Test and measurement equipment supplier Rohde & Schwarz has further expanded the capabilities of its R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester and R&S SMBV100A GNSS simulator to support Global Certification Forum (GCF) protocol conformance tests for C-V2X (cellular vehicle-to-everything) device certification.
Using the Qualcomm(R) 9150 C-V2X chipset solution from Qualcomm Technologies, the R&S CMW500 acting as LTE network simulator now allows automakers to test C-V2X direct communications (PC5) according to GCF Work Item 281.
3GPP Release 14 specifies the direct communications specifications for C-V2X PC5, which enables vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) safety applications, and does so without a mobile cellular subscription or network assistance and operates in ITS bands 46D (5.8 GHz) and 47 (5.9 GHz).
The new R&S CMW-KK550 test package includes the 3GPP protocol conformance tests from LTE-V2V GCF Work Item 281 and LTE-V2X GCF Work Item 282. As recently announced, the R&S CMW-KU514 C-V2X software package on the R&S CMW500 is used to verify data transmission and reception over the PC5 interface in ideal, faded and congested channel conditions. Together, both packages enable Rohde & Schwarz to support C-V2X device testing through all protocol layers.
C-V2X device testing is a significant step towards achieving the goal of having fully connected and autonomous vehicles to improve public safety and increase traffic efficiency. C-V2X, including direct communications for safety applications, complements network-based communications that deliver telematics services and various use cases for connected infotainment and over-the-air software updates.
“C-V2X PC5 radio technology has quickly advanced to a pre-commercial stage, and Rohde & Schwarz is pleased to be the first test equipment vendor to offer a comprehensive C-V2X test suite. The automobile industry can now verify functionality and performance of C-V2X devices, as well as start device testing as per 3GPP protocol conformance tests,” said Anton Messmer, vice-president, mobile radio testers at Rohde & Schwarz. “This expanded capability complements our support for European eCall and shows our long-standing support for automotive applications.”