ODA Working Group 2

Device Capabilities & Specifications

Driving PCN Ecosystem Implementation Standards

The Device Capabilities & Specifications Working Group is the core technical specification body of the Open Device Alliance. It translates Enterprise operational requirements into actionable implementation specifications that device OEMs, chipset vendors, and platform providers build against to ensure ecosystem-wide interoperability and scale.

Device Capabilities & Specifications Overview

Real Challenges, Pragmatic Solutions

Every task group solves a real-world Enterprise problem that lacks a scalable and viable workaround. The Device Capabilities & Specifications Working Group owns the full scope of device-side feature and functionality gaps that prevent Private Cellular Networks from operating as Enterprise-grade infrastructure.

TG1 is the worked example. The device-attach barrier — Enterprises finding that off-the-shelf devices weren’t permitted onto their private networks — arrived here from Enterprise Requirements & Use Cases as a documented field failure, was chartered as a task group, and is now a ratified specification whose test suite is in development in Test & Certification. That is the full path a requirement takes through the Alliance.

Requirement-Driven: Each Task Group launches only from a documented, reproducible deployment failure captured and prioritized by Enterprise Requirements & Use Cases.
Specification Handoff: Task Groups carry a prioritized requirement through chartering and drafting into a ratified specification, which Test & Certification then validates and certifies under the ODA Enabled device program.

Private Cellular Networks are emerging as critical Enterprise infrastructure across manufacturing, industrial, logistics, healthcare, mining, public safety, and smart city verticals. However, the absence of a consistent, publicly available device certification implementation standards forces Enterprises to independently validate device behavior. This fragmented approach is expensive, inconsistent, and needlessly duplicated by every Enterprise and system integrator in the market.

The Device Capabilities & Specifications Working Group eliminates this systemic inefficiency at the source by producing the shared technical implementation specifications that define what it means to be “PCN-ready.”

Key Outputs
Device Implementation Specifications
Configuration & Management Standards
Device Capability Disclosure Framework
PLMN ID and Spectrum Registries
eSIM & Credential Provisioning Architecture
Device Security & Zero-Trust Framework
Task Group Directory
WG1Enterprise Requirements & Use Cases
WG2Device Capabilities & Specifications
WG3Test & Certification

Task Groups

Showing 30 of 30 task groups
WG2-TG1PLMN ID EnablementCompletedChartered 2026-04-03

Device attachment to non-MNO PLMN IDs across 4G and 5G. Covers MDM delivery, EF_FPLMN management, and OEM allowed-list requirements. TG1 is ODA's highest-priority task group and the prerequisite for all subsequent TG certifications.

WG2-TG24G/5G Band EnablementCompletedChartered 2026-04-17

PCN band activation via CarrierConfig, IPCC, and MDM without OEM factory modification. Delivers the ODA PCN Band Registry and Device Band Disclosure Framework. Without enabled bands, PLMN attachment cannot translate to functional PCN connectivity.

WG2-TG5VoWiFi over Cellular (Enhanced Backup Calling)CompletedChartered 2026-03-30

PCN as bearer to MNO ePDG/IMS for Backup Calling — enabling Enterprise workers to use their standard MSISDN for voice calls routed through the PCN without requiring any on-premises IMS infrastructure.

WG2-TG27NB-IoT, LTE-M, RedCap, and eRedCapActive

Establishing PCN IoT device implementation standards and requirements for cellular device categories — NB-IoT, LTE-M, RedCap, and eRedCap — so that Enterprises can procure and deploy IoT sensors, asset trackers, meters, wearables, and industrial monitoring devices on Private Cellular Networks with predictable, scalable, and deployable behavior across OEMs and vendors.

WG2-TG3Intelligent SIM Lock (PCN)Defined

Removing the device side barrier on the secondary SIM/eSIM slot, while protecting the MNO investment, device subsidy recovery, and customer revenue. A modern technical and policy compromise: protect MNO revenue returns without locking out enterprise Private 5G access.

WG2-TG6Intelligent 911 (PCN)Defined

Ensuring a 911 call from a device attached to a Private Cellular Network always completes over the best available path (PCN, MNO, or Wi-Fi) and reaches the correct PSAP. Covers device-side path selection, callback number handling, and dispatchable location, so that attaching to a PCN never degrades a user's emergency calling.

WG2-TG10Certificate Based AuthenticationDefined

Certificate-Based Authentication (CBA) is a software-defined security framework that validates a device's identity using digital X.509 certificates instead of hardware SIM cards or traditional passwords. By leveraging asymmetric cryptography managed via cloud-native Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), it verifies a device through a highly secure, mutual chain of trust. In modern 4G, 5G, and private networks, CBA enables seamless, zero-touch provisioning while integrating directly with existing Enterprise identity and device management platforms.

Participation

How to Get Involved

01
Submit a Use Case

Have a device interoperability gap in a live PCN deployment? Submit it and Enterprise Requirements & Use Cases will document and prioritize it for specification work.

Submit a Use Case
02
Join as a Member

ODA members participate in working group sessions, vote on charters and specifications, and shape the ODA Enabled device program.

Apply for Membership
03
Review Public Documents

All ODA working group documents are publicly accessible at every stage — from first draft through ratification.

View Document Library