Continua Health Alliance has specified Global Certification Forum (GCF) Certification as a pre-requisite for Continua Certification of personal health devices incorporating 3GPP wireless connectivity.
Continua is the international industry organisation dedicated to advancing personal connected health by promoting end-to-end, plug-and-play connectivity of personal health devices and establishing industry standards for interoperability.
GCF’s proven ‘test once, use anywhere’ certification scheme provides an assurance of a 3GPP wireless device’s interoperability across different mobile networks. 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) maintains the GSM and 3G/HSPA standards and has become the focal point for the development of specifications for LTE and future mobile systems.
Since February 2011 Continua and GCF have been working collaboratively to study certification for wireless personal health devices.
The latest Continua Certification Specification requires personal health devices incorporating 3GPP wireless connectivity to be GCF-Certified in advance of being submitted for Continua Certification.
Continua also endorses PTCRB Certification for devices intended for use on the networks of PTCRB members.
“Our collaboration with GCF has been extremely beneficial. Together, we developed an effective way to apply relevant elements of GCF wireless certification to streamline the certification of new classes of health devices and sensors that incorporate mobile technology,” said Clint McClellan, Continua board president and Chairman, and senior director of strategic marketing, Qualcomm Life, Inc. “By providing the right framework for standards-based interfaces, Continua aims to spur innovation and remove barriers to global implementation and adoption of personal connected health.”
