Daimler implements MOST150 in flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Dr. Bauer explained why Daimler chose MOST150 for its flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan’s next-generation infotainment system. He also provided insights on how they easily moved from a legacy MOST25 system to gain performance improvements of 150 Mbit/s, while utilizing MOST150’s many new features, including isochronous video streaming and the new MOST Ethernet Protocol (MEP), which is a dedicated channel that was added to the many transport mechanisms already supported by MOST technology.

Dr. Bauer explained how Daimler was able to take advantage of the high streaming-data transfer speeds to achieve the simultaneous playback of four HD videos, due to MOST150’s elimination of addressing control or overhead. He also cited the standard’s ability to efficiently route data to the appropriate interfaces, such as I2S for audio and I2C™ for control, which eliminates interrupts to the host processor for streaming, freeing it to perform other tasks or enabling the use of a less-expensive MPU.

Regarding MOST150’s new MEP, Dr. Bauer said in his accompanying paper, “The MOST Ethernet channel can transport unmodified Ethernet frames, according to IEEE 802.3. This permits software stacks and applications from the consumer and IT domain to be seamlessly migrated into the car. TCP/IP stacks, or protocols utilizing TCP/IP, can communicate via the MOST bus without any modification. Thus the new generation of MOST technology provides the automotive-ready physical layer for Ethernet in the car.”

Dan Termer, vice president of Microchip’s Automotive Information Systems Division, commented after Dr. Bauer’s presentation, “MOST technology is the de-facto industry standard that carmakers use to create a high-speed networking backbone within their vehicles.”

Termer continued, “MOST technology is currently deployed in 160 car models, and Daimler was one of the earliest adopters of the technology, which helped establish the MOST Cooperation. We are proud to be Daimler’s partner for creating the highly advanced systems that MOST technology enables, and are happy that they have once again chosen MOST technology for their next-generation infotainment system.”

Dr. Bauer concluded his MOST Forum paper by saying, “The development of this latest MOST generation has been accompanied by a cost/benefit analysis that led to several innovations on the one hand, and to a high level of backward compatibility on the other. Existing applications can easily be reused in the new network by simply modifying their network interfaces. Therefore, it offers a smooth adoption, with the majority of features being continued. Daimler is able to reuse and adopt many components out of the proven system architectures, such as, for example, main parts of topologies, network management and application structures. MOST150 is able to cope with the challenges of a modern infotainment system, as shown in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Again, as with MOST25 in the past, MOST150 technology will be rolled out onto all other Mercedes-Benz car lines, step by step.”