Everything you need to know
about Automotive Multi-Gig Ethernet
• What is MultiGBASE-T1? Why do we need it?
• How does it work?
• Physical Coding Sublayer
• Processor Interfaces
• Connection Systems
• Interoperability Testing and Compliance
• MultiGBASE-T1 Products and Roadmap
• Does it stop at 10Gbps?
What is Multi-Gig Automotive Ethernet
• Known collectively as MultiGBASE-T1
• 2.5GBASE-T1
• 5GBASE-T1
• 10GBASE-T1
• IEEE 802.3ch-2020
• Full Duplex 2.5/5/10 Gbps
• Single Shielded Twisted Pair
• up to 15m
• Up to 4 in-line connections
• Optional
• Auto-negotiation
• EEE (Energy Efficient Ethernet)
Why do we need MultiGBASE-T1?
Moving Away from Domain Architectures
• Domain Architectures were an improvement from
previous architectures
• Domains segregated by network
• Advances in technology have made this this
suboptimal
• Cost
• Weight
• Manufacturing
Image courtesy of
Zonal Architectures Advantages
• Optimize Power and Signal Distribution System
• Fewer network connections
• Less cost
• Less weight
• Simpler assembly
• Higher reliability (mechanically speaking)
• But not without challenges!
• “Cost” of Optimization
• Requires Higher Bandwidth!
• QoS guarantees are now required
• Shared bandwidth between subsystems
• More failure modes and fault conditions
Image courtesy of
Camera Trends
Color Depth (bpp)
• Unprocessed/Uncompressed video preferred Resolution FPS 12 16 24
• Minimize cost/heat of cameras 720p
30 0.3 0.4 0.7
60 0.7 0.9 1.3
• Manage latency of processing centrally
30 0.7 1.0 1.5
1080p
• Purchasing organizations love commodities 60 1.5 2.0 3.0
30 3.0 4.0 6.0
• Current trend is to use SerDes for uncompressed video 4K
60 6.0 8.0 11.9
• Desire for more “homogeneous” network Video Bandwidth (Gbps)
Exceeds 1000BASE-T1
Exceeds 2.5/5/10GBASE-T1
Redundancy
• IEEE 802.1CB Frame Replication and Elimination for
Redundancy (FRER)
• Increase reliability and availability
• Doubling bandwidth consumed by streams
IVN History and Trends
Image credit, “Empowering the In-Vehicle Network.”,
Dr. Kirsten Matheus, BMW AG, 2019 Automotive Ethernet Congress, Munich
Why not skip 2.5/5 Gbps?
• Cost (did you really think there was some other answer?)
• Not only cost of PHY
• µC/µP with MAC Interfaces > 2.5Gbps are also more expensive
• Risk
• Generally speaking, if you can use a device at some margin below its maximum ratings, there is a
reasonably good chance you will encounter less problems.
• Lower frequency design
• Less Thermal Management
How does MultiGBASE-T1 work?
MultiGBASE-T1 Physical Layer
MultiGBASE-T1 Modulation
• Why PAM4 (100/1000BASE-T1 are PAM3)
• Adding PAM states (voltage levels) 1V
• Increases bit rate without increasing
frequency 1/3 V
• but SNR drops
- 1/3 V
• PAM4 Chosen for balanced performance with
2.5/5/10G using 15m cable ** -1V
• Optimal bandwidth that gives the maximum SNR
• Power consumption
• Interference tolerance
**
Ref: Ref[Link]
Physical Coding Sublayer (PCS)
• Much more “on the wire” than just data
• 64B/65B Encoding
• 64 bits of data represented in 65-bit block
• Allows control information to be interspersed with data
• Optional control data (OAM)
• “Operations Administration and Maintenance)
• Reed-Solomon Forward Error Correction (FEC)
• Required to achieve Bit Error Ratio (BER) < 10e-12
• Can correct corruption of up to 17 symbols
• ~10% Overhead
• FEC chosen over increasing TX power
• Data passed in 3600-bit blocks
• 50x 65 bit blocks + 10 bits OAM
• 340 FEC bits for every 3260 data bits
326x 10-bit symbols 10-bits OAM 34 FEC symbols
Reed-Solomon Frame (3600 bits)
Additional Noise Immunity Tactics
• Interleaving Data (5/10G only)
• Many sources of noise are short term bursts
• Interleaving data reduces number of corrupt symbols in any one block of
data during a short burst of noise
• Helps RS-FEC more effective!
