scope:

This European Telecommunication Standard (ETS) provides general information about the Implementation Conformance Statement (ICS) proforma structure and contents, as well as guidance for filling-in the document. The ICS proforma for a Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) Network Element (NE) are defined in compliance with the relevant requirements, and in accordance with the relevant guidance, given in ISO/IEC 9646-7 [4], in ETS 300 406 [5] and in ETR 212 (see annex C).

The ICS proforma is a normative part of the reference specification.

The supplier of an implementation which is claimed to conform to ETS 300 417-1-1 [6] is required to complete a copy of these ICS proforma, namely this ETS, and is further required to provide all information necessary to identify both the implementation (e.g. specify it by means of a detailed system description) and the supplier.

The client of the test laboratory might be identified by means of the System Conformance Statement (SCS) and a client checklist. Those proforma are included in annex B of this ETS. The use of SCS proforma and client checklist is not mandatory, any suitable means of providing such information is acceptable.

According to ETS 300 406 [5] the ICS proforma has two main objectives:

- within the context of conformance testing, to be the reference document for the conformance assessment process related to the Implementation Under Test (IUT);

- outside the context of conformance testing, to provide an overview of the implementation.

Concerning the conformance assessment process, the ICS proforma is used:

- as the description of the IUT for the static conformance review;

- as an element of description of the IUT capabilities for the test case deselection;

- as an element of description of the IUT for the test suite parametrization;

- as a reference document for the analysis of the results;

- for inclusion with the final test report.

Outside the conformance testing context, the ICS proforma is or may be used:

- to provide an overview of the capability supported by the implementation; ¹⁾

- to statically check the interworking capacities of two implementations;

- as a standard checklist of the base specification conformance requirements.

When requesting conformance/approval testing of an SDH layer implementation, the supplier should always fill al the ICS proforma relevant for that layer. In the case where more than one instance of the same layer appears in the detailed system description, the client of a test laboratory should clearly identify any differences existing between these instances (if any).

¹⁾ Each capability of the ICS associated implementation is described as a conformance statement which is the result of the answer, by the supplier, to the dedicated ICS item.