IoT testing types | IoT device testing and certification

This article on IoT testing covers IoT device testing and certification. It mentions different IoT testing types used for IoT device conformance and validation tests.

As we know IoT is the short form of Internet of Things. IoT is not limited to one wireless technology or standard. There are numerous wireless technologies or standards exist in IoT products.

Following are the list of popular IoT wireless techologies to name a few.
• WLAN- as per IEEE 802.11 series of standards
• Z-wave -ITU-T G.9959 rPHY/MAC, protocol stack by Sigma Designs
• bluetooth-IEEE 802.15.1
• zigbee-IEEE 802.15.4
• WBAN (Wireless Body Area Network)-IEEE 802.15.6
• THREAD-IEEE 802.15.4, uses 6LoWPAN specifications
• RFID-EPCglobal defines standards and regulations
• NFC- ISO 18092, ISO 14443A/B, JIS X6319-4
• GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, LTE, LTE-advanced -As per 3GPP series of standards
• ANT+-Alliance of companies take care
• Cognitive radio-IEEE 802.22 WG
• Weightless N/W -Taken care by Weightless SIG etc.

The certification and conformance testing of IoT device is similar to any other wireless device. The IoT device should be tested against respective standard conformance document as per wireless technology it has been designed and developed for.

IoT testing types

Following are the typical tests performed on IoT device during IoT testing process.
• Reliability tests-performed at components, sub-system and system level
• RF and PHYSICAL LAYER (i.e. layer-1 or baseband layer) conformance tests
• Upper protocol layer testing (layer-2 and above) as per TTCN-3 standardized test specifications
• Regulatory aspects of IoT devices as per EMI/EMC and other specifications
• Interoperability tests

IoT certification and conformance tests providers

Following are the companies which provide IoT certification and IoT conformance tests services.
• ICSA Labs
• Wipro technologies
• Zigbee alliance for zigbee device conformance testing
• Authorized Test labs for WiFi device testing
• Tech Mahindra for wimax protocol conformance testing
• National Technical Systems (NTS) for IoT testing services as per WiFi, Z-Wave, ZigBee, Thread & Bluetooth standards.
• LoRa alliance for LoRa device testing
• AT4 wireless-LTE device testing and certification
• AVSYSTEM

What is difference between or comparison between

Following links mention difference or comparison between various equipments:
comparison between VSG and VSA
DIfference between SNA ans VNA
Oscilloscope Bandwidth versus Rise time
Oscilloscope vs Logic Analyzer
Difference between Oscillscope types
Comparison between spectrum and network analyzer