[Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens and Effnet are Testing Protocol that Improves IP Error Rates and Response Time on Wireless Networks]

Effnet announces the successful completion of a second round of 3G mobile telephone interoperability testing in Tucson, Arizona. Mobile telephone vendors Ericsson and Siemens participated this round with Effnet in a series of tests to verify the interoperability of systems that use a new IP header compression protocol that dramatically improves response times, error rates, and voice and image quality for Internet Protocol services delivered over 3G wireless phones. The interoperability testing was supervised by the two co-chairmen of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) working group on Robust Header Compression (ROHC).

"Interoperability testing confirms that the standard is being implemented by multiple vendors as intended. Mobile handsets manufactured by one vendor should work seamlessly with 3G infrastructure equipment manufactured by other vendors," explained IETF ROHC working group co-chair Dr. Carsten Bormann. Dr. Bormann, of Universitaat Bremen TZI, is coordinating the ROHC interoperability tests. "Approving a common standard for header compression was the first step. Insuring that the actual implementations operate effectively across vendor platforms requires an exhaustive series of tests, in which the leading vendors are participating."

Testing Series Attracts Key Players

The Tucson test is the second in a series of tests being jointly conducted by leading mobile telephony and header compression companies. Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens and Effnet completed the first round of ROHC interoperability tests in Southampton, UK in August. The first round tested header compression using IPv4 addressing. The second round of ROHC tests, just completed in Tucson, focused on robustness of the new protocol. The interoperability tests are open to any vendor that has implemented the IETF 3095 header compression standard.

"Leading suppliers to mobile network operators are aggressively pursuing header compression as a way to free valuable 3G bandwidth," explained Dr. Mikael Degermark, University of Arizona professor, co-chair of the IETF ROHC working group, and a co-founder of header compression vendor Effnet. "Our interoperability testing will enable a critical mass of suppliers to offer products that incorporate the latest header compression standard in the near future."

Header Compression Protocol is Part of 3G Standard

A mandatory component of the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) and 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) endorsed UMTS standards, ROHC increases bandwidth and spectrum efficiency by eliminating redundancy from the IP packet header while leaving the data payload unchanged. Header compression is especially critical for applications that have large streams of small data packets, such as voice-over-IP and multimedia applications, including gaming and interactive video.

Recent industry initiatives aimed at accelerating the adoption of 3G will also accelerate the demand for IP header compression in mobile networks. By enabling 3G mobile terminals and services to fully interoperate, these initiatives will allow full-scale interactive multimedia services to be sold into mass markets.

Header Compression Reduces 3G Bandwidth Requirements

The ROHC standard is designed to perform under the demanding requirements of wireless communication links, which are subject to high latency, long round-trip times and lossy transmissions. Header compression can reduce total IPv6 packet size by as much as 75%, increasing bandwidth and interactive response while reducing latency and packet loss.

Designed to be embedded into wireless base stations and handsets, ROHC significantly improves IP packet transmission over links with low speeds and long delays in high noise environments. Header compression increases effective data throughput, allowing carriers to transmit as much as 300% more IP traffic by reducing the bandwidth requirement for IP packet headers. Valuable link capacity is then freed for other uses, allowing wireless network operators to expand and differentiate their services, without requiring an additional investment in network infrastructure to increase the available bandwidth.

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