UK test centre ready to evaluate eCall product performance

InnovITS Advance, the UK research and development centre for telecommunications, automotive and electronics industries, has carried out a demonstration of capability in the area of eCall testing and certification.
March 26, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSS67 innovITS Advance, the UK research and development centre for telecommunications, automotive and electronics industries, has carried out a demonstration of capability in the area of eCall testing and certification. With its independent and fully controllable private GSM network and Skyclone GNSS denial capabilities, InnovITS says it is uniquely placed to provide an environment in which eCall systems can be tested under all conditions of signal quality and attenuation.

To carry out its demonstration of eCall, InnovITS worked together with partners 4306 Denso Corporation, 4308 Cinterion, 491 TRL, 4310 Mira and PMN, to connect the site’s private GSM network to an external eCall Public Service Access Point (PSAP). They are all now planning to work towards implementing a comprehensive eCall test and certification service based at InnovITS Advance, which claims to be one of the first such facilities to offer this service in Europe.

“By successfully demonstrating functionality tests on an eCall equipped vehicle, InnovITS Advance has thus proven its capability to act as a robust and reliable site for the testing and certification of eCall products,” explains the facility’s CEO Phil Pettitt. “The presence of a network of roads covered by a fully controllable private GSM network is fundamental to the ability to provide such a robust testing environment. Over the coming months we will be working with our partners to establish on a permanent basis an eCall test and certification service that can be offered to customers on a commercial basis.”

“eCall is a very promising technology which I believe will have a major role to play in improving emergency service response times in those EU states implementing the system,” added Marcel Visser, global vice president automotive of Cinterion and chairman of the 374 Ertico ITS Europe automotive suppliers sector platform. “By working together in a proactive manner, the technical partners in this self-funded project have demonstrated that the European automotive industry supply chain will be ready to embrace the test and certification needs of eCall using the dedicated ITS test and development facilities such as those of InnovITS Advance.”
Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • European Commission aids deployment of eCall
    December 4, 2012
    The European Commission has adopted a measure to ensure that by 2015 vehicles can call emergency services in the event of a crash. The Commission wants the life-saving eCall system to be fitted to all new models of cars and light vehicles from 2015. eCall automatically dials Europe's single emergency number 112 in the event of a serious accident and communicates the vehicle's location to the emergency services. According to some estimates, eCall could speed emergency response times by 40per cent in urban ar
    Read More
  • UK's TRL shows latest transport developments
    October 18, 2012
    UK-headquartered TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) will focus on three key areas at the ITS World Congress: adaptive traffic control and new software releases; its expertise in managed motorways and cooperative systems; and its growing presence and work across the EU. This is exemplified by TRL taking the premier position on the EU Safety Framework and its in-depth knowledge of vehicle road charging, which sees a team currently working on a European truck road charging scheme.
    Read More
  • Coded exchanges
    July 24, 2012
    For many, Ethernet- and IP-based networks are the cast-iron solution to ITS's communications needs. However, there remain issues from manufacturer to manufacturer with interpretation of what are supposed to be common standards The 'promise' of Ethernet was that different devices such as IP video cameras and traffic signals could be easily integrated into communications networks, simplifying the process of transporting data over copper, fibre or wirelessly. However, although Ethernet devices have come to pre
    Read More
  • The need for a higher voltage power net for vehicles
    June 27, 2012
    Electrification of the automobile is not limited to the electric vehicles (EVs). As a new report from Frost & Sullivan points out, conventional cars of today are partly electric in their own way, with most systems in the vehicle having electrical and electronic connections for better functionality. Certain high-end vehicles possess more than 90 electronic control units (ECUs) to control the various modules within the car, making the car both sophisticated and complicated. However, added functions such as el
    Read More

Highlighted Content