Automotive
How 10BASE-T1S Ethernet simplifies zonal architectures in automotive applications
By Andreas Pellkofer, system applications engineer, and Madhura Deyanda Poonacha, product marketing specialist, Analog Devices
W Introduction
The use of electronic control units (ECUs), which control each component of a vehicle’s operation, in automobiles has grown rapidly since their first installation by Volkswagen in 1968. More and more features are added to modern cars to offer the driver and passengers the same level of experience as at home or work in terms of comfort and entertainment. As a result, most bus technologies and electrical/ electronic (E/E) architectures – some of which were established decades ago – are unable to keep up with the growing demand for ECUs to interact and process large amounts of data.
Moving toward an improved network architecture Current vehicle ECUs are divided into almost isolated, functional domains such as powertrain, chassis, infotainment, or comfort. Sensors and actuators are dispersed throughout the vehicle and wires flow throughout the vehicle to link to its functional domain ECUs as illustrated in Figure 1, increasing the vehicle’s complexity, cost, and weight. Cables are the third heaviest part of the car and have a huge impact on the vehicle’s range.
20 February 2026
ith modern cars aiming to provide home-like comfort and entertainment, the demand for
electronic control units (ECUs) has grown exponentially. However, older bus technologies and electrical/electronic (E/E) architectures are struggling to keep up. This article explores how Ethernet technology transformed cars into fully connected experiences.
Figure 1. Domain architecture example.
Legacy bus technologies like controller area network (CAN), FlexRay, and local interconnect network (LIN) were introduced decades ago to facilitate communication between various ECUs and simple sensors or actuators. In contrast, high speed Ethernet is utilised for communication between different domains. To facilitate data transfer between different bus technologies, expensive dedicated gateways are employed within the ECUs. The complexity of the architecture expands as the number of features increases. Extending existing features or introducing new ones necessitates significant development, implementation, and testing. The goal of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) is not only to accelerate innovation while reducing costs, but also to generate post revenue sales. Compared to other consumer products such as mobile communication devices, a
Components in Electronics
vehicle architecture has significantly longer development cycles. Breaking up the link between hardware and software toward a software-defined vehicle is a target set by many OEMs.
Two major challenges prevent realising this
vision: 1. The static functional domain architecture 2. Wiring complexity
The ideal architecture identified is a zonal-based view of the vehicle (see Figure 2). Local ECUs serve all functions regardless of the domain. These ECUs are then connected to zonal controller devices, which concentrate processing power in a small number of units across the vehicle. The communication between zonal ECUs and the high performance compute unit takes place via high speed point-to-point links. According to CARIAD (a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group), this will replace over two dozen ECUs and wiring harnesses
longer than a kilometre.1 With cutting-edge technology transforming vehicle design and performance, the automotive industry is going through a significant vehicle network architectural transition. Implementation of technologies such as vehicle-to-vehicle communications, augmented reality dashboards, and self- driving adds complexity, cost, and the need for more electronics. By 2030, it is estimated that these technologies will increase automotive electronics by up to 45 per cent.2
With the introduction of zonal architecture, numerous electrical components and control systems are consolidated and centralised into predetermined zones within the vehicle. Now nodes are dependent on their location and not on their functional ECUs. The network is made simpler, which results
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