PCS (part 2)
• 33-bit scrambler
• EMC Optimization
• Insure logical transitions
• Grey Mapping (Noise Immunity)
Decimal Binary Grey-mapped
0 00 00
Minimizes impact of a
1 01 01
single flipped bit
2 10 11
3 11 10
• Selectable Precoder (5/10G only)
• Channel characterized during training phase
(802.3cd-2018 specification, clause 94)
• Precoder (filter) selected for best performance
326x 10-bit symbols 10-bits OAM 34 FEC symbols
Reed-Solomon Frame (3600 bits)
MultiG-BASE-T1 MAC/PHY Interfaces
• 802.3ch references XGMII
• “X” = 10
• Inter-chip interface (32 signals!) with limited range across PCB
• Multi-GBASE-T1 PHYs may support one or more of the following serial interfaces.
(Reconciliation Layer)
• XFI
RECONCILIATION
• Standard for SFP modules
XGMII
• (1 lanes) x (4 signals) = 4 signals @ 10.3125 Ghz
• Supports 10G data transfer between PHY and MAC
• 2.5G/5G support on some devices
• Does not support 1G and lower speeds
• USXGMII:
• Cisco Standard
• (1 lanes) x (4 signals) = 4 signals @ 10.3125 Ghz
• Supports 10/100/1000/2.5G/5G/10G
• XAUI
• IEEE Standard
• (4 lanes) x (4 signals) = 16 signals @ 3.125 Ghz
Image Credit: IEEE 802.3ch-2020
• XFI appears to be favored for lower pin count despite higher frequency
Reference: “High Speed Interfaces for High Performance Computing”, D. Hopf, Ethernet & IP @ Automotive Technology Week 2020
Automotive Ethernet Connectors and Cables
• IEEE does not specify automotive connectors and cables
• OPEN Alliance TC9: Ethernet Channel & Components
• Define cabling channel and component parameter limits
• Preserve and fulfill the IEEE 802.3xx link segment requirements
• Specify application independent test methods
• For 100/1000BASE-T1, interoperability between cable/connector suppliers has not been a priority.
MultiGBASE-T1 Connectors and Cables
MDI – (Medium Dependent Interface)
• USCAR-EWCAP drawings specify requirements for a common 10Gbps
connection system
• 56 GHz / 10Gbps
• 1/2/4/6 Cavity Configurations
• Common PCB footprint
• Common mating features
• Multiple sources
• Rosenberger: H-MTD
• TE: GEMnet
• Others?
