The agreement comes after TRaC facilitated the world's first femtocell plugfest event earlier this year, which received widespread vendor support and was attended by more than 20 companies. TRaC and the Femto Forum are now making plans for the second plugfest and looking to build on their already successful partnership.
To be held towards the end of 2010, this second plugfest will focus on the Broadband Forum's Femtocell management standard, building on the work of the Forum's first plugfest on the Iuh interface.
Karim Sharf, chief operating officer at TRaC, commented: "Femtocells and their deployment is undoubtedly becoming a significant focus for many telecommunications operators.
"By holding a second plugfest we can really drive forward the development of femtocell technology, providing valuable feedback to standards organizations and ensuring consistent interoperability between vendors' equipment.
"TRaC and the Femto Forum both see interoperability as integral to the successful uptake of femtocells. In order to address this need, the Forum created
The Chairman's Award is presented to the individual that Simon Saunders, chair of the Femto Forum, feels has made the biggest contribution to the Forum and the wider femtocell industry. Simon commented: "Most of the Femto Forum’s work is driven by the efforts of individuals from within our member organisations and a huge number have contributed their time and skills to the Forum in the past year and all deserve my considerable thanks.
"However, one of our key goals we had in the last year was to make tangible progress towards our vision of an open, interoperable ecosystem for femtocells. To that end, in March we ran the first plugfest for UMTS femtocells, which was widely supported by over 20 vendors. Karim Sharf was instrumental in supporting and coordinating that process and his level of contribution to the Forum's aims has been outstanding."
Karim Sharf is the vice chair of the interoperability testing special interest group (IOT SIG) and
Motorola's NBBS remote device software device management platform is used by TRaC - whose testing services include telecommunications, DSL and radio - to test Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) that utilizes the Broadband Forum's TR-069 specification and ensure interoperability.
Alan Lefkof, corporate vice president and general manager of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home, commented: "We are pleased that TRaC continues to rely on our NBBS software platform to perform industry leading interoperability testing - TRaC's reputation, dedication and expertise in the testing and compliance industry are excellent."
"By continuing our work together we are able to carry on providing CPE vendors with a testing platform that can validate their compliance to the important TR-069 specification."
Motorola's NBBS Auto Configuration Server (ACS) was developed specifically to meet the TR-069 requirements that broadband service providers often insist CPE vendors adhere to.
Paul Russell, managing director of TRaC Telecoms and Radio, commented: "Motorola's NBBS platform was the perfect system choice to power our TR-069 testing service."
"As Motorola continues to enhance its NBBS platform and we are pleased to be able to provide the
TRaC is accredited by the USA's two largest broadband service providers to carry out DSL testing. This latest set of testing demonstrates that a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) containing Realtek's ADSL2+ chipset has successfully completed the TR-067 and TR-100 test program requirements for the multiple DSLAMs deployed in North America.
Jessy Chen, vice president from Realtek Semiconductor Corp, commented: "Passing these TRaC testing programs and receiving this accreditation has proved valuable for our business. By successfully completing these tests, our devices may be qualified by major telco carriers to further expand our broadband business in North America. We have worked with TRaC for a number of years and have always had a quick and efficient service from them."
TRaC opened its expanded flagship DSL test facility at its Hull, UK headquarters in November last year following a re-location from its Santa Clara operation. The laboratory is now the most advanced and comprehensive independent DSL testing facility anywhere in the world.
Paul Russell, managing director of
