EENA Technical Committee Document

Next Generation eCall

NG eCall

Title Next Generation eCall

Version 1.0
Revision date 11-12-2015
Status of the document Draft For comments Approved

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 Authors and contributors to this document

This document was written by members of EENA:

Authors Country/Organisation
David Williams UK / Qualcomm UK

Contributors Country/Organisation
Saioa Arrizabalaga CEIT
Markus Bornheim Avaya
Mark Fletcher Avaya
Andy Hutton Unify
Cristina Lumbreras EENA
Peter Sanders One2Many

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Legal Disclaimer

This document is authored by EENA staff members with contributions from individual members of EENA and
represents the views of EENA. This document does not represent the views of individual members of EENA, or
any other parties.

This document is published for information purposes only and it does not declare to be a statement or
interpretation of EU law or the national law of EU Member States. This document is entirely without prejudice
to the views of relevant national statutory authorities and their legal functions and powers, whether under EU
law or the national law of their Member State. Accordingly, under no circumstances may reliance be placed
upon this document by any parties in compliance or otherwise with any applicable laws. Neither may reliance
be placed upon this document in relation to the suitability or functionality of any technical specifications, or
any other matters discussed in it. Legal advice, technical advice and other advice as relevant, may be sought
as necessary.

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 Table of contents

1 Scope ..................................................................................................................................... 5
2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 5
3 Technology .............................................................................................................................. 5
3.1 IMS eCall ......................................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Co-existence of in-band modem eCall with IMS eCall ............................................................... 5
4 Functionality ............................................................................................................................ 6
4.1 Capabilities of IMS eCall ..................................................................................................... 6
4.2 New user categories........................................................................................................... 6
4.3 Other considerations .......................................................................................................... 6
5 Regulations .............................................................................................................................. 7
6 EENA Recommendations............................................................................................................. 8
7 EENA Requirements ................................................................................................................... 9
8 References ............................................................................................................................... 9
9 Definitions and Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 9

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1 Scope

This document describes work done on Next Generation eCall and makes recommendations, including
timescales.

It describes how Next Generation eCall can be achieved using IMS and what are its advantages and possible
new functionalities.

It describes how coexistence of in-band modem eCall and IMS eCall can be managed.

It does not cover TPS eCall.

2 Introduction

eCall is being deployed in Europe and will be required by law in new cars from 2018. Current eCall
deployments are based on ETSI and CEN standards, which were started more than 12 years ago, and use an
in-band modem to transport eCall data in a circuit switched 112 call. However, circuit switched 112 will
eventually be replaced by IMS emergency call in UMTS-PS and LTE networks and it is further expected that EU
operators will want to phase out support of circuit switched (CS) GSM and UMTS over the next decade or two.

ETSI addressed the issue of how eCall can be achieved using IMS emergency call and in April 2014 published
TR 103 140 [1]. The IETF has produced NG eCall drafts [2]. Standardization work is progressing in 3GPP and
CEN.

Cars typically last around 15 years (compared to 2 years for mobile phones). The issue of how in-band
modem eCall deployments in cars will continue to be supported, whilst network technology migrates to IMS,
requires consideration.

3 Technology

3.1 IMS eCall

ETSI TR 103 140 [1] recommended IMS emergency call, with minor modifications, as the long term
underlying communication mechanism for eCall.

Other recommendations of ETSI TR 103 140 [1] were:

- to use the initial SIP-INVITE message in the IMS emergency call for initial MSD transport.
- to specify new URN sub-classes for IMS eCall for routing purposes (equivalent to the “eCall flag” used for
inband eCall).
- to specify a new system information indicator in 3GPP, to tell the IVS that the network supports IMS eCall.
- not to use in-band modem over VoIP because modem signals may be impaired by de-jitter buffering.

3.2 Co-existence of in-band modem eCall with IMS eCall

Cars last typically 15 years, compared to 2 years for mobile phones. Cars being deployed with in-band modem
eCall, based on circuit-switched 112, will need circuit switched 112 support from the network until the 2030s.
This may be longer than the mobile operators desire.

As IMS emergency call capability will be extensively deployed well before the 2030s, in-band modem eCall
and IMS eCall will have to co-exist. ETSI TR 103 140 [1] considered this co-existence and how migration from
eCall to IMS eCall can be managed.

 Introduction of IMS eCall into IVSs can occur when standards are available. Such IVSs will also have
to be capable of in-band modem eCall for many years.

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  From a certain date PSAPs shall support IMS eCall but shall be able to receive and process in-band
modem eCalls as well.

 An IVS capable of IMS eCall shall only use IMS eCall if informed (by a system information indicator)
that IMS eCall is supported in the network.

 The mobile operator will only switch on the system information indicator when there is IMS eCall
coverage and at least one routable PSAP capable of receiving IMS eCalls.

4 Functionality

4.1 Capabilities of IMS eCall

The capability advantages of IMS eCall compared to in-band modem eCall are:

1) Faster and more reliable MSD transfer, no loss of speech path, significantly more than 140 bytes
possible (e.g. later) in the MSD.
2) Additional media (e.g. video from dashboard cameras, text from speech or hearing impaired users).
3) Two-way data enabling the PSAP to send instructions to vehicle, e.g. sound horn, flash lights,
lock/unlock doors, disable ignition.

It should be noted that these advantages will be initially offset by limited IMS support in networks and PSAPs,
which is why the inband version of eCall will remain critical for many years.

4.2 New user categories

The new categories which IMS eCall could support are:

1) Other vehicle categories requiring more than 140 bytes of data, e.g. multiple occupancy vehicles such
as buses.
2) Medical emergency devices such as heart monitors.
3) Vulnerable road users.
4) Personal eCall.

