Overview1

COMPRION’s Digital Key Test Solutions

COMPRION’s Digital Key Test Solutions address the various testing needs in relationship to digital access solutions in the automotive area. The guiding industry initiative in this area is the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC). COMPRION provides tools for testing various contactless communication aspects of a Digital Key according to the CCC:

NFC Forum Compliance
Car Connectivity Consortium Compliance
Compliance with Smartphone Manufacturer Requirements (e.g. Apple)

NFC Forum Compliance

NFC Forum compliance provides the baseline for all NFC components involved in the communication process - both on the vehicle side, such as an NFC reader integrated into a door handle or tray, and on the user device side, such as a smartphone or potentially other device types in the future.

The objective is to ensure standard-compliant communication at the underlying NFC layer, providing the foundation for the CCC-defined application-layer protocol that operates on top of it.

In particular, the NFC Forum defines a dedicated device class for CCC-compliant NFC readers, such as those integrated into vehicle door handles or trays.

CCC Compliance

The CCC Technical Specification defines Digital Key transactions at the application layer, using NFC and Bluetooth for contactless communication between the vehicle and the user’s device. Based on this specification, the CCC has developed detailed protocol-level test cases. COMPRION’s Test Solutions address two groups of these test cases:

NFC Interoperability Test Cases: These verify the baseline requirements for interoperability between the vehicle and the device through real-time tracing of the NFC protocol. Additional tests cover the behavior of the vehicle and device when NFC communication is disturbed. NFC testing is mandatory for CCC Digital Key product certification, and COMPRION provides a CCC validated test solution for this purpose.
BLE Test Cases: These extend interoperability testing to Digital Key transactions based on BLE and provide detailed protocol-level verification of CCC specification compliance. While protocol-level BLE testing is not mandatory for CCC product certification, it is highly recommended to ensure a high-quality, interoperable product.

Compliance with Smartphone Manufacturer Requirements (e.g. Apple Car Key)

Some smartphone manufacturers define additional test cases that complement NFC and CCC requirements. These tests are typically part of the manufacturer’s own certification program.

For Apple’s Car Key MFi program, COMPRION addresses various test aspects related to NFC communication. The final assessment of the test results remains with Apple. COMPRION’s solutions in this area either:

Provide essential NFC trace data required by Apple, or
Automate test case execution to generate Apple-required data, significantly improving testing efficiency.

Benefits

Identify and resolve interoperability and compliance issues throughout the Digital Key product engineering process - even at an early stage.
Support mandatory certification requirements across the ecosystem.
Increase testing efficiency while saving time and costs.
Ensure reliable and reproducible test results.

Who is it for?

Authorized Car Connectivity Consortium members working on a digital key implementation, including but not limited to:

Automotive manufacturers
Automotive suppliers
Smartphone, and smart device manufacturers
Certification laboratories
Quality assurance teams

Related Test Tools

TraceCase

Small spying tool to trace, visualize, and analyze NFC interaction in real-time.

CL Verify A

Real-time tracing, visualization, and analysis of NFC interactions with the ability to simulate and disturb NFC communication.

Digital Key Viewer

Visualizes Bluetooth Digital Key communication and translates it into a human-readable format for analysis.

COMPRION MoVie

The stand-alone and free of charge viewing software for NFC log files recorded with COMPRION test tools.

COMPRION Launches New CCC Digital Key Test Solution for BLE

COMPRION has expanded its range of digital key testing solutions with the introduction of the CCC Digital Key Test Solution for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).