Testimonials: Engineers tip their hats to the UNH-IOL
In our April 2006 issue, we profiled the University of New Hampshire's InterOperability Laboratory. Here, several engineers praise the lab's services.
Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 4/1/2006
The UNH-IOL has gained the respect of data-communications-equipment manufacturers and test-equipment makers because of its test beds, spirit of cooperation, and technical expertise. To get a feel for those relationships, I asked several engineers to comment on their relationships with the lab.
A companion to
"Today's testing, tomorrow's engineers,"
from the April 2006 issue of
Test & Measurement World.
"UNH-IOL performs an important service," said Dave Fink, performance oscilloscope marketing manager at Tektronix, "because IEEE specifications don't keep up with test methods." For example, test specs may refer to 1000BaseT Ethernet tests based on chipsets, but now those chipsets are a single device. Thus, signals available from chipsets are now embedded inside the single chip. Fink added, "UNH-IOL has a test method that works without access to a transmit clock and we've incorporated that into our oscilloscopes."
George Dobrowski, director of technology and product planning at Conexant, likes the UNH-IOL's openness and said, "They keep us grounded in reality." Dobrowski works with the lab because he has access to competitors' products and equipment combinations that he couldn't otherwise get. "We bring our DSL products to the lab for a week of intense testing before deployment, but the lab is a good resource even after a product ships."
Zlata Trhulj, product manager at Agilent Technologies' data-networking division, has worked with UNH-IOL since 2001 on products that involve IP traffic, IPv6, and network security. "UNH-IOL is the number-one test lab in my opinion," she noted. "They provide a flexibility and open-mindedness that you won't see anywhere else. They successfully work with 'warring factions' [competitors] without giving away proprietary information."
The UNH-IOL staff and students are highly respectful of nondisclosure agreements," added Frank Zajaczkowski, a spokesman for Ixia. "They provide a high level of services. We're glad to be a part if it."
Neil Anderson, VP of global services at Spirent Communications, has worked with UNH-IOL on 10/100/1000 and 10G Ethernet technologies as well as on DSL, routers, and voice over IP. Spirent has participated in 19 plugfests over the last five years. "UNH-IOL is a valued partner. They are particularly strong in testing at the physical layer," he said. "We also work with the lab because the students often go to work for our customers and in some cases, they've come to work for Spirent."
Back to "Today's testing, tomorrow's engineers."
