Filed under: Safety, Technology, Hyundai, Infotainment
Hyundai is the second manufacturer after BMW – having put its Flexray ethernet system into the X5 – to pledge to install Ethernet technology in its cars. This isn’t a ploy to give you yet another place to work on those regional sales spreadsheets, it’s about reducing vehicle complexity while making the cars and their systems more efficient. The Korean manufacturer will be doing so in conjunction with Broadcom, the U.S. firm having created the “one pair Ethernet” (OPEN) special interest group that now counts 81 members.
Various in-vehicle electronics use a variety of protocols, primary among them being control area network (CAN), local area network (LAN) and low voltage differential signaling (LVDS). Broadcom wants to integrate those incompatible and highly specialized systems into one Ethernet system – the same plug-and-play one your computer can use all over the world – and in doing so make Ethernet “the backbone of the car.”
Developed with BMW and Hyundai, Broadcom’s BroadR-Reach standard uses two unshielded cables instead of four, which allows for light and inexpensive wiring that can be fit through a bodyshell’s tight spots. Achieving the kind of consolidation ultimately envisioned would bring numerous and wide-ranging advantages like lowering the cost and complexity of electronics, at the same time allowing for greater electronics capabilities inside the car like 360-degree car camera security systems, using the same IP standard familiar around the world, allowing for speeds from 100 Mbps to 1 GBbps for faster and better communication between systems, just for starters. Lighter wiring – and there’s a lot of it in a car – also means lighter cars.
That futuristic world is still in the future, though. Automakers are naturally keen to develop Ethernet applications in phases, such as focusing just on infotainment, to make sure it can stand up to the rigors of an automobile’s daily life. Hyundai hasn’t said which of its products will be the first in line or when that vehicle reach showrooms, but has cited infotainment, lane departure warning, park assist and telematics as the features likely to benefit. Read more in the press release below.
Continue reading Hyundai, Broadcom to equip vehicles with built-in ethernet
from Autoblog