dSPACE and Spirent Partner to Deliver Integrated Automotive Test Solutions

Industry leaders join forces to make real-time positioning scenarios for Autonomous Driving HIL test systems even more realistic

PAIGNTON, UK and PADERBORN, GERMANY – January 25, 2024 – Spirent Communications plc (LSE:SPT) and dSPACE have entered into a technology partnership to make real-time positioning scenarios for Autonomous Driving Hardware-in-the-Loop test systems (AD-HIL) even more realistic. The partnership enables developers to accelerate development timelines and time to market.

Based on years of cooperation between dSPACE and Spirent, the latest collaboration offers customers a turnkey solution by extending the leading dSPACE AD-HIL to include the Spirent GSS7000 high-fidelity global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) simulator. This enables developers of autonomous driving systems to validate vehicle behavior in location-critical scenarios utilizing real satellite signals, with all of the tooling pre-integrated from a single source provider to assure performance and continuity, and help accelerate development.

Increasing levels of driving automation and the associated responsibility for OEMs mean that the precision and latency of GNSS-enabled systems is becoming more and more critical, especially for SAE Levels of Driving Automation™ at or beyond Level 3. In addition to dSPACE’s powerful AD-HIL with radar, camera, lidar, and ultrasonic sensor simulation interfaces, the GSS7000 simulator, with high fidelity RF signal generation and low latency response, becomes an additional sensor working in parallel for validation of driver assistance algorithms, and a vital element of the digital homologation of the future. Jamming and spoofing scenarios can be validated as security-relevant functional tests for highly autonomous platforms, while Spirent’s SimHIL software interface ensures performant and reliable communication between each partner’s systems.

“By seamlessly integrating Spirent’s high-resolution GNSS simulators into the dSPACE test solutions, we enable our customers to achieve comprehensive validation of autonomous driving applications, increasing safety and precision through integration of positioning data,” explained Dr. Herbert Schuette, Executive Vice President at dSPACE.

“We are very excited to be partnering with dSPACE as a leader in the automotive test industry,” said Adam Price, Spirent’s Vice President of PNT Simulation. “Our complementary portfolios are focused on quality, accuracy, and reliability, and together they provide compelling solutions to ensure that the next generation of connected and autonomous vehicles will be tested to the level of efficiency and safety that the industry demands.”