Changing the topology for in-vehicle entertainment with Automotive Ethernet

Many of us could not live without the audio system in our cars. Whether tuned into to our favourite radio station, listening to back catalogues from our smartphone, or streaming the top 10, music can help to reduce frustration on a stressful journey. Ethernet has been mooted as technology for automotive applications for some time. Bearing in mind the networked nodes already present in the vehicle, Ethernet seems an obvious, mature technology to select.

The challenges with Ethernet in the vehicle are many fold. Typical cables are heavy and not very flexible, bandwidth for audio and video cannot be reserved, and latency cannot be guaranteed. Thanks to the efforts of several working groups, all of these challenges have been resolved, with support for unshielded twisted-pair cabling, the Audio Video Bridging / TSN set of standards, and changes that guarantee latency. However, these capabilities require changes in the lowest OSI layers, meaning that a dedicated Automotive Ethernet device is needed that complements today’s multimedia SoC processors.

The TC9562 is an Automotive Ethernet device that is at home both alongside powerful SoCs or standalone in end-node applications. Together with an SoC, it connects to the PCI express interface (PCIe). Audio data is handled automatically, being spliced into networking communications according to the configuration and AVB standards. In stand-alone mode, the TC9562 uses its Cortex-M3 processor execute application code, enabling audio to be output via an amplifier and speakers, or audio to be captured via one or more microphones. Thanks to Automotive Ethernet-AVB/TSN, the approach to creating entertainment systems can be rethought to implement new and innovative car audio topologies.

Our new whitepaper provides more background on these challenges and examines approaches to resolving them by reviewing:

• A brief history and background of audio in the vehicle
• How Automotive Ethernet AVB/TSN could change car audio system topologies
• The key changes in the OSI layers that enable AVB and unshielded twisted-pair communication
• Key features of the TC9562 for audio application implementations
• How to get started with development

If you’d like to know more, simply download your free whitepaper: