More than 30 vendors gathered at the 2nd eCall Testfest event organised by ERTICO – ITS Europe and ETSI. The purpose of the event held at CETECOM (Essen, Germany) from 9 to 13 September 2013 was to test the interoperability of the vendors’ eCall implementations. IVS (In Vehicle System) suppliers and PSAP (Public Safety Answering Points) suppliers gathered from all over the world to carry out a week of testing. Testfest participants were able to reach some real emergency answering points.
The event hosted by CETECOM was supported by the HeERO project and the European Commission. 21 IVS suppliers, 3 PSAP vendors, 2 Test solution vendors and 4 remote live-PSAPs participated in the testing sessions. This second eCall Testfest proved to be an important event, not only by its large attendance, but it also showed that eCall is nearing its deployment. Coming from three continents, from small enterprises to global corporations, research institutes and national ministries, the world of eCall engineering was represented at this Testfest. During the 5 days of the event, 350 pairing sessions were organised. Each session, lasting 2 hours, allowed one IVS unit to test with one PSAP unit. The tests specifications, prepared by a group of experts and largely based on those of the first eCall Testfest, were then followed by the developers on the two sides. This set-up, combined with the collaboration atmosphere between parties, allowed engineers to understand and improve – if needed – their implementation. After each day of testing, a briefing gathered all participants to share their feedback and discuss the eCall standards with the supporting experts. Almost 4,000 tests were carried out during these test sessions.
Considering the obvious and natural unbalance between IVS and PSAP systems vendors, the event was made possible thanks to the special commitment of PSAP suppliers and operators, directly at the Testfest, or remotely by allowing real operators to answer test eCall. This was the case in Zagreb (Croatia), Luxembourg,Prague (Czech Republic), Athens (Greece) and The Netherlands. Simulators and test systems were also available for the IVS units, to provide a broad range of combinations.
All test results were reported using the ETSI test reporting tool. This allowed all participants to receive a report with the results of all test sessions they attended. The overall level of interoperability achieved is remarkable, as it amounted to more than 93%. This result is crucial to the objective assessment of the maturity of the market to deploy eCall. The feedback of Testfest participants is also essential within the context of the eCall compliancy assessment, as well as with regards to the harmonisation of eCall standards with those of the Russian system ERA GLONASS.
Notes to editors
About eCall:
eCall is an electronic road safety system which automatically calls the emergency services in case of a serious accident, even if the driver and passengers are unconscious. As soon as the eCall sensors register a severe impact on the car during an accident, it automatically dials 112 emergency and calls to the nearest emergency centre. The call transmits the exact geographic location of the accident scene and other data. eCalls can also be made manually by car occupants, thus enabling them to provide the call centre with additional details of the accident.
Getting immediate information about an accident and pinpointing the exact location of the crash site cut emergency services’ response time by 50% in rural and 40% in urban areas. Thanks to this gain in time, eCall is expected to save several hundred lives in the European Union each year, and to mitigate the severity of tens of thousands of injuries. Road accidents cost the EU around €160 billion/ year, but if all cars were equipped with the eCall system, up to €20 billion could be saved annually. eCall will work all over the European Union, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The Russian Federation is developing a similar accident notification system called ERA GLONASS. It is based on the eCall standards. Both sides, the EU and Russia, are working together in order to make eCall and ERA GLONASS interoperable so that eCall will also work in Russia and ERA GLONASS in the EU.
For more information, visit the website : http://www.heero-pilot.eu/view/en/ecall.html
About ERTICO ITS Europe:
ERTICO – ITS Europe is a multi-sector, public/private partnership pursuing the development and deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS). ERTICO connects public authorities, industry players, infrastructure operators, users, national ITS associations and other organisations together and work to bring “Intelligence into Mobility”.
The ERTICO work programme focuses on initiatives to improve transport safety, security and network efficiency whilst taking into account measures to reduce environmental impact. Our vision is of a future transport system working towards zero accidents, zero delays and fully informed people, where services are affordable and seamless, the environment is protected, privacy is respected and security is provided.
For more information, visit the website: www.ertico.com
About ETSI:
ETSI produces globally-applicable standards for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), including fixed, mobile, radio, converged, aeronautical, broadcast and internet technologies and is officially recognized by the European Union as a European Standards Organization. ETSI is an independent, not-for-profit association whose more than 700 member companies and organizations, drawn from 62 countries across 5 continents worldwide, determine its work programme and participate directly in its work.
For more information please visit: www.etsi.org.
About CETECOM:
CETECOM is renowned as a neutral, experienced partner of the telecommunications and information technology industries. It offers a unique service portfolio which covers the entire life cycle of a mobile communications product, contributes to the smooth running of products and applications and ensures that they meet international standards. CETECOM’s portfolio includes consulting and training, development of test solutions, validation services, testing in accredited laboratories (LTE, WCDMA, GSM, Application Enabler, Mobile Payment, OTA Performance, and EMC), field trials, battery testing, certification, and approval handling. Being a member of numerous specialist bodies, CETECOM is also actively involved in the development and standardisation of global specifications for future technologies. For more information, please visit : www.cetecom.com
About HeERO:
HeERO addresses the pan-European in-vehicle emergency call service “eCall” which is based on 112, the common European Emergency number. Since January 2011, the nine European countries forming the HeERO consortium (Croatia, The Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Romania and Sweden) have carried out a three-year programme leading to the piloting and deployment of eCall.
The second phase of HeERO – HeERO 2 – started on 1st January 2013 and will last for 2 years. 6 new countries (namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey) have joined the 9 pilot countries of HeERO 1. Furthermore, the project will welcome new associate partners, both commercial and public, who feel that they will be able to benefit from the expertise of HeERO 1 and 2 (associate status does not provide access to EU funding).
The HeERO consortium is currently testing and validating, in real-condition pilots, the common European eCall standards defined and approved by the European Standardisation Organisations.
The project is partially funded by the European Union under the CIP | ICT PSP programme.
For more information, visit the website : http://www.heero-pilot.eu
For more information, please contact :
Maria De Rycke
m.derycke@mail.ertico.com
