Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 24
Connected Vehicle
TCU Testing at the Heart of
Vehicle Connectivity
Adding a telematics control unit to the vehicle and keeping it operational demands
a focused approach towards testing this vital component.
by Nikhil Kumar
The wireless connectivity between the modern
vehicle and the outside world is possible thanks to a
constantly evolving component called the telematics
control unit (TCU). The TCU is at the center of all
connectivity-related use cases, so its operation must
be flawless. Closely related to the TCU are over-the-air
tests (OTA), electromagnetic compatibility (EMC),
electromagnetic interference (EMI) and automotive
Ethernet. All should be kept in mind when designing
the strategy to test TCUs.
Rohde & Schwarz
Cellular V2X, dedicated short-range communications,
or both, are some of the points that play a role in
deciding the scope of TCU testing.
24 March 2021
The TCU is loaded with multiple wireless technologies that enable the vehicle to exchange information
with its surroundings. It is also connected to multiple
components inside the vehicle, including other electronic control units and domain controls, via wired
connections using automotive Ethernet and controller
area network (CAN) bus. Connecting the vehicle to
the cloud, roadside infrastructure and other road users
enables new business models for vehicle OEMs and
promise new safety and convenience features for the
drivers and passengers.
Autonomous fleets can benefit from the wireless
link between the vehicle and the cloud infrastructure.
Remote debugging, remote assistance and teleoperation are a few possibilities that are possible over the
cellular link. Constant monitoring of the health of an
autonomous vehicle (AV) and updating high-definition maps in real time are a few other examples that are
made possible via connectivity. These applications do
come with their own set of challenges such as latency,
throughput, cellular network coverage, etc., but LTE
and 5G cellular technologies provide adequate tools
to deploy them.
Engineering teams working on training and
testing autonomous fleets can benefit from the
addition of advanced Wi-Fi versions like 802.11ax
to the TCU. Engineers are constantly updating large
fleets of AVs with newer versions of software and
deploying these AVs for the drive tests. It is a challenge to bring back large amounts of data from the
field and upload for analysis before the next version of
the software is installed on the AV fleet. Using a wired
connection is inefficient and using an LTE connection
for this use case is very expensive.
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENGINEERING
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - CVR4
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - CVR1
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - CVR2
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 1
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 2
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 3
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 4
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 5
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 6
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 7
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 8
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 9
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 10
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 11
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 12
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 13
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 14
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 15
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 16
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 17
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 18
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 19
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 20
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 21
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 22
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 23
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 24
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 25
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 26
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 27
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - 28
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - CVR3
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - March 2021 - CVR4
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE02
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE12
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AAVE11
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE10
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE09
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE08
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AAVE07
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE06
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE05
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AAVE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE02
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AAVE01
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE12
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AVE11
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE10
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE09
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE08
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AVE07
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE06
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE05
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AVE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE02
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AVE01
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE12
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE11
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE10
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE09
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE09
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE08
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE07
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE06
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE05
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE05
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE02
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com