Networking verification process and environments: an extension of the product realization process for new network capabilities

The authors provide a proposal for incorporating a capability verification process into the existing product realization process (PRP) as an extension of system verification. The authors present a methodology for the verification of capabilities in network environments that provides the phases of the capability verification process and templates with requirements for each phase (documentation, verification environment, and activities). It also provides a proposal for instituting a management structure within the PRP which will be responsible for the verification of a given capability. The authors emphasize the importance of coordinating interconnections of existing test environment to achieve end-to-end configurations for capability verification. The advantages of using the proposed process are that it can prevent many interoperability inconsistencies, as well as basic incompatibilities (protocol, etc.), from ever reaching the customer