Automotive grade GbE plastic optical fibre transceiver samples
Spanish automotive Gbit connectivity specialist, KDPOF, has announced sampling of the KD1053, the first automotive grade Gigabit Ethernet plastic optical fibre (POF) transceiver. The KD1053 complies with the new IEEE standard amendment Std 802.3bv for Gigabit Ethernet over POF. It meets the requirements of carmakers by providing high connectivity with a flexible digital host interface, low latency, low jitter, and low linking time, says KDPOF.
The company provides the automotive Gigabit Ethernet POF (GEPOF) for electric and autonomous driving, saying it solves the electrical challenges and interferences of new powertrain architectures. “We are happy to announce that several car makers and Tier-1 suppliers have adopted our optical technology for electrical powertrains and autonomous vehicles,” said Carlos Pardo, CEO and co-founder of KDPOF. “Electromagnetic noise is a major issue in any electrical power train, both in full electrical or hybrid architectures. It affects the operation of the electronic circuits within the car and countermeasures have to be taken at early stages of the design.”
The hazardous high voltage (above 25V AC or 60V DC), means that galvanic isolation is necessary between the domains of a battery management system and also between the primary and secondary systems of both AC/DC and DC/DC. Optical connections with POF provide the optimal means to achieve galvanic isolation while realising data communications between the domains at the same time.
The control of all the sub-systems involved in the electrical powertrain requires a communication bus that transports the control, actuation and sensor signals among the different components in all domains. The communication bus has to be immune to the electromagnetic noise and, at the same time, comply with the mechanical, temperature, and weight constraints of the overall vehicle. 1000BASE-RH, the Ethernet specification for a Gigabit capable, POF-based communication protocol, is suitable for the new architectures, as it provides a natural galvanic isolation between communicating modules and a radiation-free harness. Moreover, it can operate at 100Mbit per second for most current needs while also supporting future needs at one Gbit per seconds.
KDPOF will present the GEPOF technology at Automotive Ethernet Congress on January 30 and 31, 2018 in Munich, Germany.
