With increasing demand for autonomous features, enhanced connectivity and a smartphone-like driving experience, the automotive industry is undergoing a radical shift towards software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). To stay ahead, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) need new testing solutions to accelerate development cycles while ensuring compliance with ever-changing industry standards related to safety, interoperability, conformity and security.

To explore the opportunities and challenges of this shift, Keysight’s annual Automotive Tech Day at Novi Automotive Customer Center (ACC) in the U.S. recently brought together over 150 R&D experts to discuss how the latest test and emulation technologies can accelerate SDV and EV innovation. In addition to hands-on demonstrations from Keysight experts, attendees received practical insights from Keysight solution partners, including Binder, Block Harbor, ETAS and Konrad Technologies, during insightful technical presentations.

Future-proof charging test for electric vehicles through emulation

Last year, 1.4 million new electric vehicles were registered in the United States, a 40% increase over 2022. The Department of Energy (DoE) reported that the number of electric vehicle charging stations also doubled during the same period.

For electric vehicle growth to continue, safety, interoperability and compliance of new electric vehicle charging products are paramount to reduce time to market for new products and meet consumer demand.

However, today’s EV charging ecosystem faces a major testing challenge: the lack of harmonized standards. The market is flooded with new manufacturers and different regions are setting different standards. How can R&D teams navigate this complex regulatory landscape and deliver high-quality products without compromising time-to-market objectives?

The key could lie in advanced emulation of real charging stations and electric vehicles in the laboratory.

During Automotive Tech Day, Keysight technical expert Paul Centkowski demonstrated our Charging Discovery System (CDS) and its three key use cases:

• Man-in-the-Middle test,
• EV test,
• EVSE (EV Supply Equipment) test.

In Paul’s demo, the CDS system automates the testing of all AC and DC charging interfaces and performs all required conformance and interoperability tests according to several global standards, including CCS, CHAdeMO and GB/T.

In addition, the CDS can be combined with Keysight’s advanced regenerative power systems. This bidirectional power supply is scalable and versatile for low-power DC testing, such as on-board chargers. Its regenerative capability returns 90% of its power to the grid, saving recurring cooling and overall test costs.

For high power scenarios, check out our SL1800A Scienlab Regenerative DC Emulator if you want to perform high power DC charging tests up to 300kW in a small space. In addition, the SL1200A series is designed to meet all your 3-phase AC testing needs up to 1200VAC from 30 to 630kVA without a transformer.

Vehicle connectivity at a new level

High-bandwidth, low-latency vehicle network (IVN) technologies are required to improve the functionality of SDVs. More and more automakers have adopted Automotive Ethernet because it offers numerous advantages over traditional technologies such as LIN and CAN, including higher bandwidth, improved data transmission, scalability, and lower latency. To ensure reliable operation between electronic control units (ECUs), comprehensive Ethernet testing is essential. However, it is often challenging for test engineers to ensure rigorous compliance testing and create real-world workload simulations in the lab.

During the “Communications and Security in Vehicle Connectivity” session, Cris Fernandes, solutions engineer at Keysight, highlighted several important testing considerations for automotive Ethernet.

One important aspect is Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), a collection of IEEE standards that allow multiple interfaces to be replaced by one standard transmitted over an unshielded twisted pair (100M/1000M BASE-T1). Figure 2 shows a simplified version of what can happen in a single port: ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems), infotainment and regular updates. In a real system, a port can handle 150 to 200 data streams, each with different priorities, emergency levels and application data. TSN tests examine the entire network and take accurate measurements of packet loss, latency, jitter and delay.

Keysight’s Automotive Ethernet solutions provide end-to-end functional and standards compliance testing for automotive Ethernet chipsets and devices. Recently, we helped a semiconductor manufacturer implement a new 1 Gbps automotive Ethernet test using TSN.

Using Keysight’s Infiniium MXR Series real-time oscilloscopes, automotive Ethernet compliance solutions, and IxNetwork L2-3 network infrastructure testing, the customer was able to quickly set up and test automotive Ethernet designs while simulating realistic user applications and scenarios in the lab.

Countering the growing cyber threats in the automotive sector with fuzz testing

The transformation from isolated systems to software-defined vehicles (SDVs) opens up various new cyberattack avenues, ranging from cryptographic attacks to over-the-air (OTA) protocol exploits. In 2023 alone, there were 295 cybersecurity incidents in the automotive sector.

In SDVs, functions that were previously distributed across multiple ECUs are now consolidated onto fewer high-performance computers (HPCs). These HPCs run various applications, including ADAS, infotainment, and communications. As they interact with external systems, they become more vulnerable to erroneous inputs from external sources, unpatched software, and sluggish response protocols in newly connected systems.

To counter these threats, the industry has introduced various cybersecurity standards and regulations:

• ISO/SAE 21434: 2021 Road vehicles – Cybersecurity Engineering
• Automotive SPICE for cybersecurity
• UN Regulation No. 155 – Cybersecurity and Cybersecurity Management System

Cybersecurity is an integral part of the automotive V-model development process and includes threat analysis, risk assessment, countermeasure requirements, and various testing activities such as functional testing, vulnerability scanning, fuzz testing, and penetration testing.

During Automotive Tech Day, cybersecurity experts from ETAS explained the importance of fuzz testing for Controller Area Networks (CAN). Fuzz testing, recommended by ISO 21434, involves feeding invalid, erroneous or unexpected inputs into the device under test (DUT) to identify hidden software bugs or vulnerabilities that can lead to unsafe behavior, transitions to undefined states or system crashes.

Keysight’s automotive cybersecurity test platform enables automated testing across all layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) stack for vehicle interfaces. By embedding ETAS’ ESCRYPT CycurFUZZ, Keysight has enabled rapid fuzz testing across CAN interfaces. Test engineers can automatically scan the DUT’s automotive CAN bus to mitigate associated cybersecurity risks and ensure compliance with regulations such as UN R-155.

Join the Keysight Automotive Cybersecurity Boot Camp

Diploma

Electrification, greater autonomy and improved connectivity are revolutionizing automotive design today. Given these trends, automakers are looking for testing solutions to ensure vehicle safety and reduce time to market. Keysight has a unique perspective on these innovations as our expertise spans the entire development cycle.

To learn how we can help you enter the future of mobility with greater performance and reliability, request a demo of a custom solution, learn about automotive testing training, or visit our ACC in a city near you.

Keysight Technologies

Keysight Technologies

At Keysight (NYSE: KEYS), we inspire and empower innovators to bring world-changing technologies to life. As an S&P 500 company, we deliver market-leading design, emulation and test solutions that help engineers develop and deploy faster and with less risk throughout the product lifecycle. We are a global innovation partner, enabling customers in communications, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, automotive, semiconductor and general electronics to accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world. Learn more in the Keysight Newsroom and at www.keysight.com.

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