Broadcom has announced BroadR-Reach, its automotive Ethernet portfolio, which it said delivers high-performance bandwidth of 100Mbps and beyond while reducing connectivity costs and cabling weight.

Even as demand for in-vehicle connectivity grows, automotive manufacturers are need to deliver competitive, innovative features at minimum cost. The BroadR-Reach solutions allow multiple in-vehicle systems (such as infotainment, on-board diagnostics and automated driver assistance) to simultaneously access information over unshielded single twisted pair cable. By eliminating cumbersome, shielded cabling, automotive manufacturers can significantly reduce connectivity costs and cabling weight.
 
The Broadcom Ethernet product portfolio consists of five devices  - three integrated switches with embedded PHYs, and two stand-alone PHY solutions with each device designed to meet in-car EMC requirements and extreme automotive temperature grades.

This announcement follows the introduction of the OPEN (One-Pair Ether-Net) Alliance Special Interest Group (SIG), set up to drive wide scale adoption of Ethernet-based automotive connectivity as the standard in automotive connectivity. The SIG will address industry requirements for improving in-vehicle safety, comfort, and infotainment, while significantly reducing network complexity and cabling costs. Members include Broadcom,  NXP Semiconductors and Freescale Semiconductor.

"The increasing amount of gadgetry used in vehicles today rivals that of the consumer electronics segment. Broadcom is on the forefront of engineering innovative technologies that enable people to connect virtually everything in the home, hand and infrastructure. Automotive connectivity a great fit and a natural next step for Ethernet technology, and we intend to lead the way in simplifying in-vehicle connectivity while dramatically reducing costs for automotive manufacturers," said Ali Abaye, senior director of Product Marketing, Broadcom.

Broadcom said market drivers are the quickly increasing consumer demand for automotive connectivity, the prevalence of in-vehicle electronics almost doubling in the last decade, new devices and solutions requiring higher bandwidth and convergence and the growth in volume and complexity of in-vehicle electronics. 
 
Product Portfolio:             

* BCM89500:

7-port, layer 2 switch with four integrated BroadR-Reach PHYs
Designed to support IEEE 1588 and IEEE 802.1AS timing functions
Deep sleep and ultra-low power modes for reduced power consumption
 
* BCM89501

7-port, layer 2 switch with five integrated BroadR-Reach PHYs
Designed to support IEEE 1588 and IEEE 802.1AS timing functions
Deep sleep and ultra-low power modes for reduced power consumption
 
* BCM89200

4-port, layer 2 switch with two integrated BroadR-Reach PHYs
Supports various uplink ports for connectivity to external devices
Designed to support IEEE 1588 and IEEE 802.1AS timing functions
Deep sleep and ultra-low power modes for reduced power consumption
 
* BCM89610

Single-port, 10/100/1000BASE-T PHY
Optimized for in-vehicle diagnostic applications for when vehicle is powered off
Supports variety of connectivity options for external devices
 
* BCM89810

Single-port, 100Mbps BroadR-Reach PHY
Optimized for multiple in-car network applications for when vehicle is powered on
Supports variety of connectivity options for external devices

All devices (except the BCM89610) are compliant with OPEN Alliance specifications.

The devices are now sampling with production volume slated for the second half of 2012.