UNH-IOL and MIPI Drive Innovation in Production of Mobile Devices

Interoperability Workshop Held at Agilent Facility Makes for Greener, Faster and Cheaper Smartphones and Tablets

DURHAM, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, today announced that the lab, in collaboration with MIPI® Alliance is enabling the production of less expensive mobile devices that display higher quality video, while consuming less power. These mobile advancements were demonstrated at the MIPI Display Interop Workshop, administered by the UNH-IOL and held at the Agilent Technologies facility in Santa Clara, CA, in November 2010. MIPI Alliance is a global, collaborative organization comprised of companies that span the mobile ecosystem and are committed to defining and promoting interface specifications for mobile devices.

“Interoperability activities, facilitated by UNH-IOL, enable participants to identify and solve issues early, improving the overall performance and quality of video on mobile devices.”

According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2010 to 2015, worldwide mobile data traffic will increase 26-fold, driven by the surge in mobile-ready devices and mobile video content consumption. MIPI Alliance is supporting the increase in mobile data traffic and enabling the evolution of mobile display technology through its D-PHY, Display Serial Interface (DSI) and Display Command Set (DCS) specifications. These specifications, which simplify the interconnection of mobile components from different manufacturers, help mobile display vendors to improve quality of video delivery, reduce power consumption, decrease cost of design and speed product time-to-market. During the MIPI Display Interop Workshop, test and measurement, mobile display and chip companies joined together to evaluate the functionality of smartphones and tablets implementing the D-PHY, DSI and DCS specifications.

The UNH-IOL staff maintains ongoing relationships with industry organizations such as MIPI Alliance to not only develop new standards but provide insights and perspectives to guide future growth opportunities for companies. For the MIPI Display Interop Workshop, the UNH-IOL created and administered a test suite that allowed participating vendors to successfully test nearly 400 configurations of mobile displays, bridge devices and mobile device host processors. The type of interoperability testing performed at the Workshop ensured compatibility across multiple vendors, allowing mobile components to work seamlessly together and demonstrate a high level of functionality and performance.

“As consumers spend more time on smartphones and wireless-enabled tablets and less time on traditional screens, they have higher expectations for the delivery of on-demand, high-quality mobile video,” said Joel Huloux, Chairman of the Board for MIPI Alliance. “Interoperability activities, facilitated by UNH-IOL, enable participants to identify and solve issues early, improving the overall performance and quality of video on mobile devices.”

The UNH-IOL offers a variety of testing programs, or consortiums, representing a collaboration of industry leaders in network equipment, test equipment and industry forums, as well as service providers. By participating in the UNH-IOL MIPI Consortium, members can test their products and devices in conformance with the MIPI specifications, with the guarantee that their results will remain confidential and secure. The UNH-IOL has also created fixtures and test tools that aid MIPI Alliance members in performing testing in-house. More information on becoming a member of the MIPI Consortium at the UNH-IOL can be found at http://www.iol.unh.edu/services/testing/mipi/.

“For companies participating in the MIPI Display Interop Workshop and members of the UNH-IOL MIPI Consortium, the lab acts as an expert extension of their staff, allowing their engineers, developers and other technical professionals to focus on day-to-day responsibilities, while the UNH-IOL team handles the conformance and interoperability testing,” said David Woolf, senior engineer for the UNH-IOL. “For business and marketing professionals, the UNH-IOL provides a cost effective way to test and certify products, reduce go-to-market time and increase competitive advantage.”

About the UNH-IOL

Founded in 1988, the UNH-IOL provides independent, broad-based interoperability and standards conformance testing for data, telecommunications and storage networking products and technologies. Combining extensive staff experience, standards bodies participation and a 32,000+ square foot facility, the UNH-IOL helps companies efficiently and cost effectively deliver products to the market. For more information, visit http://www.iol.unh.edu/.