Broadcom, NXP Semiconductors, Freescale Semiconductor, and Harman International have formed a SIG (special interest group) to promote the adoption of Ethernet-based automotive connectivity. Jointly developed with founding automotive members BMW and Hyundai, 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. The SIG plans to encourage adoption of 100Mbit/s Ethernet connectivity as the standard in automotive networking applications, which should be complementary to LIN, CAN , LVDS and FlexRay. Broadcom's BroadR-Reach technology is described as key to the SIG. It is designed to address the stringent requirements of the automotive industry, delivers high-performance bandwidth of 100Mbit/s over an unshielded single twisted pair cable. By eliminating the need for expensive, cumbersome shielded cabling, the company believes that automotive manufacturers can significantly reduce connectivity costs and cabling weight. Founding members will initially focus on establishing interoperability requirements, third party testing, certification procedures, and higher data rate specification requirements. The licence to specification for the technology is available via a licence from the company.
