The Toyota Tsusho Group’s electronics trading company NEXTY Electronics Corporation  (President: Atsushi Aoki; Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter referred to as “NEXTY Electronics”), in collaboration with European group company C&S Group GmbH (hereinafter referred to as “C&S”), launched in-vehicle Ethernet test house brand NeefA (Network expert for Automotive) and began offering testing and consulting services for introducing in-vehicle Ethernet in October 2021. Leveraging the know-how accumulated at a test house in Europe that has already put together an extensive track record, NEXTY Electronics is offering the first comprehensive support for in-vehicle Ethernet in Japan covering everything from hardware design evaluation to system evaluation.

[Background and Purpose]

As autonomous driving and other technological innovation progresses, utilization of in-vehicle Ethernet as a new telecommunications standard is expanding to address the need for increasingly high-speed and high-volume transfer of data, including images. Taking advantage of in-vehicle Ethernet requires confirmation that the hardware and software is compliant with the telecommunications standard and that the ECU also meets the requirements. However, there are many issues when it comes to introducing in-vehicle Ethernet, including a lack of technical know-how, having the necessary testing equipment, and conducting the tests.

To address these issues, NEXTY Electronics and group company C&S, which possesses an extensive track record and know-how related to in-vehicle communication and conformance testing in Europe, launched test house brand NeefA. Under this brand, the companies have begun offering in-vehicle Ethernet test house services, including a wide range of tests and consulting on everything from components to the system as a whole. In addition to standardized tests for Tier 1 manufacturers in Japan, the companies plan to provide testing services that support the specific evaluation specifications of car companies. Support is available for ECUs equipped with in-vehicle Ethernet ICs from any manufacturer.

NEXTY Electronics is engaged in business on a top-level scale in the car electronics field, which has a growing market. This includes advanced safety, autonomous driving, and connected technology. As a conformance testing agency for in-vehicle communication in Europe, C&S conducts in-vehicle communication tests and consulting for OEM and Tier 1 manufacturers, primarily in Europe, and possesses extensive know-how related to in-vehicle communication and conformance testing.

In addition, it is a group of experts on in-vehicle communication that helps formulate specifications for OPEN Alliance and ISO, which are European standardization organizations.

Leveraging their respective knowledge and technologies, NEXTY Electronics and C&S will conduct fast and accurate in-vehicle Ethernet tests to solve technical and equipment issues standing in the way of introduction to support the smooth introduction of the technology by customers.