Overview
ISO 16407-2:2018 defines an Abstract Test Suite (ATS) for evaluating conformity of electronic fee collection (EFC) equipment to the charging requirements in ISO 17575-1. The standard provides machine-readable test cases that assess Front End (FE) and Back End (BE) behaviour by implementing the test purposes defined in ISO 16407-1. Test cases are written in TTCN‑3 and rely on ASN.1 data descriptions and a Protocol Implementation Extra Information for Testing (PIXIT) supplied by vendors.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Abstract Test Method (ATM): Describes the test architecture where the Implementation Under Test (IUT) is the FE or BE and the tester runs TTCN‑3 testcases against an emulated communication sub-layer.
- TTCN‑3 test cases: Test cases reflect the individual steps of test purposes from ISO 16407‑1 and are executable when compiled with a TTCN‑3 tool supporting advanced parameterization.
- ASN.1 data structures: ATS uses ASN.1 modules (e.g., EfcAutonomousCharging, LacModule, EfcCcc) for message definitions and ContextData; some ASN.1 parameterization is mapped to TTCN‑3 advanced parameterization as a practical workaround.
- PIXIT: Suppliers must provide Protocol Implementation Extra Information for Testing (PIXIT) - a proforma is given in Annex B - to enable deterministic test execution.
- Security handling: While some security aspects referenced by ISO 17575‑1 are out of scope for test purposes, the ATS replaces complex ASN.1 security modules with abridged (dummy) definitions for portability. The test environment must still support the original security mechanisms and use appropriate test adapters where required.
- Test naming and structure: The standard defines naming conventions, test identifiers and TTCN‑3 module conventions to ensure consistent test-suite implementation (see Clauses 8–9 and Annex A).
Applications and users
ISO 16407-2 is intended for:
- Test laboratories and conformity assessment bodies performing automated conformance testing of EFC equipment.
- Manufacturers of OBEs (on‑board equipment) and back office (BE) systems who need to validate ISO 17575-1 compliance.
- ITS integrators, tolling authorities and procurement teams requiring standardized verification of GNSS/CN-based autonomous tolling systems.
- TTCN‑3 tool vendors implementing ATS-based test harnesses and automation frameworks.
Practical benefits include repeatable conformance verification, improved interoperability between FE and BE components, and a clear vendor-supplied PIXIT to reduce test ambiguity.
Related standards
- ISO 16407-1: Test suite structure and test purposes (normative basis)
- ISO 17575-1: Application interface definition for autonomous systems - Part 1: Charging
- ISO 17575-3 and related ASN.1 and security references used by the ATS
Keywords: ISO 16407-2, electronic fee collection, abstract test suite, TTCN-3, ASN.1, PIXIT, ISO 17575-1, conformance testing, Front End, Back End, OBE, tolling.