When, why and what

LTE System Testing comes in the picture after the Integration Test phase of the SDLC. Once the Development has verified the build in the Unit Test and Integration Test phase, the build will be released to the System Test Team for further testing. 

It is at this phase of the software where you cannot afford to leak any defects in the application. The reason being the end user's experience will take a hit thereby bringing a bad reputation to the product. This is applicable to each and every product; be it from an automobile, health care, aviation, hospital, IT or THE TELECOM industry.

In the Access side of the network, the device under test (DUT) can be UE (User Equipment) or eNB (Evolved NodeB). In the Core network the device under test can be MME (Mobility Management Entity), S-GW (Serving Gateway)or P-GW (Packet Gateway). 

To encounter this phase with any entity of the LTE domain a person should have a very deep understanding of the technology along with a good knowledge on the design of the application. With both these arms a person can be a good System test engineer.

The job allows you to look at all these equipments from a bird eye view. Of course, you can only be a part of Access or Non access; but not both. 

In the coming posts, I will attempt to explain the LTE Technology; right starting from very basic level so that it helps a person who is new to the Telecom domain and is eager to learn the LTE Technology from System Test point of view. The information shared in this blog is collected from 3GPP Specifications, Internet, books and discussions.