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5GASP Certificate Grades and Score Calculation

May 24, 2023 - This post describes the four test axes of the 5GASP certification testing and how the certification grade is determined.

Test Axes

The certification tests are categorized by the test axis (scope) and whether the test is mandatory or optional. As the word mandatory implies, these are tests that every Network Application must pass to get a certificate of the minimum grade. Applicants can choose optional tests to evaluate additional capabilities of their Network Application, thus having a chance at achieving a higher certificate grade. Through different test axes, a Network Application's abilities and performance can be evaluated in detail. The four test axes are as follows:

5G Readiness: This axis determines the readiness of Network Applications for a 5G Network. These tests verify the ability of a Network Application during its operation to communicate, interact and use the Network Exposure Function (NEF) interface and other possible 5GS components.

Security & Privacy: This axis determines a Network Application's security and privacy levels. These tests verify a Network Application's security through tests aligned to 3GPP inherited security recommendations, common penetration testing, and basic NFV segmentation.

Performance & Scalability: This axis evaluates the ability of a Network Application to maintain performance and resource scaling regarding the provided, expected KPIs under an end-to-end scenario for aspects such as different traffic types, usage, long-term functionality, processing, bandwidth, latency, and Bit Error Rate (BER).

Availability & Continuity: This axis evaluates the ability of a Network Application to sustain service over time regarding the provided KPIs under different stress scenarios, for example, transmission impairment, long-term burn, service request denial, or downgrade from 5GS. These tests measure the ability of a Network Application to overcome the exceptional circumstances of a 5G network.

Grades and Score Calculation

A 5GASP Certificate can be obtained with one of the following grades, ranking from lowest to highest: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The grade is determined by a minimum score that must be achieved on each test axis. To get the Bronze grade, a score of 1 or higher must be achieved on each axis. For Silver, the minimum score is 5; for Gold, the minimum score is 8.

The radar chart above shows an example of a Network Application's achieved axis scores. Such a chart is also included in the certificate document. The scores in this example would result in a Silver grade certificate; the exact scores are listed in the table below.

Test Axis & Score

5G Readiness: 8.3

Security & Privacy: 7.4

Performance & Scalability: 6.1

Availability & Continuity: 5.8

An axis score is calculated from the test results of the corresponding axis. Mandatory and optional tests are considered separately. For mandatory tests, if all tests are passed, the result is 1; otherwise, the result is 0. For optional tests, the weighted average of the executed tests is calculated. To get the final axis score, the results of the mandatory and optional tests are multiplied.