Energy Efficiency Due to a Common Global Timebase—Synchronizing FlexRay to 802.1AS Networks as a Foundation

Modern automotive control applications require a holistic time-sensitive development. Nowadays, this is achieved by technologies specifically designed for the automotive domain, like FlexRay, which offer a fault-tolerant time synchronization mechanism built into the protocol. Currently, the automoti...

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Main Authors: Paul Milbredt, Efim Schick, Michael Hübner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-08-01
Series:Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9268/8/3/26
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author Paul Milbredt
Efim Schick
Michael Hübner
author_facet Paul Milbredt
Efim Schick
Michael Hübner
author_sort Paul Milbredt
collection DOAJ
description Modern automotive control applications require a holistic time-sensitive development. Nowadays, this is achieved by technologies specifically designed for the automotive domain, like FlexRay, which offer a fault-tolerant time synchronization mechanism built into the protocol. Currently, the automotive industry adopts the Ethernet within the car, not only for embedding consumer electronics, but also as a fast and reliable backbone for control applications. Still, low-cost but highly reliable sensors connected over the traditional Controller Area Network (CAN) deliver data needed for autonomous driving. To fusion the data efficiently among all, a common timebase is required. The alternative would be oversampling, which uses more time and energy, e.g., at least double the perception rates of sensors. Ethernet and CAN do require the latter by default. Hence, a global synchronization mechanism eases tremendously the design of a low power automotive network and is the foundation of a transparent global clock. In this article, we present the first step: Synchronizing legacy FlexRay networks to the upcoming Ethernet backbone, which will contain a precise clock over the generalized Precision Time Protocol (gPTP) defined in IEEE 802.1AS. FlexRay then could still drive its strengths with deterministic transmission behavior and possibly also serve as a redundant technology for fail-operational system design.
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spelling doaj.art-17030022e20d44eb840979d601fa6e8d2022-12-22T02:55:08ZengMDPI AGJournal of Low Power Electronics and Applications2079-92682018-08-01832610.3390/jlpea8030026jlpea8030026Energy Efficiency Due to a Common Global Timebase—Synchronizing FlexRay to 802.1AS Networks as a FoundationPaul Milbredt0Efim Schick1Michael Hübner2Em­bed­ded Sys­tems for In­for­ma­ti­on Tech­no­lo­gy, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780 Bo­chum, GermanyEm­bed­ded Sys­tems for In­for­ma­ti­on Tech­no­lo­gy, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780 Bo­chum, GermanyEm­bed­ded Sys­tems for In­for­ma­ti­on Tech­no­lo­gy, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780 Bo­chum, GermanyModern automotive control applications require a holistic time-sensitive development. Nowadays, this is achieved by technologies specifically designed for the automotive domain, like FlexRay, which offer a fault-tolerant time synchronization mechanism built into the protocol. Currently, the automotive industry adopts the Ethernet within the car, not only for embedding consumer electronics, but also as a fast and reliable backbone for control applications. Still, low-cost but highly reliable sensors connected over the traditional Controller Area Network (CAN) deliver data needed for autonomous driving. To fusion the data efficiently among all, a common timebase is required. The alternative would be oversampling, which uses more time and energy, e.g., at least double the perception rates of sensors. Ethernet and CAN do require the latter by default. Hence, a global synchronization mechanism eases tremendously the design of a low power automotive network and is the foundation of a transparent global clock. In this article, we present the first step: Synchronizing legacy FlexRay networks to the upcoming Ethernet backbone, which will contain a precise clock over the generalized Precision Time Protocol (gPTP) defined in IEEE 802.1AS. FlexRay then could still drive its strengths with deterministic transmission behavior and possibly also serve as a redundant technology for fail-operational system design.http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9268/8/3/26EthernetFlexRay802.1ASreal-time
spellingShingle Paul Milbredt
Efim Schick
Michael Hübner
Energy Efficiency Due to a Common Global Timebase—Synchronizing FlexRay to 802.1AS Networks as a Foundation
Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications
Ethernet
FlexRay
802.1AS
real-time
title Energy Efficiency Due to a Common Global Timebase—Synchronizing FlexRay to 802.1AS Networks as a Foundation
title_full Energy Efficiency Due to a Common Global Timebase—Synchronizing FlexRay to 802.1AS Networks as a Foundation
title_fullStr Energy Efficiency Due to a Common Global Timebase—Synchronizing FlexRay to 802.1AS Networks as a Foundation
title_full_unstemmed Energy Efficiency Due to a Common Global Timebase—Synchronizing FlexRay to 802.1AS Networks as a Foundation
title_short Energy Efficiency Due to a Common Global Timebase—Synchronizing FlexRay to 802.1AS Networks as a Foundation
title_sort energy efficiency due to a common global timebase synchronizing flexray to 802 1as networks as a foundation
topic Ethernet
FlexRay
802.1AS
real-time
url http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9268/8/3/26
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