10BASE-T1S leads the way for automotive Ethernet

As automotive electronic architecture develops towards centralized and regionalization, the demand for in-vehicle data transmission continues to increase. Automotive Ethernet is currently the mainstream choice, but SerDes is also emerging in some specific applications, especially in multi-sensor data connections, while Automotive Ethernet is suitable for other network communication needs. In addition, 10Base-T is also an emerging technology in multi-sensor data connections. Since the 1990s, the automotive industry has widely adopted a variety of communication protocols, mainly including CAN, CAN FD, LIN and FlexRay. These protocols connect ECUs in a daisy chain, significantly reducing overall cable length and overall vehicle weight. Among these protocols, CAN, CAN FD and FlexRay use unshielded twisted pairs for communication, while LIN uses a single copper wire, further reducing weight. However, the transmission rates of these traditional protocols are low. For example, LIN supports a maximum of 20 kb/s, CAN is 1 Mb/s, CAN FD is 5 Mb/s, and FlexRay is 10 Mb/s. Although these rates have met the basic communication needs of vehicles in the past, with the continuous deepening of automobile electronics, especially the rapid development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technology, the bandwidth and speed of these protocols can no longer meet the needs of new vehicles. needs. In addition, CAN itself requires a licensing fee, and the free Ethernet has become popular in everyone's eyes. Ethernet was once an obvious choice because of its widespread adoption in computing, relatively high bandwidth, and reasonable cost. However, its application in automobiles has a significant disadvantage, which is that it cannot operate in time-sensitive mode or deterministic mode. This is due to the Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol inherent to the operation of Ethernet. To enable the automotive industry to take advantage of Ethernet, a new protocol was born. This automotive-specific version of the protocol, known as 10BASE-T1S, replaces CSMA/CD with physical layer collision avoidance (PLCA) to enable deterministic operation critical to drive-by-wire and advanced driver assistance systems. At present, we see that a large number of chip manufacturers such as ADI, Microchip, NXP, Marvell, TI, Realtek, Renesas, Broadcom, and ON Semiconductor are increasing their efforts in the direction of automotive Ethernet and taking the lead in using it in scenarios such as car light control. 10BASE-T1S.