1st MCX Off-Network Plugtests^TM

ETSI, with the support of the Critical Communications Association (TCCA), is organising the first MCX Off-Network Plugtests™. Co-funded by the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA), this Plugtests event will take place in the ETSI premises in Sophia Antipolis, France.

What are the objectives and scope of the 1^st MCX Off-Network Plugtests event?

Mission Critical Services, including “Mission Critical Push-To-Talk” (MCPTT), “Mission Critical Data” (MCData) and “Mission Critical Video” (MCVideo), were introduced in 3GPP Release 13 and include capabilities supporting off-network and direct communication scenarios.

The goal of this MCX Plugtests event is to validate the applicability, completeness, and interoperability aspects of relevant 3GPP Mission Critical (MCX) specifications in off-network conditions through a comprehensive set of test scenarios. 

The event will provide vendors, operators, infrastructure providers and public safety stakeholders with a collaborative and neutral test environment to evaluate how implementations perform in direct communication scenarios without network coverage, and will assess interoperability in multi-vendor configurations.

Ensuring interoperability in off-network conditions is essential for Mission Critical services, particularly in coverage-limited, isolated or emergency situations, where communication must be maintained even in the absence of network infrastructure.

The event will foster collaboration across the MCX ecosystem to improve the maturity of off-network capabilities, promote a shared understanding of implementation approaches and support the development of interoperable and standards-compliant solutions.

A specific focus will be placed on Off-network communication scenarios using direct device-to-device interactions. The tests are based on 3GPP, ETSI and IETF standards and are designed for:

• MCS Clients (MCPTT, MCData, MCVideo).
• MCS Common Services Core (supporting CSC-11 & CSC-12).
• 5G NR Sidelink devices.

What are the advantages of attending the 1^st MCX Off-Network Plugtests event?

• Assess interoperability of implementations in off-network conditions.
• Validate implementation behaviour in coverage-limited scenarios.
• Test direct communication capabilities with multiple vendors.
• Debug implementations in realistic off-network use cases.
• Contribute to the maturity of off-network MCX ecosystem.

Who may participate?

• Vendors which develop and produce above-mentioned equipment.
• Observers, which can be government organisations, mobile network operators, public safety operators, users, agencies or regulators.

New vendors and observers must sign the Rules of Engagement and NDA of the MCX Plugtests programme to participate. 

The Plugtests round table programme

Observers are welcome to help define the scope (i.e. functionality to be tested) for this event and to evaluate the tests statistics in the TRT (Test Reporting Tool).

In parallel with the testing, we are planning to organise a round table programme that will focus on discussing the deployment challenges of the Mission Critical Off-Network. The round table programme will be held onsite during the event.