Leading German developer of electronic test and measurement equipment, Rohde & Schwarz (R&S) has achieved approval for its Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) protocol conformance testing package, fulfilling the specification defined by the Global Certification Forum (GCF).
The GCF is an industry-recognized organization trusted by cellular network providers to certify the conformance of cellular handsets. This ‘type approval’ ensures that handsets operate as specified with the wide range of base station hardware installed by network operators.
Most recently, the GCF announced the inclusion of cellular (LTE) based vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technologies within its certification program. This certification focuses specifically on LTE sidelink, an adaptation of core LTE standards as defined in 3GPP Release 14 that allows communication between two or more nearby devices. It can be provided on any LTE band with the 5.9GHz waveband allocated for intelligent transportation system (ITS) services. Rohde & Schwarz is the first test and measurement equipment manufacturer to meet the GCF test platform approval criteria (TPAC) for C-V2V protocol conformance testing.
The certified solution brings together established R&S hardware platforms and additional software. The approval is based on tests executed using the company’s CMW500 wideband radio communication tester and SMBV100A vector signal generator. On the wireless communication side, the R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester supports both LTE-A and WCDMA/HSPA+ technologies, as well as performing LTE sidelink functionality testing on the communication link to the C-V2X module. This is used in conjunction with the R&S SMBV100A vector signal generator, which simulates the GNSS signals of global positioning services such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou. Implementation of the GCF-approved protocol tests are provided through the R&S CMW-KK550 software package.
As a supplier of conformance testing solutions fulfilling the GCF specifications for over 20 years, Rohde & Schwarz is well positioned to support developers and engineers that are new to automotive C-V2X module testing. At the same time, existing customers and test houses can make use of their current hardware investment to support C-V2X compliance testing through a simple software upgrade.
With most cellular network operators due to implement fifth-generation 5G New Radio (NR) mobile communications as an extension of their existing LTE mobile network (NSA), R&S has developed the CMX500 radio communication tester for 5G NR that can be seamlessly integrated into an existing LTE test environment. The increased transmission rates offered by 5G will be of particular benefit to automotive and transportation industry stakeholders as they move to combine C-V2X systems with connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV). The new R&S CMX500 unit adds 5G NR signaling and RF testing to existing CMW500-based LTE test and measurement solutions in labs. Users that already have an CMW500 test system for LTE measurements can continue to use them and only need an R&S CMX500 as an extension box to perform tests on 5G NR signals.
