Keysight Strengthens Automotive Safety Testing Leadership with Hybrid eCall Certification for Next-Gen Emergency Communications
Keysight Technologies, Inc. has announced that its Hybrid eCall solution has received certification to the EN 18052:2025 standard from DEKRA, marking a significant milestone in advancing automotive emergency communication testing. The certification underscores Keysight’s continued focus on delivering standards-based, real-world validation tools that help automotive manufacturers comply with evolving safety regulations while accelerating development cycles for next-generation connected vehicles.
Addressing the Shift to Next-Generation eCall Systems
The automotive industry is undergoing a major transition as global cellular networks progressively phase out legacy 2G and 3G infrastructure. This shift is driving automakers toward Next-Generation eCall (NG-eCall) systems, which rely on packet-switched 4G LTE and 5G networks to automatically alert emergency services in the event of a serious road incident.
However, the migration is not uniform across regions. Some markets are already advanced in 4G and 5G coverage, while others still depend on older network technologies. This fragmented environment creates a complex challenge for vehicle manufacturers: ensuring that emergency call systems remain fully operational regardless of network availability.
Keysight’s newly certified Hybrid eCall solution is designed specifically to address this challenge. It enables in-vehicle systems (IVS) to intelligently switch between legacy circuit-switched eCall and NG-eCall systems depending on real-time network conditions. This dynamic adaptability ensures that emergency communication remains reliable across diverse global infrastructures.
DEKRA Validation Reinforces Safety and Compliance Readiness
The certification from DEKRA confirms that Keysight’s end-to-end testing platform meets the stringent requirements of EN 18052:2025, a key European standard governing next-generation emergency call systems. The validation demonstrates that Keysight’s solution effectively de-risks the integration of emergency communication technologies across the entire ecosystem, including in-vehicle systems, mobile network operators, and public safety answering points (PSAPs).
Importantly, this achievement builds upon Keysight’s earlier compliance with EN 17240, reinforcing its ongoing alignment with evolving international standards for automotive safety communications. Together, these certifications establish a continuous framework for validating both legacy and next-generation eCall technologies under real-world conditions.
By achieving this certification, Keysight strengthens its position as a trusted partner for automotive manufacturers seeking to reduce regulatory uncertainty and accelerate the deployment of compliant connected vehicle systems.
Real-World Testing Across Critical Emergency Scenarios
A key aspect of the certification involves the validation of several mission-critical emergency communication scenarios. These tests ensure that Hybrid eCall systems perform reliably under realistic and often unpredictable network conditions.
One of the primary focus areas is emergency call setup performance, which evaluates how quickly and consistently a vehicle can establish a connection with emergency services across both legacy and modern network infrastructures. Rapid call initiation is essential in crash situations where seconds can significantly impact response outcomes.
Another critical component is Minimum Set of Data (MSD) transmission. This ensures that essential vehicle information—such as precise location, vehicle identification, and crash-related telemetry—is accurately transmitted to emergency responders. Reliable MSD delivery is crucial for enabling faster and more informed rescue operations.
The certification also validates voice communication quality, ensuring that real-time audio between vehicle occupants and emergency operators remains clear and uninterrupted, even under degraded or fluctuating network conditions.
Finally, the system’s network fallback capability is rigorously tested. This ensures that when NG-eCall services are unavailable, the system can seamlessly transition to legacy eCall networks without disruption, maintaining continuous emergency coverage at all times.
Strengthening Industry Collaboration Through ETSI Plugtests
Beyond certification, Keysight will demonstrate its Hybrid eCall and NG-eCall testing capabilities at the ETSI NG-eCall Plugtests™ 2026 event, organized by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Centre for Testing and Interoperability.
The Plugtests initiative brings together key stakeholders from across the automotive and telecommunications ecosystems, including vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers, mobile network operators, and emergency service organizations. The goal is to validate multi-vendor interoperability using real commercial infrastructure rather than isolated lab environments.
By participating in this collaborative testing ecosystem, Keysight aims to further strengthen industry readiness for large-scale deployment of NG-eCall systems. The event also serves as a critical platform for identifying interoperability challenges and ensuring that emergency communication systems function reliably across different technologies and geographies.
Industry Perspectives on Safety and Standardization
Commenting on the certification, Lourdes Sánchez, Connectivity Director at DEKRA, emphasized the importance of standardized testing in enabling the automotive industry’s transition toward next-generation emergency systems. She noted that DEKRA’s collaboration with Keysight in validating Hybrid eCall capabilities under EN 18052:2025 helped confirm key aspects of interoperability, reliability, and regulatory compliance. According to her, such efforts are essential in accelerating the adoption of safer and more connected mobility solutions.
From Keysight’s perspective, the certification reflects the company’s broader mission to support automotive innovation through robust testing methodologies. Thomas Goetzl, Vice President and General Manager of Keysight’s Automotive & Energy Solutions, highlighted that the rapid evolution of cellular infrastructure presents both opportunities and challenges for automakers. He emphasized that manufacturers require proven and reliable validation tools to avoid compliance delays and ensure seamless global deployment of connected vehicle technologies.
Enabling the Future of Connected Vehicle Safety
The certification of Keysight’s Hybrid eCall solution represents more than a technical milestone—it reflects a broader industry shift toward highly resilient, standards-driven emergency communication systems. As vehicles become increasingly connected and dependent on cellular infrastructure, ensuring uninterrupted access to emergency services is becoming a core safety requirement.
By enabling seamless transitions between legacy and next-generation communication networks, Keysight’s solution helps bridge the gap during a critical period of technological transition. It ensures that vehicles remain compliant, connected, and capable of delivering life-saving communications regardless of regional network maturity.
With continued collaboration across industry stakeholders and participation in global interoperability events such as ETSI Plugtests, Keysight is positioning itself at the center of the automotive safety ecosystem. The company’s focus on real-world validation and standards alignment supports automakers in building safer, more reliable, and future-ready connected vehicle platforms.
As the automotive industry moves toward fully connected and software-defined vehicles, solutions like Hybrid eCall are expected to play a crucial role in ensuring that emergency communication systems evolve in step with global network transformations—without compromising safety, reliability, or performance.
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