- Accelerating the development of autonomous driving and secure connected cars.
- The first automotive-specific Ethernet transceiver and switch to flexibly address smart car networking needs.
location

SEOUL, July 9, 2015 – NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI), a technology leader in secure connected cars and a global leader in in-vehicle networking, today announced a complete portfolio of “true automotive” Ethernet products that meet the stringent requirements of the automotive industry. Ethernet delivers the high data bandwidth, high data rates, reduced weight, and cost-effectiveness required for next-generation vehicles, providing the networking foundation for autonomous and connected vehicles.

Comprised of two product families—the TJA1100 Ethernet transceiver and the SJA1105 Ethernet switch—the portfolio is modular, offering flexible and cost-effective integration. This gives automakers the flexibility to select the optimal solution for a wide range of network architectures, from entry-level to high-end vehicles. Samples are available today, and production of the Ethernet transceivers is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

Ethernet adoption is accelerating rapidly, driven by the emergence of securely connected cars and the resulting high demand for data transmission. According to a December 2014 Gartner forecast, the number of Ethernet nodes in passenger cars worldwide is expected to increase to 162 million by 2030, with the number of ports reaching 242 million.

“NXP has been a key player in bringing Ethernet to vehicles and is a founding member of the OPEN Alliance standardizing organization,” said Jens Hinrichsen, senior vice president of networking and vehicle access at NXP. “We are excited to announce the first ‘true’ automotive Ethernet transceivers and switches that can meet the automotive industry’s stringent requirements for EMC, quality, reliability and high-volume production,” said NXP CEO, NXP. “To date, NXP has shipped 6 billion CAN, LIN and FlexRay transceivers to the automotive industry globally, with 2 million transceivers shipping per day. Ethernet will complement these existing standards.”

Why Bring Ethernet to Cars
NXP is a founding member of the OPEN Alliance, which promotes and defines the BroadR-Reach Ethernet standard. This Ethernet solution offers automakers a cost-effective, lightweight, and reliable solution. Future applications will require higher data rates that cannot be supported by current CAN, LIN, and FlexRay systems. Parking cameras, HD digital infotainment, and ADAS sensors, such as radar—the “eyes and ears” of future autonomous driving systems—will all be built on high-bandwidth Ethernet backbones. While fully autonomous vehicles are still several years away, many automakers are already focusing on developing assistance and infotainment systems around Automotive Ethernet. Ethernet is likely to be adopted not to replace systems like CAN, LIN, and FlexRay in next-generation vehicles, but rather to run alongside them for specific data-intensive applications.

Technical Highlights of the SJA1105 Ethernet Switch and TJA1100 PHY
NXP's TJA1100 Ethernet PHY was specifically developed for automotive applications. It supports a low-power mode, allowing the system to enter sleep mode when the engine is off, with the Ethernet PHY partially powered, and only waking up when the network becomes active. Unlike existing solutions, the NXP Ethernet PHY remains ‘on’ even when the engine is off, without the need for additional components such as voltage regulators.

NXP worked closely with TTTech, a global leader in networking and safety coordination, to develop the SJA1105 automotive Ethernet switch. This switch uses "Deterministic Ethernet" technology, which guarantees message latency in applications that require operational efficiency or functional safety in autonomous driving. This technology supports the trend toward high reliability in network control systems and high availability in fail-operation applications as bandwidth requirements increase to up to 1 Gbit. It also supports various standards such as Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), Time-Triggered Ethernet (SAE AS6802), Audio Video Bridging (AVB), and Time Sensitive Network (TSN).

Transceiver – TJA1100
Compliant with the OPEN Alliance BroadR-Reach™ (OABR) standard (IEEE: 100BASE-T1)
Designed according to the automobile development flow
Form factor: 6x6mm² HVQFN package (minimum external component count)
Supports low-voltage mode to extend battery life
Automotive-grade ESD and EMC

Digital Switch – SJA1105
5-port automotive Ethernet switch supporting network speeds of up to 1 Gbit
Layer 2 store and forward switch
MII / RMII / RGMII interface
Port mirroring and VLAN support (IEEE 802.1Q and IEEE 802.1P)
AVB and TSN support
Deterministic Ethernet solutions are possible
Compliant with SAE AS6802 TT Ethernet fault-tolerant clock synchronization
virtual link
Scalable, flexible, and cost-optimized configurations based on single- and dual-port PHYs

Supply schedule
The NXP TJA1100 Ethernet transceiver is available as prototype samples starting today, with production and delivery planned for later this year. The first samples of the NXP SJA1105 Ethernet switch have already successfully completed testing with automotive companies and are available upon request.