First approved global certification forum test package fulfils GCF specifications

Rohde & Schwarz has achieved approval for its cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) protocol conformance testing package, meeting the specification defined by the Global Certification Forum (GCF). The approval is based on tests executed using the R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester and R&S SMBV100A vector signal generator. 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 concentrates specifically on LTE sidelink, an adaptation of core LTE standards as defined in 3GPP Release 14 that enables communication between two or more nearby devices. It can be offered on any LTE band with the 5.9GHz band allocated for ITS services. The company claims to be the first test and measurement equipment manufacturer to satisfy the GCF test platform approval criteria (TPAC) for C-V2V protocol conformance testing. The certified solution brings together the company's established hardware platforms and additional software. On the wireless communication side, their 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 their 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 company's CMW-KK550 software package.