ETSI, with the support of the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Critical Communications Association (TCCA), the European Utilities Telecom Council (EUTC) and the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (UIC), is organizing the eighth MCX PlugtestsTM. This Plugtests will be hosted by the University of Malaga, Spain, from 9 to 13 October 2023. 

What are the objectives and scope of the 8th MCX 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 is to validate the interoperability of a variety of implementations using different scenarios based on 3GPP Mission Critical Services. The MCX Plugtests event will also test, flexible group communications, MCData IP Connectivity and complex emergency call handling. The MCX Plugtests event will, besides mission critical features which have been tested in past events over 4G network, be extended to test Mission Critical Services over 5G test network. Specific focus will be put on inter-system communications including Off-Network, 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 will feature tests with 4G and 5G radio equipment (gNBs, eNBs, 5GCs, EPCs, UEs) with Unicast and Multicast support and will 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 will have the possibility to test as well in the Plugtests.

What are the advantages of attending the 8th 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 may 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 must sign the Rules of Engagement and NDA of the MCX Plugtests Programme to participate. 

The Plugtests Observer Program

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 to the testing, we are planning to organise an observer round table discussion, observer program and interoperability demos. The focus of the observer round table discussion and program is 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 round table discussion and program will be held onsite during the event.

The interoperability demos will be demonstrated by the interested vendors showing 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 21 August 2023. New companies are not accepted anymore. After 21 August 2023, should colleagues wish to join the team, it will still be possible provided their organisation registered before 21 August 2023 and space limitation permits: then please contact plugtests@etsi.org.

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

The event is free of charge.

NDA

By registering for the 8th MCX Plugtests event, new participating organizations will join the MCX Plugtests Programme and will be asked to sign the Rules of Engagement (RoE) and Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which they will 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, will not need to sign the RoE and NDA again: only new organizations joining the Programme will receive the RoE and NDA for signature. Upon signature of the RoE and NDA sent to the official contact, the new participants will receive their credentials for the 8th MCX Plugtests Wiki. Participants will not be allowed to participate in the event if the NDA of the Programme has not been signed by a representative of their company.

The deadline to return the signed NDAs to ETSI is 28 August 2023

Join our information call, open to all interested parties to hear more about the 8th MCX PlugtestsTM event: no need to have registered for the event to attend the call!

MCX Plugtests #8 - Information call
Jun 20, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM (Europe/Brussels)


Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://meet.goto.com/808677749

You can also dial in using your phone.
Access Code: 808-677-749
China (Toll Free): 4006 037937
France: +33 430 001 238


More phone numbers
India (Toll Free): 18001219881
Japan (Toll Free): 0 120 242 200
Korea, Republic of (Toll Free): 00798 14 207 4828
Poland (Toll Free): 00 800 1124748
Portugal (Toll Free): 800 819 683
United States: +1 (571) 317-3116
Australia: +61 2 9091 7603
Austria: +43 7 2081 5337
Belgium: +32 28 93 7002
Brazil: +55 11 4118-4898
Bulgaria: +359 2 906 0606
Canada: +1 (647) 497-9373
Chile: +56 2 3214 9681
Colombia: +57 1 600 9954
Czech Republic: +420 2 96 21 62 28
Denmark: +45 43 31 47 79
Finland: +358 923 17 0556
Germany: +49 892 0194 301
Greece: +30 21 0 300 2693
Hungary: +36 1 933 3700
Ireland: +353 15 360 756
Israel: +972 3 376 3071
Italy: +39 0 230 57 81 80
Luxembourg: +352 34 2080 9220
Malaysia: +60 3 7724 4060
Mexico: +52 55 1500 3598
Netherlands: +31 207 941 375
New Zealand: +64 9 913 2226
Norway: +47 21 93 37 37
Panama: +507 308 4337
Peru: +51 1 642 9425
Romania: +40 31 780 1159
South Africa: +27 11 259 4925
Spain: +34 932 75 1230
Sweden: +46 853 527 818
Switzerland: +41 315 2081 00
Turkey: +90 212 900 4812
United Kingdom: +44 808 178 0872


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

 Follow @ETSI_Standards Participate with #MCXPlugtests

Presentation of MCX#8 Plugtests results
Nov 14, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM (Europe/Brussels)


Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://meet.goto.com/522758621

You can also dial in using your phone.
Access Code: 522-758-621
China (Toll Free): 4006 037937
France: +33 430 001 238


More phone numbers
India (Toll Free): 18001219881
Japan (Toll Free): 0 120 242 200
Korea, Republic of (Toll Free): 00798 14 207 4828
Poland (Toll Free): 00 800 1124748
Portugal (Toll Free): 800 819 683
United States: +1 (571) 317-3116
Australia: +61 2 9091 7603
Austria: +43 1 2060 92964
Belgium: +32 28 93 7002
Brazil: +55 11 4118-4898
Bulgaria: +359 2 906 0606
Canada: +1 (647) 497-9373
Chile: +56 2 3214 9681
Colombia: +57 1 600 9954
Czech Republic: +420 2 96 21 62 28
Denmark: +45 32 72 03 69
Finland: +358 923 17 0556
Germany: +49 892 0194 301
Greece: +30 21 0 300 2693
Hungary: +36 1 933 3700
Ireland: +353 15 360 756
Israel: +972 3 376 3071
Italy: +39 0 230 57 81 80
Luxembourg: +352 34 2080 9220
Malaysia: +60 3 7724 4060
Mexico: +52 55 1500 3598
Netherlands: +31 207 941 375
New Zealand: +64 9 913 2226
Norway: +47 21 93 37 37
Panama: +507 308 4337
Peru: +51 1 642 9425
Romania: +40 31 780 1159
South Africa: +27 11 259 4925
Spain: +34 932 75 1230
Sweden: +46 853 527 818
Switzerland: +41 315 2081 00
Turkey: +90 212 900 4812
United Kingdom: +44 808 178 0872


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

Any Questions? Contact us