructions for next steps.
  • Submit Agreements:
    • Submit necessary documentation required for the certification process.
  • Device Intake:
    • Submit all relevant information regarding the device. Based on this T-Mobile will create a compliance process.
  • Compliance:
    • A T-Mobile representative will help developers determine the compliance requirements for the device.
  • Lab Testing:
    • Validation process for the devices for testing.
  • Certification Granted:
    • Once the device completes and passes all the necessary tests, a certification letter will be granted to the developer.
Steps-Of-T-Mobile-Certification
Figure 2: T-Mobile certification steps.
Source : T-Mobile

Looking for more information on the complex road to cellular certification? Our team of Applications Engineers are experts in cellular, wireless, and connected systems and are uniquely positioned to help navigate your device to cellular certification approval. Consultation is free and available throughout your design cycle. Contact Symmetry Electronics today!

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Anuja Upale in Blogs on April 05, 2023

About Anuja Upale

Anuja Upale is an Engineer with a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Electronics & Telecommunications from Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, and a Master’s in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Maryland. With eight years of hands-on experience in the tech and electronics industries, Anuja serves as an excellent technical consulting resource for design engineers. Specializing in wireless technologies, including Cellular, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, LoRa®,and GPS–Anuja develops insightful reference designs, application notes, white papers, and product kits to support the advancement of innovative technologies.

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