The Wireless Innovation Forum (WInnForum) has announced the names of first six test labs set to bear the “WInnForum CBRS Approved” logo for Citizen’s Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD) testing for WInnForum standards compliance.
The CBRS CBSD Standards approved labs are:
- Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services (Hong Kong) Ltd., Taoyuan Branch, Mobile Communications
- DEKRA Certification, Inc
- Nemko (multiple approved locations)
- Nokia Global Product Compliance Laboratory
- Sporton International Inc
- TUV SUD Canada
According to Lee Pucker, CEO of the WInnForum, approval of WInnForum standards certified test labs provide a significant step towards commercialization of the CBRS Band and that these approvals are to be considered as the first wave of WInnForum CBRS Approved test labs with more to follow.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be certifying CBSDs against CFR 47 Part 96 using FCC Authorized Test Labs. Among other requirements, obtaining an FCC certification requires demonstrating that the CBSD meets the general and technical requirements for communicating with the Spectrum Access System (SAS). The FCC has stated in the “Licensed Service Rules and Procedures” for Part 96 that conformance with the WInnForum SAS to CBSD Interface Specification (WINNF-TS-0016) as demonstrated by testing against the WInnForum CBSD Test Specification (WINNF-TS-0122) meets this criteria, with a caveat that the test lab is “recognized by WInnForum.”
Accordingly, the WInnForum is facilitating CBSD certification testing, against this test specification by approving FCC approved test labs to run the WInnForum CBSD tests. In December 2017, WInnForum selected CTIA to run the test lab approval program. WInnForum supports the development and advancement of spectrum sharing technologies based on the three-tier architecture detailed in 3.5 GHz CBRS Band rules defined by the FCC. The Forum recently announced the completion of the full set of baseline standards required for WInnForum certification of CBRS equipment. This watershed event allows the finalization of CBRS products for official testing and sets the stage for the rollout of commercial CBRS networks.
