The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) tests networking and data communications products. The university established the laboratory in 1988, "with the dual mission of providing a neutral environment to foster multi-vendor interoperability and conformance to data communications networking standards while educating students for future employment in the industry." [1] More than 100 graduate and undergraduate student-employees work with full-time UNH-IOL staff, gaining hands-on experience with developing technologies and products from hundreds of major companies. The laboratory operates independently of the university's academic departments at its 32,000+ square foot facility in Durham, New Hampshire. From UNH-IOL's site: "The UNH-IOL is the only full-scale, non-profit test lab in the world dedicated to fostering cooperation and understanding within the data communications industry while at the same time providing hands-on experience to future engineers. The laboratory performs testing in two different scenarios interoperability group tests (plugfests) and private one-on-one testing and debugging."
Consortia
The UNH-IOL currently runs 20 consortia and groups that offer testing services, each involved in a different technology:
- 10BASE-T
- 10 Gigabit Ethernet
- Bridge Functions
- DLNA ICV Test Services
- DSL
- Ethernet in the First Mile
- Fast Ethernet
- Fibre Channel
- Gigabit Ethernet
- IMS
- IPv4
- IPv6
- iSCSI
- iWARP
- MPLS Services
- Power over Ethernet
- SAS
- SATA
- SHDSL
- VoIP
- Wireless LAN
Over time, as interest in a particular area of technology fades (such as with ATM or token ring), the consortium may be disbanded. Likewise, as interest in a new technology grows, a consortium may be founded in order to start testing devices of that type. Testing services are not consortia, and offer testing à la carte rather than through an annual membership fee. Each group has a series of test suites that they use in order to test a specific aspect of a device's functions. For example, on a fast ethernet device, a customer may ask that flow control functionality be tested. Test suites can be found at each group's section of the IOL webpage, such as Wireless LAN Consortium.
External links
- UNH-IOL main page
- Cover article in April, 2006 issue of Test & Measurement World
