A week of automotive Ethernet-based networking

A decade ago, an initial assembly of companies formed in the same Freescale building. This group became known as the FlexRay consortium. At the time, BMW was the leading car OEM driving the FlexRay protocol as a high speed communication standard. In 2006, BMW introduced it into production in their X5 model. As a result of the rapidly increasing bandwidth requirements for multimedia and ADAS systems, BMW is now spearheading the deployment of Ethernet networking in the vehicle. By 2013, we’ll see the first cars on the streets with Ethernet-based connectivity.

Freescale shares the vision of global standards. By hosting the OPEN Alliance meeting, Freescale re-confirms its long standing commitment to drive and participate in global standardization efforts. The interest in this meeting was overwhelming: Based on attendance at previous OPEN Alliance meetings, about 50 participants were expected. Instead, the meeting drew in close to 100 attendees—representatives from companies that supply semiconductors, connectors, cables, tools and test equipment attended, as well as TIER1s and OEMs from all global regions—on site at Freescale, which demonstrates the broad interest Ethernet has gained within the entire automotive supply chain.

The Promoters and All Members meeting at Freescale was followed by the “Second Ethernet & IP @ Automotive Technology Day” at the University of Applied Science in Regensburg. The conference hosted 450 experts from 142 companies engaged in Ethernet-based automotive connectivity. Among the broad range of presentations, Strategy Analytics’ Ian Riches moderated the panel discussion “OEMs’ Visions for Ethernet-based Communication in the Car.“ Spokespersons from Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, BMW, GM and Volvo Trucks confirmed that OPEN Ethernet networking is globally considered as cost-efficient solution to the challenge of ever increasing network bandwidth requirements in the vehicle.

The OPEN Alliance, a non-profit organization, enables wide scale adoption of Ethernet-based automotive connectivity, establish industry standards for Ethernet connectivity over single pair, unshielded cable and enable migration from closed application to open, scalable Ethernet-based network. To date, 14 promoters and 66 adopters have joined. For more information, visit www.opensig.org.