Broadcom Introduces First Automotive Ethernet Product Family

On December 15, Broadcom, a leader in semiconductor innovation solutions for wireline and wireless communications, held a press conference in Shanghai to announce the launch of the first Ethernet product line for the automotive market. This series of products is designed to meet the stringent requirements of the automotive semiconductor market to simplify the interconnection of cars and reduce the cost of car manufacturers.

According to Timothy Lau, senior product line manager of Broadcom Infrastructure and Network Group's automotive network products, in recent years, consumer demand for in-vehicle connectivity has continued to increase, which has caused considerable pressure on automakers. On the one hand, car manufacturers must provide products that are competitive and innovative, while minimizing costs. Broadcom's family of automotive Ethernet products allows multiple in-vehicle systems (such as infotainment, on-board diagnostics, and driver auto-assistance systems) to simultaneously access information via a single pair of unshielded twisted pair, providing 100 Mbps and higher Broadband performance, while significantly reducing interconnection costs by up to 80% and reducing cable weight by up to 30%, can greatly help automotive manufacturers reduce costs.

It is reported that this series of products consists of 5 devices, including 3 embedded PHY highly integrated switch chip and two independent PHY solutions, each device is to meet the car EMC (electromagnetic compatibility technology) and extreme car Designed for temperature environments. Timothy Lau said that these devices are sampling now and are expected to be available in volume at the earliest in the second half of next year.

According to reports, in order to promote 100Mbps Ethernet technology in the automotive industry, Broadcom and NXP, Freescale, Harman International, BMW, Hyundai and Jaguar Land Rover established a special interest group OPEN alliance in November. The establishment of the alliance will help the automotive industry improve in-vehicle safety, comfort, and infotainment experiences while significantly reducing network complexity and cabling costs. Timothy Lau said Broadcom is working with a number of automakers in the OPEN alliance. Among them, BMW has adopted the Broadcom Ethernet product series for some of the X5 series models that will be launched at the end of 2013.