eCall test bed created in Japan

eCall’s first test bed outside of Europe is helping to create the connections needed for the system to be rolled out. In 2012, FUJITSU TEN, Japan’s leading intelligent transport systems (ITS) company, along with digital security company Gemalto and ERTICO, established Japan’s first experimental eCall emergency system at the Yokosuka Research Park. “We are very much impressed about this first 112 EU eCall test bed outside of Europe,” said Andy Rooke, HeERO Project Manager of ERTICO, ITS Europe. “By working together in a proactive manner, the technical partners in this self-funded project have demonstrated that the Japanese automotive industry and supply chain will be ready to embrace the test and certification needs of Pan European eCall based on 112 by utilizing the GSM outdoor test facility at the Yokosuka Research Park.”

FUJITSU TEN recently became a member of ERTICO, which is the network of Intelligent Transport Systems and Services stakeholders in Europe. “For us it was vital to launch an initiative such as eCall in Europe, where safety is always more central and advanced than the rest of the world. The purpose of launching the platform for experimentation was to become a trusted hub for European initiatives. It aimed to contribute to the fast development of the ‘advanced safety system’ by state-of-the-art technology for ‘lives saved’ and to our saying ‘inochi-nokizuna’,” said Yoshinari Shiraishi, Executive Chief Engineer, FUJITSU TEN in an interview on the ERTICO website.

Automotive Industries (AI) asked Akihiro Fujiwara, Vice President of the Technical Centre Nuremberg, FUJITSU TEN Europe, what the company’s role has been in the HeERO project in Europe.

Fujiwara: First of all, I would like to thank ERTICO for inviting us the HeERO project. Last year we established a new decade vision (VISION 2022) in which we say our social responsibility is to focus on vehicle safety systems. We will establish an advanced safety system not only using stand-alone sensors and ECUs, but also using networked ICT infrastructure. We believe adapting our system to real network in Europe is a great opportunity to contribute to complete the rescue system in Europe.

AI: How do you hope to replicate this in Japan and other non-European countries?

Fujiwara: First of all we would like to prove our performance and reliability in Europe. The experience of interoperability testing in Europe is always helpful to promote the technology in other countries.

AI: What is the significance of FUJITSU TEN joining ERTICO?

Fujiwara: Eco and safety are the most emerging area of our business field and important from business point of view, of course. I believe our technology could contribute to ERTICO, which is leading the standardization of this field of development, as well as evaluation activities like the HeERO project.

AI: What are some of your company’s latest technological breakthroughs?

Fujiwara: We have resourced in the form of several operating systems such as Android, Linux, Windows, U-Tron and AUTOSAR. Our strength is to be able to adopt any OEM requirement or standards. We are developing advanced HMI focusing on reducing driver distraction mainly for the US market.

AI: Tell us a little about your new product lines including the millimeter wave radar and multi-angled vision.

Fujiwara: We are the one of top radar suppliers in the automotive industry. We line up high-end class products of long range detection and vertical resolution. We introduced our multi angle vision system which can change the view point through a Smartphone.

AI: What are the technologies FUJITSU TEN is working on to make autonomous cars a reality?

Fujiwara: For more precise driving support, synergy of sensor technology and big data analysis is needed. Our advanced DSS concept is being developed for both the IVS and ICT systems. So, we are working on both the vehicle and cloud sides.

AI: What would you say are FUJITSU TEN’s biggest strengths/advantages in terms of ITS solutions?

Fujiwara: FUJITSU TEN is developing most of the IVS parts and systems in the fields of monitoring, sensing, safety and security and infotainment. We can connect this expertise to the ICT system to establish advanced driving support systems with our ICT partner Fujitsu, which is also developing a powerful human-centric system.