Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM), NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI), Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL), and Harman International (NYSE: HAR) have announced the formation of a new special interest group (SIG) established to promote wide scale adoption of Ethernet-based automotive connectivity.
Jointly developed with founding automotive members BMW and Hyundai Motor Company, the OPEN Alliance (One-Pair Ether-Net) SIG will address industry requirements for improving in-vehicle safety, comfort, and infotainment, while significantly reducing network complexity and cabling costs. Designed to encourage wide scale adoption of 100Mbps Ethernet connectivity as the standard in automotive networking applications, the OPEN Alliance says it plans to expand its membership roster in the coming months to additional automotive suppliers and manufacturers.
Key to the newly established SIG is the proliferation of Broadcom's BroadR-Reach technology as an open standard. The technology, designed specifically to address the stringent requirements of the automotive industry, delivers high-performance bandwidth of 100Mbps over an unshielded single twisted pair cable. According to Broadcom, by eliminating the need for expensive, cumbersome shielded cabling, automotive manufacturers can significantly reduce connectivity costs and cabling weight.
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"Broadcom is working closely with leaders throughout the industry in defining the future of automotive networking," comments Kevin Brown, Vice President and General Manager, PHY, Broadcom Corporation. "Through the formation of the SIG, we'll gain invaluable insight and support in the proliferation of BroadR-Reach Ethernet technology as an open industry standard. Making BroadR-Reach Ethernet open to the industry will help manufacturers achieve higher bandwidth, significantly reduce connectivity costs, and deliver new and exciting features and applications to a broad range of vehicles."
"BroadR-Reach Ethernet technology addresses the high bandwidth functionality the automotive market is asking for," adds Lars Reger, Vice President Strategy and New Business Automotive, NXP. "We're excited to adopt this standard. As the global No. 1 supplier of In-Vehicle Networking technologies NXP will speed up the wide adoption of Ethernet in the automotive industry. Automotive Ethernet is the logical next step in NXP's broad In-Vehicle Networking portfolio of products, starting from LIN, CAN and FlexRay up to Ethernet."
OPEN Alliance founding members will initially focus on establishing interoperability requirements, third party testing, certification procedures, and higher data rate specification requirements. License to specification for BroadR-Reach is available to all interested OPEN Alliance members under RAND terms via a license from Broadcom.
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Ray Cornyn, Vice President and General Manager, Automotive Microcontroller Division, Freescale, commented, "Freescale has long been at the forefront of automotive networking technology, helping to establish such standards as CAN, LIN and FlexRay. Ethernet is the next step in the evolution of automotive networking, meeting the need of new high bandwidth applications, such as cameras and multimedia. By enabling Ethernet communication over unshielded twisted pair cable, BroadR-Reach technology provides a critical element to a flexible and cost effective Ethernet solution."
Sachin Lawande, Chief Technology Officer and Co-President, Lifestyle and Infotainment Divisions, Harman, added, "Increasingly we see the need for flexible and cost-effective connectivity solutions supporting the customers growing demand for information, entertainment, and safety features seamlessly integrated within the car network. Ethernet will provide the highest quality streaming A/V experience and encourage interoperability of networked A/V devices."
For more information visit www.opensig.org.
