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Rohde & Schwarz participates in Automotive Testing Expo 2014

Test & Measurement

June 16, 2014

The automotive industry is increasing its focus on technologies that support drivers in critical situations and help them avoid accidents. Rohde & Schwarz will demonstrate its reliability as an industry partner at the international Automotive Testing Expo 2014 in Stuttgart on 24 to 26 June. The T&M specialist will exhibit its test solutions for wireless applications such as vehicular radar, intelligent transport systems, eCall and automotive Ethernet interfaces.

At this year's Expo, the company will debut its new R&S TS ITS100 RF conformance test system – a fully automated test system for IEEE 802.11p, which is specifically tailored for standard compliant component testing for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) applications and intelligent transport systems.

Its R&S Contest RF conformance test sequencer software does more than verify compliance with regional standards such as ETSI EN 302 571 in the EU, IEEE 802.11 2012 in the United States and ARIB in Japan. It also covers the specialized performance tests of the automotive industry.

The compact design of the R&S TS ITS100 enables it to be used in every part of the value added chain from development to precompliance and compliance testing. Rohde & Schwarz is supporting the industry in implementing intelligent transport systems that will help prevent traffic congestion and improve road safety in the future. IEEE 802.11p has adapted the WLAN technology for vehicular applications, specifying more stringent requirements in terms of spectral purity and permissible adjacent channel power.  

Rohde & Schwarz will also be featuring the R&S FSW high end signal and spectrum analyzer that enables radar component developers to automatically detect and measure signals with an analysis bandwidth of up to 500 MHz and display them in both the time and frequency domains. It is as a standalone unit that covers the 24 GHz frequency band widely used in automotive radar and uses external harmonic mixers to analyze signals at 77 GHz.

At Automotive Testing Expo, Rohde & Schwarz will demonstrate the analyzer equipped with the R&S FSW K60 option for transient analysis and the R&S FSW K60C extension for FMCW signal analysis. This makes it possible to characterize chirp signals that are typical for automotive radar (with their linear frequency ramps and large bandwidths) according to important parameters such as chirp rate, chirp length and chirp rate deviation. Results are displayed in various charts and a straightforward table. Additional statistical evaluations make it easier to conduct extended period signal stability measurements and to detect outliers. 

To ensure fast emergency response times to automobile accidents via precise vehicle and location information, automatic emergency call systems will be mandatory for all new vehicles in the EU starting in October 2015. Therefore Rohde & Schwarz will demonstrate a standard compliant test solution for the wireless and GNSS capable components of these eCall in vehicle systems (IVS).

The setup consists of an R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester with R&S CMW KA094 eCall application software and an R&S SMBV100A vector signal generator with an integrated global navigation satellite system (GNSS) simulator. This combination makes it possible to carry out reliable and reproducible end to end conformance tests in the lab. Users can verify whether an IVS modem can successfully initiate an emergency call, transmit the correct minimum set of data and establish a voice connection with a public safety answering point.

The company will also present its oscilloscopes at Automotive Testing Expo. There has been intense discussion in the industry for years on the use of Ethernet technologies in automobiles. BroadR-Reach technology now presents an efficient solution for high speed data exchange, making it possible to combine a number of self contained applications such as rear view cameras and radar in a single, open and scalable Ethernet network within a vehicle. OPEN Alliance SIG Standard conformance tests are used to ensure the reliability of BroadR Reach communications.

Rohde & Schwarz has addressed this test requirement with a new software option for its powerful R&S RTO oscilloscope. The R&S RTO-K24 compliance test software enables users to carry out automated tests on BroadR Reach Ethernet interfaces. Image based instructions provide step by step support during the measurements. Configurations are created automatically, and results are documented in a straightforward test report.