The above will require new variants of the eCall MSD.

4.3 Other considerations

From an operational perspective as well as procurement point of view, IMS eCall should be seen in conjunction
with in-band modem eCall. as well as PSAP transition from ISDN access lines to SIP access. All of these
technical updates to deliver new and advanced services are likely to occur within a period of 5 to 10 years.

That being said, purchase of new equipment replacing today’s TDM- and ISDN- based PBX systems should be
considered to be SIP centric, with the flexibility to add new services in a modular way, without replacing the
overall real time communication architecture.

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5 Regulations

There are currently 3 areas of eCall regulation:

1. Oblige countries to upgrade PSAPs and take eCalls

www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2013/0166(COD)&l=en

2. Make eCall part of vehicle type approvals

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52013PC0316

3. Oblige mobile network operators to deliver eCalls to PSAPs

http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/impact/ia_carried_out/docs/ia_2011/c_2011_6269_en.pdf

It is believed that IMS eCall can comply with all of the above. In the type approval regulation (2), there is a
requirement that standards shall be European. However, the European standardisation process of IMS eCall is
already underway in ETSI and CEN. The type approval regulation also places a restriction on what data can be
sent to the PSAP (Article 6, point 8 of the type approval act says “No additional data shall be transmitted by
the 112-based eCall in-vehicle system.”). Therefore any additional functionality that IMS eCall can offer, over
simply the MSD and voice, would have to be voluntary and separate from the initial eCall under current
regulation.

It is recommended that the EU authorities begin a process to set new regulations for NG eCall. The additional
functionality on offer can assist PSAPs and first responders and thus save lives. The new regulations for NG
eCall should require all of the functionalities in section 4.1, should apply to all of the user categories in 4.2,
and may take advantage of IMS as the transport mechanism.

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6 EENA Recommendations

Stakeholders Actions
European Authorities Make clear that IMS eCall can fulfil existing eCall regulations. Within
1 year.
Begin process of new regulation for NG eCall, i.e. additional
functionalities and IMS eCall. Within 5 years.
National Government Contribute to the European regulatory process.

National / Regional Contribute to the standardisation work.

Authorities

Emergency services Continue to deploy eCall based on current standards.

Start to deploy IMS eCall, from a certain date, as well as continuing
in-band modem eCall.
National telecommunication Announce when circuit switched 112 will be phased out. When
regulator / Network known
Operators Implement IMS eCall (based on IMS emergency call release 14) in
networks. Within 5 years.
Make plans for how the system information indicator will be used to
inform IVSs of network and PSAP support of IMS eCall. Within 5
years.

IVS equipment suppliers Contribute to the standardisation work.

Standardisation bodies. CEN: Revise the HLAP (EN 16062 [4]) to make IMS eCall an
alternative to in-band modem eCall, and describe how the PSAP
uses the additional functionality. Update the requirements standard
(EN 16072 [5]) to describe the new functionality. Define variants of
the MSD for new user categories. Complete within 2 years.
ETSI: Organize and define IMS eCall plugtests (as part of annual
eCall TESTFEST [6] organized in partnership with ERTICO-ITS
Europe or as part of NG112 plugtest [7] in cooperation with EENA)
The expected 3GPP Release-14 specifications containing IMS eCall
will be automatically transposed into ETSI specifications.
3GPP: Continue specification of IMS eCall in Release-14.
IETF: None. URN sub-categories for IMS eCall routing have been
defined.

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7 EENA Requirements

Requirements
Current eCall deployments shall not be affected by plans for future NG eCall.
NG eCall deployed on IMS shall be based on 3GPP Release 14 onwards.
New user categories shall be supported on IMS eCall.
IVSs supporting IMS eCall shall also be capable of in-band modem eCall.
PSAPs shall support IMS eCall from a to-be-defined date and shall continue to support in-band
modem eCall until a to-be-defined date.
In-band modem eCall and IMS eCall shall co-exist according to the ETSI proposed plan in TR 103
140 [1].

8 References

[1] ETSI TR 103 140 V1.1.1 (2014-04), eCall for VoIP

http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_tr/103100_103199/103140/01.01.01_60/tr_103140v010101p.pdf
[2] IETF Next-Generation Pan-European eCall https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-ecrit-ecall
[3] CEN EN 15722 eCall Minimum Set of Data, available for purchase at
http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030301210
[4] CEN EN 16062 eCall High Level Application Protocol, available for purchase at
http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030301213
[5] CEN EN 16072 eCall Pan European Operating Requirements, available for purchase at
http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030301207
[6] http://www.etsi.org/news-events/events/1002-4th-ecall-tesfest-2015
[7] http://www.etsi.org/news-events/events/977

9 Definitions and Abbreviations

NG eCall. Next Generation eCall, based on IMS eCall and offering unlimited data, multimedia and two-way
data, and being the subject of future EU regulation.

IMS eCall. eCall deployed using IMS emergency call in 3GPP Release-14, instead of in-band modem and
circuit switched 112.

In-band modem eCall. eCall deployed using in-band modem and circuit switched 112 according to CEN EN
16062 [4] and EN 16072 [5].

3GPP 3rd generation partnership project

CEN Centre Europeen de Normalisation (in French)
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
GSM Global System for Mobiles (2G)
HLAP eCall High Level Application Protocol
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IMS Internet Protocol Multimedia System
IVS In Vehicle System
MSD Minimum Set of Data as defined in EN 15722 [3]
PSAP Public Safety Answering Point
NG Next Generation
TPS Third party supported
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (3G)
URN Uniform Resource Name
VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol

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