innovITS ADVANCE demos eCall testing and certification capability

15 Dec 2011

A new European automatic communication system is aimed at reducing emergency services response time to accidents involving eCall equipped vehicles - tests at innovITS ADVANCE have demonstrated this UK facility's capability to evaluate the performance of products incorporating eCall.

The new eCall technology is in the process of being adopted by a large number of EU member states. If an eCall equipped car is involved in an accident in which airbags are deployed, the car automatically calls the nearest emergency centre even if the driver and any passengers are unable to speak due to injury.

Prompted by the need for automakers and their Tier 1 suppliers to supply eCall equipped products to the European markets adopting this technology, innovITS ADVANCE 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 SkyIone GNSS denial capabilities, innovITS ADVANCE 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 this first demonstration of eCall using at the innovITS ADVANCE facility, innovITS worked together with partners DENSO, CINTERION a Gemalto Company, TRL, MIRA and PMN, to connect the site's private GSM network to an external eCall Public Service Access Point (PSAP).

With this first vehicle test successfully completed, innovITS and its partners are now planning to work towards implementing a comprehensive eCall test and certification service based at innovITS ADVANCE - one of the first such facilites to offer this service in Europe.