LTE  |  2022-07-26

7th MCX Plugtests Registration is Now Open - Includes Testing of Mission-Critical Services over 5G

Source: The Critical Communications Review | Gert Jan Wolf editor

The 7th European MCX Plugtests, which will take place in Malaga, Spain, from November 7–11, have just opened for registration through ETSI.

The 7th European MCX Plugtests, which will take place in Malaga, Spain, from November 7–11, have just opened for registration through ETSI.

The purpose of the MCX Plugtests event is to validate the interoperability of various implementations based on mission-critical services (MCX) in Release-17 of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards. The event will also put Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) features like functional aliases, multi-talker, user and group regrouping, mission-critical data (MCData) IP connectivity, and complex emergency call handling to the test. The MCX Plugtests event will, in addition to mission-critical features tested in previous events over 4G networks, be expanded to initially test mission-critical services over 5G test networks. Inter-system communications, including the interworking function (IWF) and inter-MCX scenarios, will receive special attention.

The tests are based on 3GPP, ETSI, and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards and are intended for:

• MCX Application Servers including mission-critical push to talk (MCPTT), MCData, and mission-critical video (MCVideo) • MCX Clients including MCPTT, MCData, MCVideo) • FRMCS applications using MCX framework • Evolved multimedia broadcast and multicast services (eMBMS) components • IP multimedia system (IMS)/session initiation protocol (SIP) cores • Consoles and control rooms connected to MCX servers • MCX test equipment • Radio access network (RAN) equipment including 4G and 5G • Packet cores for 4G and 5G • User equipment including UE, cab radios, embedded equipment and rugged handheld phones • TETRA and P25 systems with IWF

This event will include tests with 4G and 5G radio equipment that supports unicast and multicast, as well as over-the-top (OTT) testing of mission-critical servers and clients and tests of railway-oriented capabilities. Test equipment vendors will be able to participate in the plugtests as well. Vendors who develop and manufacture MCX equipment are welcome to attend, as are government organizations, mobile network operators, public-safety operators, users, agencies, and regulators.