[Link]
MultiGBASE-T1 Testing
OPEN Alliance TC15
Multi-Gig Interoperability and Compliance Tests
• Largely adapted from 1000BASE-T1 testing
requirements
• PMA Transmit Tests • PMA Receive Tests
• Maximum output droop
• Linearity ‒ Bit Error Rate Verification
• Jitter ‒ Alien Crosstalk Noise Rejection
• Transmitter Timing ‒ Receiver Frequency Tolerance (Optional)
• Transmit MDI random jitter in master
mode • MDI Impedance Requirements
• Transmit MDI Deterministic Jitter in ‒ MDI Return Loss
master mode
• Transmitter Power Spectral Density (PSD)
and power level
• Transmitter Peak Differential Output
• Clock Frequency
OPEN Alliance TC15:
Advanced diagnostic features
• Largely adapted from 1000BASE-T1 testing • Link Quality
requirements ‒ Link Training Time
• Dynamic Channel Quality ‒ Local Receiver Time (optional)
• SNR ‒ Remote Receiver Time (optional)
• SQI ‒ Link Failures and Losses
• pMSE (optional) ‒ Communication ready status
• Polarity Detection/Correction
• Harness Defect Detection
• Open/Short • FEC Counter
• Time Delay Reflection (TDR)
OPEN Alliance TC15:
Other specifications in development
• System Implementation Spec
• EMC test specs
• Transceiver
• ESD Suppression Device
• PCS Compliance test
• PHY Control test spec
Reference [Link] for latest status and information
MultiGBASE-T1 Tools
RAD-Moon 3
• MultiGBASE-T1 Media Converter
• Marvell 88Q4364 PHY
• Connect between a 2.5/5/10GBASE-T1 device to 2.5/5/10GBASE-T
• User Interface
• PHY Clock Configuration & Status
• Link Speed Configuration, Status, and Activity
• 12 Level SQI Bar Graph Indicator
• Other Features
• Power via Barrel Jack (5 – 40V)
• H-MTD MultiGBASE-T1 Connector
• PHY Register monitoring and updating over USB using Vehicle Spy
or Intrepid’s Open-Source API.
• User Defined Button for use with API
What’s Next?
• MultiGBASE-T1 SFPs
• MultiGBASE-T1 Switches
MultiGBASE-T1 SFP
• MultiGBASE-T1 Taps/Loggers
Consult your ICS sales contact to discuss what we
are developing to meet your needs.
What could possibly go wrong?
Initial PHY Interoperability Issues
• OEMs and Tier 1s requesting earliest available hardware
• Achieving interoperability can be an iterative process
• 1st Silicon is never production silicon
• Silicon iterations
• PHY Config and Firmware tweaks
• These type of issues will undoubtedly surface but odds are a vast majority of issues will be no different than
the current and past technologies.
Most Common Linking Problems
Less Common Linking Problems
• The Plug-and-Play consumer world has made us soft!
• Automotive is more a Plug-and-Pray environment
• Configuration Mismatch (Link Speed or Master/Slave)
• When in doubt, turn off auto-config
• or at least verify the configuration state as a result of auto-config
• Double-check static configurations
• DUT Issues
• Not powered
• No firmware
• Powered but asleep and waiting for Network Management
• Some problems remain a mystery (to me)
Anticipated Problems
• At these speeds, there can be any number of bottlenecks
• NIC links at proper speed but does not support full data rate
(bottleneck)
• Often masked by TCP/IP
• May need Thunderbolt or PCIe NIC
• Bandwidth is not the only potential bottleneck
• High Ethernet Frames/Sec can be a heavy CPU load
1000BASE-T/USB 3 (USB 2 Port) 1000BASE-T/USB 3 (USB 3 Port)
Anticipated Problems
• Backward Compatibility
• Many 1000BASE-T1 PHYs support 100BASE-T1. (not all)
• MultiGBASE-T1 PHYs may or may not support < 2.5Gbps
• Proper NIC with proper configuration
• Auto-negotiation may not work if not enabled on both PHYs
• A media converter set to 2.5G will not likely have Auto-negotiation enabled.
• Initial step to resolve link issues might be static speed settings (and always check your cabling!)
Is 10Gbps fast enough for Automotive?
• Apparently, many think not…
• IEEE P802.3cy: Physical Layer Specifications and Management Parameters for greater than 10 Gb/s
Electrical Automotive Ethernet
• Performance characteristics of an automotive link segment and an electrical PHY
• 25 Gb/s point to point operation
• Supporting up to 2 inline connectors
• 11 m on at least one type of automotive cabling.
Questions?
Discover more at [Link]
Or contact us at:
Sales:
icssales@[Link]
+1 (586) 731-7950 x 2
Technical Support:
icssupport@[Link]
[Link]/support
+1 (586) 731-7950 x 1
Thank
You!
