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Conformance testing

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Conformance testing — also known as conformity assessment, compliance testing, or type testing — is testing or other activities that determine whether a process, product, or services complies with the requirements of a specification, technical standard, contract, or regulation.[1][2][3][4] Testing is often either logical testing or physical testing. The test procedures may involve other criteria from mathematical testing or chemical testing. Beyond simple conformance, other requirements for efficiency, interoperability or compliance may apply. Conformance testing is performed preferably by independent organizations, which may be the standards body itself, to give sound assurance of compliance. Products or services tested to conformance may then become advertised as being certified by the testing organization as complying with the referred technical standard. Equipment manufacturers, equipment suppliers, and service providers rely on such qualified data to ensure quality of service (QoS) through this conformance process.

Aside from the various types of testing, related conformance testing activities include:

Typical areas of application

Conformance testing is applied in various industries where a product or service must meet specific quality and/or regulatory standards. This includes areas such as[1][3][4][5][6]:

  • biocompatibility proofing
  • data and communications protocol engineering
  • document engineering
  • electronic and electrical engineering
  • medical procedure proofing
  • pharmaceutical packaging
  • software engineering

In all such testing, the subject of test is not just the formal conformance in aspects of completeness of filed proofs, validity of referred certificates, and qualification of operating staff. Rather, it also heavily focuses on operational conditions, physical conditions, and applied test environments. By extension conformance testing leads to a vast set of documents and files that allow for reiterating all performed tests.

Software engineering

In software testing, conformance testing verifies that a product performs according to its specified standards. Compilers, for instance, are extensively tested to determine whether they meet the recognized standard for that language.[7][8]

Electronic and electrical engineering

In electronic engineering and electrical engineering, some countries and business environments (such as telecommunication companies) require that an electronic product meet certain requirements before they can be sold. Standards for telecommunication products written by standards organizations such as ANSI, the FCC, and IEC, etc., have certain criteria that a product must meet before compliance is recognized. In countries such as Japan, China, Korea, and some parts of Europe, products cannot be sold unless they are known to meet those requirements specified in the standards. Usually, manufacturers set their own requirements to ensure product quality, sometimes with levels much higher than what the governing bodies require. Compliance is realized after a product passes a series of tests without occurring some specified mode of failure. Failure levels are usually set depending on what environment the product will be sold in. For instance, test on a product for used in an industrial environment will not be as stringent as a product used in a residential area. A failure can include data corruption, loss of communication, and irregular behavior.

Compliance test for electronic devices include emissions tests, immunity tests, and safety tests. Emissions tests ensure that a product will not emit harmful electromagnetic interference in communication and power lines. Immunity tests ensure that a product is immune to common electrical signals and Electromagnetic interference (EMI) that will be found in its operating environment, such as electromagnetic radiation from a local radio station or interference from nearby products. Safety tests ensure that a product will not create a safety risk from situations such as a failed or shorted power supply, blocked cooling vent, and powerline voltage spikes and dips.

For example, the telecommunications research and development company Telcordia Technologies publishes conformance standards for telecommunication equipment to pass the following tests:[9]

Radiated immunity
An antenna is used to subject the device to electromagnetic waves, covering a large frequency range (usually from 30 MHz to 2.9 GHz).
Radiated emissions
One or more antennas are used to measure the amplitude of the electromagnetic waves that a device emits. The amplitude must be under a set limit, with the limit depending on the device's classification.
Conducted immunity
Low frequency signals (usually 10 kHz to 80 MHz) are injected onto the data and power lines of a device. This test is used to simulate the coupling of low frequency signals onto the power and data lines, such as from a local AM radio station.
Conducted emissions
Similar to radiated emissions, except the signals are measured at the power lines with a filter device.
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) immunity
Electrostatic discharges with various properties (rise time, peak voltage, fall time, and half time) are applied to the areas on the device that are likely to be discharged too, such as the faces, near user accessible buttons, etc. Discharges are also applied to a vertical and horizontal ground plane to simulate an ESD event on a nearby surface. Voltages are usually from 2 kV to 15 kV, but commonly go as high as 25 kV or more.
Burst immunity
Bursts of high voltage pulses are applied to the powerlines to simulate events such as repeating voltage spikes from a motor.
Powerline dip immunity
The line voltage is slowly dropped down then brought back up.
Powerline surge immunity
A surge is applied to the line voltage.

