Anritsu and Head Acoustics cooperate for NG eCall Evaluation

Anritsu launches an advanced acoustic evaluation solution for next-generation automotive emergency call systems (“NG eCall”), developed in collaboration with Head Acoustics.

The new solution, which is compliant with ITU-T Recommendation P.1140, enables precise assessment of voice communication quality between vehicle occupants and Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), supporting faster and more effective emergency response.

Background

With NG eCall over 4G (LTE) and 5G (NR) now mandatory in Europe as of 1 January, 2026, ensuring high-quality, low-latency voice communication during vehicle emergencies has become essential. After a collision, calls are conducted hands-free inside the vehicle cabin, where high noise levels, echoes, and other acoustic challenges can significantly degrade speech clarity. Reliable voice performance is therefore critical to accurately conveying the situation and enabling rapid rescue operations.

Evaluation Solution

The solution integrates Anritsu’s MD8475B (for 4G LTE base-station simulation) or MT8000A (for both 4G LTE and 5G NR simulation) with Head Acoustics’ ACQUA voice quality analysis platform. This combination enables comprehensive evaluation of transmitted (microphone) and received (speaker) audio under a wide range of realistic operating conditions.

Example Evaluation Scenarios

• Echo and double-talk situations where speaker output re-enters the microphone or simultaneous speech may affect intelligibility
• Cabin noise simulations representing real driving environments, including road, wind, and engine noise.