ETSI, with the support of the European Commission (EC), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Critical Communications Association (TCCA), the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (UIC) and 5G-EPICENTRE, organized the seventh MCX PLUGTESTSTM. This Plugtests took place from the 7th to 11th of November 2022 and was hosted by the University of Malaga, Spain. 

Important: We assure our participants, members and partners that ETSI is monitoring the situation of the Coronavirus pandemic very closely and will ensure all necessary initiatives will be taken in accordance with the instructions of the local government authorities. We recommend flexible booking of hotel / flights accordingly.

What were the objectives and scope of the Plugtests event?

The concept of Mission Critical Services such as “Mission Critical Push To Talk" (MCPTT), “Mission Critical Data" (MCData) and “Mission Critical Video" (MCVideo) started with 3GPP Release-13 and is ongoing in current Releases. The Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) is based on these Mission Critical Features.

The goal of this MCX Plugtests event was to validate the interoperability of a variety of implementations using different scenarios based on 3GPP Mission Critical Services in Release-17. The MCX Plugtests event did also test FRMCS capabilities like Functional Aliases, Multi-talker, User and Group Regrouping, MCData IP Connectivity and complex emergency call handling. The MCX Plugtests event was, besides mission critical features which have been tested in past events over 4G network, extended to initially test Mission Critical Services over 5G test network. Specific focus was put to inter-system communications including IWF and inter-MCX scenarios. The tests are based on 3GPP, ETSI and IETF standards and are designed for:

  • MCS Application Servers (MCPTT, MCDATA, MCVIDEO)
  • MCS Clients (MCPTT, MCDATA, MCVIDEO)
  • FRMCS Applications using MCX Framework
  • eMBMS Components
  • IMS / SIP Cores
  • Consoles and Control Rooms connected to MCX servers
  • MCS Test Equipments
  • RAN equipment (4G and 5G)
  • Packet cores (4G and 5G)
  • UEs (User Equipment), Cab Radios, embedded equipment, Rugged Handheld Phones
  • TETRA and P25 systems with IWF

This event featured tests with 4G and 5G radio equipment (gNBs, eNBs, 5GCs, EPCs, UEs) with Unicast and Multicast support and did also allow Over-The-Top (OTT) testing of Mission Critical Servers and Clients as well as included tests of railways-oriented capabilities. Test Equipment vendors had the possibility to test as well in the Plugtests.

What were the advantages of attending the 7th MCX Plugtests event?

  • To assess the level of interoperability of your implementations
  • To validate your understanding of the standards
  • To test with (many) other real implementations and demonstrate end-to-end interoperability
  • To debug your implementation: early bug fixing, saving time and costs
  • To promote the technology and the ecosystem

Who could participate?

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

New Vendors and Observers had to sign the Rules of Engagement and NDA of the MCX Plugtests Programme to participate. 

The Plugtests Observer Programme

Observers were 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 to the testing, it was planned to organise an observer programme and demos. The focus of the observer programme was to examine and discuss the progress of deployment and the challenges in testing of the Mission Critical Services for Public Safety and Public Transport. The observer programme was held onsite during the event.

The observer programme included demos from the interested vendors, which showed interoperability of their equipment by showcasing the MCX Plugtests test cases and observer scenario use cases.

This event will be hosted by University of Malaga, Spain. Vendors participating in over-the-top testing and Observers will be allowed onsite. ETSI and the University of Malaga are monitoring the health situation. It is recommended that you organize flexible travels. 

Venue: Instituto de Tecnología e Ingeniería del Software, Edificio de Investigación Ada Byron, Universidad de Málaga.

Calle Arquitecto Francisco Peñalosa, 18.

Málaga, 29010

SPAIN

REGISTRATION

The deadline to register was 11 September 2022.

All participants had register to this event even if they participated in previous events part of the MCX PLUGTESTSTM Programme. All participants were expected to register individually. Each first person from an organization to register for the event was de facto the official contact for technical and logistics matters. After registration, all participants joining the 7th MCX Plugtests were invited to the preparation conference calls and were subscribed to the Plugtests mailing list dedicated to this event.  Participants who joined the MCX Plugtests Programme during one of the past MCX/FRMCS Plugtests events would by default remain on the dedicated mailing list and would receive invitations to the conference calls on this mailing list. 

The event was free of charge.

NDA

By registering for the 7th MCX Plugtests event, new participating organizations joined the MCX Plugtests Programme and were asked to sign the Rules of Engagement (RoE) and Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which they would receive upon registration. These RoE and NDA will cover the series of remote and face-to-face Plugtests events which will be held as part of the MCX Plugtests Programme. Companies which previously signed the RoE and NDA of the MCX Plugtests Programme when registering to one of the past MCX/FRMCS Plugtests events, did not need to sign the RoE and NDA again. Only new organizations joining the Programme received the RoE and NDA for signature. Upon signature of the RoE and NDA sent to the official contact, the new participants would receive their credentials for the 7th MCX Plugtests Wiki. Participants would not be allowed to participate in the event if the NDA of the Programme was not signed by a representative of their company.

The deadline to return the signed NDAs to ETSI was 16 September 2022.

 Follow @ETSI_Standards Participate with #MCXPlugtests

Join our open information call and hear more about the 7th MCX PLUGTESTS! No need to have registered for the event to attend this call.

Tue, Jul 5, 2022 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (CEST)

Please join our meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://meet.goto.com/Plugtests/7th-mcx-plugtests-open-call

You can also dial in using your phone.
China (Toll Free): 4000 762962
France: +33 170 950 594

Access Code: 218-772-525

More phone numbers:
United States: +1 (646) 749-3129
Australia: +61 2 8355 1050
Austria: +43 7 2081 5427
Belgium: +32 28 93 7018
Brazil: +55 11 4118-4897
Bulgaria: +359 2 906 0605
Canada: +1 (647) 497-9391
Chile: +56 2 3214 9680
Colombia: +57 1 600 9953
Czech Republic: +420 2 55 71 95 02
Denmark: +45 32 72 03 82
Finland: +358 923 17 0568
Germany: +49 891 2140 2090
Greece: +30 21 0 300 2583
Hungary: +36 1 933 3699
India (Toll Free): 18002126633
Ireland: +353 15 360 728
Israel: +972 3 376 3070
Italy: +39 0 230 57 81 42
Japan (Toll Free): 0 120 663 800
Korea, Republic of (Toll Free): 00798 14 207 4914
Luxembourg: +352 34 2080 9219
Malaysia: +60 3 7724 4059
Mexico: +52 55 1500 3597
Netherlands: +31 207 941 377
New Zealand: +64 9 280 6302
Norway: +47 21 93 37 51
Panama: +507 308 4334
Peru: +51 1 642 9424
Poland (Toll Free): 00 800 1124759
Portugal (Toll Free): 800 819 575
Romania: +40 31 780 1158
South Africa: +27 11 259 4924
Spain: +34 932 75 2004
Sweden: +46 853 527 836
Switzerland: +41 435 5015 61
Turkey: +90 212 900 4807
United Kingdom: +44 330 221 0088

Join from a video-conferencing room or system.
Dial in or type: 67.217.95.2 or inroomlink.goto.com
Meeting ID: 218 772 525
Or dial directly: 218772525@67.217.95.2 or 67.217.95.2##218772525

Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts: https://meet.goto.com/install

Any Questions? Contact us