Telecom and datacom protocols

In protocol testing, TTCN-3 has been used successfully to deploy a number of test systems, including protocol conformance testers for SIP, WiMAX, and DSRC.

Based on 3GPP and non-3GPP specification, the test equipment vendors develops the test cases and validated by the bodies.

Standardization

The international standards of the topic are published by ISO and covered in the divisions of ICS 03.120.20 for management[10] and ICS 23.040.01 for technical.[11] Other standalone ISO standards for the topic include

  • ISO/TR 13881:2000 Petroleum and natural gas industries—Classification and conformity assessment of products, processes and services[12]
  • ISO 18436-4:2008 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines—Requirements for qualification and assessment of personnel—Part 4: Field lubricant analysis[13]
  • ISO/IEC 18009:1999 Information technology—Programming languages—Ada: Conformity assessment of a language processor [14]

Additionally, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) governs conformity assessment through the Agreement on Mutual Recognition in Relation to Conformity Assessment (Signed July 4, 2000)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Trenkaev, V.; Kim, M.; Seol, S. (2003). "Interoperability Testing Based on a Fault Model for a System of Communicating FSMs". In Hogrefe, D.; Wiles, A. (ed.). Testing of Communicating Systems: 15th IFIP International Conference, TestCom 2003. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 226–242. ISBN 9783540401230.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Ware, J.E. (1990). "Chapter 2: The Need for Mutual Recognition of Test Laboratories". In Fickelson, M. (ed.). CRC Press. pp. 12–18. ISBN 9780412394508 https://books.google.com/books?id=2FQf_pCCUeUC&pg=PA14. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ a b Werstiuk, C. (2007). "Chapter 2: Relay Testing Fundamentals". The Relay Testing Handbook: Relay Testing Fundamentals. Valence Electrical Training Services. pp. 13–52. ISBN 9781934348017.
  4. ^ a b M1 Ad-Hoc Group on Issues for Harmonizing Conformity Assessment to Biometric Standards (16 March 2005). "Report on Issues for Harmonizing Conformity Assessment to Biometric Standards" (PDF). InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (PDF). Retrieved 22 February 2018. {{cite web}}: |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Dardailler, D., ed. (January 2002). "Conformance Testing and Certification Model for W3C Specifications". W3C. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  6. ^ Evans, E.R. (2005). "Chapter 4: Specifications and Quality". In Dean, D.A.; Evans, E.R.; Hall, I.H. (ed.). Pharmaceutical Packaging Technology. CRC Press. pp. 73–105. ISBN 9780203301814.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  7. ^ Goerigk, W.; Simon, F. (1999). "Towards Rigorous Compiler Implementation Verification". In Padget, J.A. (ed.). Collaboration Between Human and Artificial Societies: Coordination and Agent-Based Distributed Computing. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 62–73. ISBN 9783540669302.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Cugini, J. (2001). "FORTRAN Test Programs". In Lide, D.R. (ed.). A Century of Excellence in Measurements, Standards, and Technology. CRC Press. pp. 258–259. ISBN 9780849312472.
  9. ^ GR-1089, Electromagnetic Compatibility and Electrical Safety - Generic Criteria for Network Telecommunications Equipment
  10. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "03.120.20: Product and company certification. Conformity assessment". Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  11. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "23.040.01: Pipeline components and pipelines in general". Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  12. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "ISO/TR 13881:2000 Petroleum and natural gas industries -- Classification and conformity assessment of products, processes and services". Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  13. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "ISO 18436-4:2008 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines -- Requirements for qualification and assessment of personnel -- Part 4: Field lubricant analysis". Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  14. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "ISO/IEC 18009:1999 Information technology -- Programming languages -- Ada: Conformity assessment of a language processor". Retrieved 2009-04-10.
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