Adopting Automotive Ethernet to Industrial and Commercial Vehicles

The standard M12 based eight-wire shielded twisted pair cabling that enables in-vehicle Ethernet networks today is gradually being replaced by equipment built to the IEEE 802.3 specification. Based on 100BASE-T1 (100Mb/s) and 1000BASE-T1 (1Gb/s) data transmission speeds, this specification defines Automotive Ethernet (Single Pair Ethernet) and the physical network that connects devices over a single twisted pair cable reducing cable bulk, weight and cost. 

Automotive Ethernet continues to find its way into the in-vehicle networks of industrial and commercial transportation OEMs. However, existing connector offerings can fall short of meeting the challenges due to a lack of the available features that the industry has come to rely upon. Some of the design challenges include:

• Extreme Environments: Automotive ethernet connectors were designed in-vehicle networks ignoring the use cases of Industrial and Commercial Transportation where equipment may be sitting in field conditions throughout their entire lifecycle – temperature, humidity, vibration, and shock can all affect efficient power transmission and signal integrity.
• Bulkhead Mounting: Data connectivity in industrial and commercial vehicles often needs to pass through bulkheads and panels, while minimizing the amount of space and number of connectors required. Designers need to reduce costs while improving serviceability.
• Hybrid Connectivity: As equipment functionality expands, harness routing and spacing pose a challenge. This often means that power and data transmission need to be contained within one connector housing while preserving safety and signal integrity. 
• Channel Length: Standard automotive data connectivity terminal systems, cables, and PHYs (physical layers) may not support the long length channels often found in commercial vehicles (up to 40m, whereas the standard automotive max length, is 15m). Designers often need to be able to balance signal speed with signal integrity over long channels. 

Watch our 60-minute webinar examining the industrial and commercial transportation market challenges and our range of data connectivity products that address these requirements and meet the IEEE 802.3 protocol for 100BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-T1 automotive ethernet twisted pair connections as well as GMSL/FPDLINK protocol performance for coaxial connections.

At TE we offer several products to help solve the challenges laid out above. For example, in applications where dust, dirt, moisture, extreme temperatures, and high-vibration are common, new offerings, such as enetSEAL+ connectors and Heavy Duty Sealed Connector Series with MATEnet inserts can provide ethernet connectivity with reliable performance. 

enetSEAL+ connectors provide robust full-duplex, wire-to-wire connections for multifunction displays, telematics, telemetry units, infotainment modules, media access controllers, external cameras, and sensing modules.

Heavy Duty Sealed Connector Series with MATEnet inserts offer hybrid connectivity with extensive configurability. With its wide range of common accessories, configurations and hybrid design, these connectors can be utilized in applications all over the vehicle including displays, camera systems, network backbones, and more.