Handset testing becomes increasingly complicated, says CGC executive

With smartphones becoming functionally more powerful and supporting a growing list of communications standards, testing certification is increasingly more complicated, said Chen Hengzhong, president of testing laboratory Communications Global Certification (CGC), according to DigiTimes. Since smartphones require longer development schedules to integrate a wide range of features, the testing and certification processes, though more complicated now, needs to be compressed into a tighter time-frame so as not to affect time to market, Chen noted. Standard organizations for smartphones include 3G Partnership Project (3GPP), GSM Association, Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), Near Field Communication (NFC), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and EMV, and the list is expanding, especially with telecom carriers demanding different guidelines. It is increasingly difficult for testing laboratories to keep up with the ever changing requirements, Chen said. Now that carriers are transitioning to 4G standards such as LTE and WiMAX, end-use products need to ensure compatibility between 4G and 3G communications, Chen said, adding that new testing equipment needs to involve LTE FDD, LTE TDD, WiMAX and CDMA. Chen pointed out that there are 6-7 testing laboratories in Taiwan, and players are frequently entering and exiting the market. CGC is a subsidiary of smartphone vendor HTC.