The RVU Alliance has selected The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, as the first independent vendor to handle the certification program for RVU products.

The UNH-IOL will bring its considerable focus and expertise in creating interoperability and conformance testing suites to validate RVU products for launch in early 2011. This testing, performed by the UNH-IOL and validated by the RVU alliance, will assist creators of RVU products in bringing their products to market faster, and assure full compliance and interoperability between certified RVU devices.

“The University of New Hampshire’s robust certification program is widely respected,” said Tushar Saxena, member of the RVU Alliance Board of Directors and director of Video Architecture & Design for Verizon, which chairs the RVU Certification Working Group. “We are confident that their experience will ensure device compatibility, which is an essential part of delivering a greater user experience for consumers.”

”We are excited to be a part of the RVU certification effort,” said Bob Noseworthy, chief scientist at the UNH-IOL. “Well defined certification programs that engage both conformance and interoperability are key to ensuring successful technologies and successful products as a result.”

RVU is a client/server-based technology that allows the television viewer to experience a consistent, pixel accurate, server-generated user interface, on various consumer electronics devices. The RVU specification uses widely implemented UPnP and DLNA technologies to enable a gateway device such as an advanced set-top box to share its user interface with client devices including connected smart TVs, Blu-ray players, and tablets.

RVU offers benefits to service providers by making their viewing experience and features available to connected CE devices in a consistent manner, and consumers benefit from a consistent user experience throughout the home across all their CE devices. A full, independent certification program will be in place in the spring of 2011, followed shortly afterwards by market introduction of RVU devices based on the RVU 1.4 specification. The specification is in the process of further expansion to version 2.0 which will include support for High Definition graphics and other advanced graphics, and additional profiles to support different classes of client displays.

The RVU Alliance is a non-profit organization created to facilitate the adoption of the RVU specification. Membership of the RVU Alliance spans the industry, and includes broadcasters, CE manufacturers and technology partners in North America, Asia and Europe.

About RVU Alliance

The RVU Alliance is an Oregon-based non-profit mutual benefit corporation formed to develop a specification for the new RVU technology including a full-featured “pixel accurate” Remote User Interface (RUI). Founding Promoter members are Broadcom, Cisco, DIRECTV, Samsung and Verizon. Other Promoter members are Active Video Networks, Applied Micro, AT&T Labs, Entropic, Huawei, JetHead Development Inc, Humax, LG, Motorola, Inc., Morega, Pace PLC, Sigma Designs, Sky, Solekai Systems, ST Microelectronics, Technicolor, Trident Microsystems and Vixs. The RVU Alliance complements and benefits existing industry interoperability initiatives and underscores its founders’ commitment to the sharing of digital content in the connected home. For more information about the RVU Alliance and to see the current full list of member companies, please visit www.rvualliance.org.

About the UNH-IOL

Founded in 1988, the UNH-IOL provides independent, broad-based interoperability and standards conformance testing for data, telecommunications and storage networking products and technologies. Combining extensive staff experience, standards bodies participation and a 32,000+ square foot facility, the UNH-IOL helps companies efficiently and cost effectively deliver products to the market. For more information, visit http://www.iol.unh.edu/.