What are the 7 Technologies Essential for Automotive Ethernet?

A communication between a vehicle and the driver is as much important as between people within a society. Advanced features of automotive cars such as voice control, GPS, auto mode, and route setting makes it easier for the vehicles to communicate effectively with the driver. These features prevent road accidents by a huge margin. Automotive Ethernet is one such network fitted into vehicles that aids in connecting the entire vehicle’s systems and is being adopted by several leading market players such as Volkswagen and Hyundai. Also, currently the global automotive Ethernet market is expected to flourish at a CAGR of 20.8% from 2020 to 2027 timeframe, as per the reports by Research Dive.

What is Automotive Ethernet?

Ethernet is a form of communication protocol that links computers in a ‘wide area network (WAN)’ and ‘local area network (LAN)’. WAN and LAN is designed to connect devices such as printers and laptops within a house, building, or neighborhood. In an automotive Ethernet, the network is setup within a vehicle via cabling. Though the usage of Ethernet is reflecting now in the automotive industry, it’s a very old form of technology that was launched in the 1980s. The first kind of Ethernet consisted of a single coaxial cable from which all devices (identified by their media access control address) were connected in a local area. The early model of the Ethernet was called as ‘10BASE5’.

What are the Technologies Necessary for Automotive Ethernet?

Automotive Ethernet is governed by a few mandatory technologies which are listed as follows:

1. Autosar:

AUTOSAR (Automotive Open System Architecture) is standardized and an open automotive software developed by automobile suppliers, manufacturers, and tool developers, to aid standardization between basic vehicular functions and application software. Further, Autosar helps in building common ECU (electronic control unit) software for all the members.

2. Power Over Ethernet:

Power over Ethernet (PoE) provides power to the devices in the vehicle and nullifies the requirements of extra power sources like battery or AC energy supply. Also, PoE decreases the wiring in the vehicle and grants data transfer between vehicular devices at the usual speed.

3. One Pair Ether-Net:

One pair Ethernet in an automotive industry encourages development, research, and adoption of Ethernet related communication in the automotive applications. The OPEN alliance (One pair Ether-Net) Inc introduced standards for testing the vehicles’ Ethernet systems in the ECUs. Further, OPEN has aided in deploying 1000BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-RH layers for usage in the automotive Ethernet.

4. Energy Efficient Ethernet:

Energy efficient Ethernet reduces power utilization in the vehicular functions by switching off segments when the engine is turned off and utilizes energy efficient Ethernet when the engine is turned on.

5. Time Synchronization:

Automotive functions in this new age require accurate time synchronization within the ECUs to complete the tasks with any time lag. Moreover, automotive Ethernet has the potential to manage time synchronization and IEEE 802.1AS is a standard utilized for time synchronization in the automotive applications such as real time video, audio, ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) application, and much more.

6. AV Bridging:

In an automotive Ethernet system, the video and audio signals are transported by using the AV (audio-video) bridging. The AV bridging depends on the IEEE802.1 protocols that allow local Ethernet system to transport, signal, and synchronize the video and audio streams.

7. Diagnostics Over IP (DoIP):

The DoIP is a vehicle diagnostics function that follows the level of ISO 13400 standard, that examines data from the on-board computer systems. Also, this technology allows remote vehicle diagnosis between the ECUs and the external tester tool.

Covid-19 Impact on the Automotive Ethernet Market

The global automotive Ethernet market is anticipated to experience adverse effects during the Covid-19 pandemic due to disruptions in the international operations. The automotive industry is predicted to face negative outcomes during the pandemic due to closure of industries and strict rules for movements to curb the infection rate of the novel coronavirus. These all aspects are estimated to leave an undesirable impact of the global market during the outbreak phase.

Final Thoughts

Rise in technology has made it possible for the automotive industry to include Ethernet and use it to its advantage. Benefits related to automotive Ethernet such as cost-effective, greater bandwidth, and faster speeds of operations make it a better choice for the vehicles.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.