Manufacturers of cell phones in the EU have been required to integrate an extension of the emergency call functions – known as E112 – into their devices and demonstrate their compliance since March 17, 2022.
The purpose of E112 is to automatically provide emergency services with accurate information about the caller’s location (based on mobile cell ID, GNSS or WLAN/Wi-Fi) so that emergency services can reach the scene of an accident more quickly.
Thus, in the event of an accident, in addition to the location, information about the time of the accident, the degree of confidence, the positioning method, and information about the cell phone (IMSI, IMEI) and the mobile network (MCC, MNC) is transmitted to the PSAP.
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/320 activated Article 3(3)(g) of the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) 2014/53/EU. The regulation requires smartphone manufacturers to demonstrate compliance with Galileo, Wi-Fi and AML (Advanced Mobile Location) in order to sell handsets on the European market from March 17, 2022.
The document Guidelines for Compliance with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/320 defines that the following features must be tested for E112 certification:
Since no harmonized EU standards are available for E112, manufacturers cannot currently demonstrate E112 compliance by self-declaration. Therefore, a Notified Body must be involved for device certification.
CETECOM has established E112 testing capacity early and is the world’s leading laboratory for E112 testing. We have also established other mechanisms, in addition to rapidly building testing capacity, to complete E112 testing more quickly.
While there is already a test system validated by CETECOM for the Galileo and AML tests, the WLAN tests require test procedures that have to be designed and set up by the test laboratories themselves. For this purpose, we use a specially developed Android app with which the necessary WLAN tests can be carried out in a controlled and efficient manner.
We already performed the first internal E112 tests in summer 2021, so we were able to start E112 projects from September 2021. Due to our close cooperation with Rohde & Schwarz in the evaluation of the E112 test system, we were able to gain important experience at an early stage, which will benefit our customers in the efficient execution of E112 tests. Due to the easy coordination with the internal certification body (Notified Body) at CETECOM, customer projects can be brought to successful certification quickly and in a targeted manner.
In addition, CETECOM has been actively driving the corrections of the AML technical specifications (ETSI TS 103 625 and ETSI TS 103 825) and validating the first system-based test solution for E112 testing.
More in-depth and technical information on E112 can also be found in the recording
of our English-language webinar “E112 Services at CETECOM“.
