PTCRB Certification for Mobile & Communication Devices

PTCRB (PCS Type Certification Review Board) refers to the Personal Communications Service Type Certification Review Board, established by North American mobile operators in 1997.

Current operators are no longer limited to North America but encompass mobile operator members globally. Its purpose is to provide type certification for terminal products and modules, including:

• Cellular

• GERAN (GSM)

• UTRAN (UMTS)

• E-UTRAN (LTE)

Necessity

To ensure that your mobile phone or communication device can work on the mobile networks of PTCRB operators, your device must be certified by PTCRB. This is also to ensure that your product matches the mobile standards of the operators' networks. Therefore, for device products that are not PTCRB-certified, PTCRB operators will block the product from operating and working on their networks.

North American PTCRB Certification Requirements

Operator access certification is also known as PTCRB certification testing. PTCRB is a review board established in North America in 1997 responsible for PCS type certification. A validation group was also established at the same time, mainly responsible for the certification of PCS mobile terminal types and IMEI allocation.

PTCRB certification is a quasi-mandatory type certification executed by third-party certification bodies. All PCS terminal devices launched into the North American market must undergo PTCRB certification and apply for an IMEI based on the report.

The term "quasi-mandatory" is used here because a truly mandatory requirement would typically be issued by government regulatory departments. However, PTCRB is not governmental; it operates as a forum but is highly authoritative. The reason is that distributors entering North America must test the products provided by manufacturers according to these requirements; hence it is called quasi-mandatory.

PTCRB Certification Test Items

Similar to GCF, PTCRB is also composed of operators and some major mobile phone manufacturers, as well as recognized laboratories.

Classification of PTCRB Certification Tests

1. RF (Radio Frequency) section testing

2. Protocol section testing

3. SIM section testing

4. Audio section testing

OTA Test Requirements in PTCRB Certification

GSM 850, GSM 1900, FDD BAND II, FDD BAND IV, and FDD BAND V are tested in accordance with the OTA testing standards issued by CTIA.

Testing Standards

• Conformance: 3GPP TS 51.010-1 (generally updated every 3 months)

Generation of Test Cases

Corresponding test cases are generated against 3GPP TS 51.010-2 based on the PICS (Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement) filled out by the customer.

Classification of Test Cases

• RF corresponding chapters: 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 21, 22

• SIM corresponding chapters: 27

• Audio corresponding chapters: 30

• Protocol corresponding chapters: All others besides the above.

Field testing is an indispensable part of PTCRB certification. For each operating frequency band, real-network interaction across 5 operators can be conducted simultaneously with RF, Protocol, SIM, and other tests.

PTCRB Online Registration / Listing

• Apply to become a PTCRB member

• Membership Categories:

• Operator

• Manufacturer

• Laboratories

• Observer

• Fill in the relevant information on the PTCRB website and submit the membership application: https://www.ptcrb.com

PTCRB Certification Review

1. Once the review is passed, you can become a PTCRB member without paying an annual membership fee.

2. The member finds a laboratory for product testing.

3. The member submits relevant documents and test reports on the PTCRB website (see the PTCRB certification online operation process for details).

4. PTCRB reviews the documents and test reports, and issues a payment notice; the product is then in a pending certification status.

PTCRB Certification Test Cycle

Test Cycle: This mainly depends on the functions supported by the mobile phone.

For example, depending on the frequency bands supported by the phone, whether it supports GPRS Class 10, whether it supports EDGE, whether it supports half-rate, etc., the length of testing time varies greatly. Furthermore, the test cycle is also affected by phone rectifications and debugging during the testing process.

Generally speaking, if a full-type PTCRB test proceeds smoothly, the test cycle usually takes about 4 weeks.

Required Preparation Materials

• Technical documents

• Operation manual

• Schematics

• Circuit diagrams

• Test samples