French automotive supplier Valeo and Japanese telecommunications and electronic equipment group Anritsu have formed a collaboration to advance virtual validation tools for software-defined vehicle (SDV) systems.
The two companies plan to develop digital twin-based methods for testing vehicle software, including systems such as telematics units.
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The work is intended to reduce dependence on physical hardware during development and to shorten testing cycles.
Under the agreement, Anritsu will add a virtual engine that mirrors real-world operating events to its software-based In-the-Loop Simulator.
This platform is designed to support the creation of digital replicas of complex network environments.
It includes scenarios involving multiple mobile network operators as well as vehicle-to-network and vehicle-to-everything communications.
The system will also be able to model fleets of vehicles running either in the cloud or on local machines.
Valeo Brain division CTO Gilles Mabire said: “Telematic[s] unit and connectivity in general is a strategic pillar of software-defined architecture. This product, developed by Valeo, has to connect and operate in all cellular networks and in various and diverse field conditions.
“The growing complexity of development happens in the context of reduction of vehicle development cycle and is associated with a continuous reduction of vehicle cost and efforts.”
According to the press statement, the joint effort centres on improving virtual validation for the development and testing of SDVs, as carmakers increasingly adopt software-centric architectures.
It pointed to a wider industry move towards greater in-vehicle connectivity, with cellular networks being used to link cars to cloud services and to provide ongoing features for drivers.
This shift, it noted, requires more extensive testing parameters than traditional hardware-based processes, which often rely on manual extraction of data and complex test bench set-ups.
Such methods are coming under pressure from continuous integration and continuous deployment workflows, prompting demand for modelling tools that can scale and operate with higher levels of automation, the press statement read.
Anritsu IoT test solution division general manager Yukiharu Ogawa added: “Anritsu has long focused on enhancing the quality of in-vehicle connectivity systems.
“To ensure stable utilisation of sophisticated connectivity services, it is essential to implement software that takes into account the edge cases that occur in the real world.”
