Automotive
Establishing Automotive Ethernet as the gold standard for connected vehicles
By Pramod Kumar, President of OPEN Alliance
I
n the quest to achieve convenience, efficiency and safety for their customers, the automotive industry has seen a significant shift towards connected cars and electrification over the last few years. It is expected that there will be over 400 million connected cars in operation by the end of 2025 (1) from 2021.
– a 163 million increase
The integration of advanced technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) has provided the driver with new capabilities such as real- time traffic updates, predictive maintenance alerts, and autonomous driving, ultimately improving the driving experience while reducing unexpected breakdowns. According to McKinsey, it is expected that the growing adoption of advanced driver-assistance
20 July/August 2025
systems (ADAS) could reduce the number of accidents by about 15% by 2030 (2) Europe alone.
in
Yet as vehicle lifespans stretch 12-13 years and are increasingly becoming more software- defined, connected devices must not only work seamlessly today, but they must be able to integrate with the technologies of tomorrow. This requires a high-speed communications network that is scalable, secure, and future- ready. However, without industry-wide alignment and standardization, fragmentation across the industry risks failures in interoperability, performance, and ultimately, passenger safety.
Ethernet to take the wheel? Ethernet is set to become the backbone of
Components in Electronics
the next-generation vehicle. Unlike traditional automotive networks, Ethernet offers higher bandwidth, lower latency, and enhanced scalability to support the communication between technologies, such as ADAS. These systems also incorporate a range of data- intensive technologies.
Traditional networks like CAN (Controller Area Network) employs only a bus topology, whereas Ethernet can employ both bus and star topologies. In a star network, nodes (or devices) connected via Ethernet switches can enable high-speed, point-to-point-style communication. While a bus topology is simpler. A single point of failure, such as a broken cable or device, can take down the entire network. A star topology’s dedicated connections allow individual device failures to
be isolated without causing a chain reaction to the rest of the network.
However, due to the harsh operating environments within the connected vehicle, standard Ethernet is not suitable. This includes factors such as high temperatures, vibration, exposure to fluids and dirt, weight restrictions, and electromagnetic interferences.
Driving the next wave of automotive connectivity
To meet these challenges, Ethernet has been reengineered with robust components, specialised cabling, protocols and compliance designed for reliability and performance to ensure signal quality is retained. Known as Automotive Ethernet, this technology uses a single twisted pair of wires designed
www.cieonline.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
