How to Read and Run a Procedure⚓︎
Every test in the acceptance test catalog is published in the same shape, so a test engineer who has executed one can execute any other. This page explains that shape, how procedures build on each other, how a result is recorded, and what the platform and 3GPP state names used in the expected results mean.
Anatomy of a test⚓︎
Each test opens with a card of attributes, followed by the same sections in the same order.
| Element | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Identifier and title | EXP-<DOMAIN>-<nnn>. The identifier is permanent; release notes and results sheets cite it. |
| Status | Accepted: complete, reviewed and released. Every test in the catalog is accepted; the result of running it on a given release is recorded in the acceptance test report, not in the status. |
| Category | Functional, Security, Resilience, Capacity or Operations. |
| Components | The platform components the procedure exercises or observes: xCore, xRouter, xControl, xView. |
| Applies to | Three facets: radio access technology (4G, 5G; 3G on the public radio path only), access model (local radio, public radio) and deployment (single node, HA cluster, geo-redundant). Run the test on every combination your deployment uses; skip a facet your deployment does not have and record it as Not run. |
| Duration | A planning figure for one engineer executing the published steps once, excluding environment preparation. |
| Prerequisite procedures | Tests executed before this one, either as a precondition or as a step. |
| Included in | The execution sets the test belongs to, such as installation and upgrade verification. |
| Automated by | The continuous verification checks that exercise the same behaviour on every code change. |
| Objective | What the test proves, in one paragraph. A Service impact warning follows it when the procedure interrupts service; run such tests in a maintenance window or in a pre-production environment. |
| Preconditions | Grouped as Platform (deployment state), Mobile Asset (state in xControl), Device and Tooling. |
| Procedure | One observable action per row. Where names the surface you act on or observe: the UE, xControl, the xControl API, the CLI, Kubernetes, the signalling capture, the radio, a test host or the infrastructure. Expected result is what you verify before moving to the next row. |
| Expected signalling | Where the procedure has a defined 3GPP flow, the capture points and the message sequence per radio access technology. |
| Pass criteria | The conditions that must all hold for a Pass, including any timing limits. |
| Postconditions | The state the procedure leaves behind, and any cleanup. |
| Evidence collected | What you attach to the result. |
| References | The 3GPP clauses the procedure exercises. |
Chaining procedures⚓︎
Procedures reuse one another instead of repeating steps. A row that reads "Execute EXP-SES-001 as a prerequisite procedure" means: run that test in full, confirm its expected results, and continue. When a campaign runs several tests in sequence on the same device, a prerequisite that is already satisfied (the UE is attached from the previous test) does not need to be repeated; record the identifier of the run that satisfied it in the evidence reference.
Recording a result⚓︎
| Result | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pass | Every expected result was observed and every pass criterion holds. |
| Fail | An expected result was not observed, or a pass criterion does not hold, and no agreed explanation exists. |
| Deviation | The observed behaviour differs from the published expectation in a way that has been analyzed and agreed with Expeto; the deviation record states the difference and the agreement. |
| Not run | The test was not executed, and the reason is recorded (for example, the facet does not apply). |
Record one row per test in the results template. Where a procedure is run on more than one facet combination, record one row per combination and say which in the evidence reference.
State glossary⚓︎
The expected results use xControl's own status names for the Mobile Asset and 3GPP state names for the UE. They describe different things and change at different times.
| xControl status | Meaning in xControl | 3GPP state it usually corresponds to |
|---|---|---|
| Provisioned | The Mobile Asset exists in the database and has never had a session. | Not registered (EMM-DEREGISTERED / 5GMM-DEREGISTERED). |
| Registered | Authenticated, with no current data session. Also the steady state of a device that uses only the control plane, such as an SMS-only device. | Registered, no active PDN connection or PDU session, or a session in idle state that xControl has aged out of Disconnected. |
| Connected | An active data session; the IP address and radio access technology are shown. | Registered with an active default bearer or PDU session (ECM-CONNECTED or ECM-IDLE / CM-CONNECTED or CM-IDLE). |
| Disconnected | The session on the network was closed. After a while the status becomes Registered. | Detached, or the PDN connection or PDU session released. |
| Active / Inactive | The administrative state you set: whether the Mobile Asset may have a session at all. | Not a 3GPP state. An Inactive Mobile Asset is rejected at attach or registration. |
| Connected PGW, Unregistered, Error PGW, Error HSS, Unknown | Warning statuses: the network and the database disagree about the Mobile Asset. | Investigate before continuing; they are never an expected result. |
The session Event Log records two entry types. HSS entries (control plane) move between Provisioned, Attached and Deleted; PGW entries (user plane) are Open while a data session is active and Closed when it ends. A session with a start time and no end time is still open.
Other statuses the procedures use:
| Object | Statuses |
|---|---|
| Private Radio | Enabled (configured, waiting for the radio), Connected, Disconnected, Disabled (configured, refusing connections). |
| Site | Online when the agent has reported within the last five minutes; otherwise offline. |
| UE radio connection | Connected (a radio connection exists) or idle (released for inactivity while the UE stays registered). |
4G and 5G names side by side⚓︎
The procedures name both radio access technologies. The pairs below are equivalent for the purpose of the expected results.
| 4G (EPS) | 5G (5GS) |
|---|---|
| Attach / Detach | Registration / Deregistration |
| Tracking Area Update | Registration Update |
| S1 Release; Service Request | AN Release; Service Request |
| eNodeB | gNodeB |
| MME | AMF |
| SGW-C and PGW-C | SMF |
| PGW-U | UPF |
| HSS | UDM, AUSF and UDR |
| S1-MME, S1-U | N2, N3 |
| S11; S5/S8 | N4 (PFCP); N9 |
| S6a | N8, N12, N13 |
| APN | DNN |
| Default EPS bearer; dedicated bearer | PDU session; QoS flow |
| QCI, APN-AMBR | 5QI, Session-AMBR |
| EMM cause | 5GMM cause |