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: Refhttp://www.ieee802.org/3/ch/public/may18/Pandey_3ch_01c_0518.pdf
 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?

https://uscar.org/ewcapbak/ethernet-2/#279-281-wpfd-ethernet-unsealed
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 www.opensig.org 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 www.intrepidcs.com
Or contact us at:
Sales:
[email protected]
+1 (586) 731-7950 x 2

Technical Support:

[email protected]
www.intrepidcs.com/support
+1 (586) 731-7950 x 1
Thank
You!