A fault-tolerant databus took a step toward broader automotive implementation this week, as NXP Semiconductors announced that it has rolled out a transceiver that complies with the FlexRay industry standard.
Known as the TJA1080A, the new transceiver is the first to pass the FlexRay Physical Layer Conformance Test, an industry standard for FlexRay products.
The product rollout is considered significant because the FlexRay communication system is believed by many to be a foundation for the future of automotive networking, especially in safety-critical systems. FlexRay technology has already been implemented on a BMW X5, for active suspension controls, and is believed to be in development in other chassis, powertrain and driver-assistance applications.
The TJA1080A is not NXP’s first FlexRay transceiver, but it is the first from any manufacturer to meet the industry standard.
“This guarantees interoperability with other transceivers,” says Rob Hoeben, NXP’s marketing manager for FlexRay. “It also guarantees it will work in any FlexRay implementation for any automotive manufacturer.”
The FlexRay standard calls for transceivers and other electronic products to meet certain parameters of timing and latency as they pass messages between electronic control units. Timing delays outside of a prescribed number of nanoseconds aren’t considered acceptable.
Meeting such parameters is considered extremely important because FlexRay was developed as a data bus and communication system for safety-critical automotive products. Although it was initially seen as a solution for brake-by-wire and steer-by-wire, automakers have begun using it for smart suspension systems and adaptive cruise control.
FlexRay fits the needs of such systems because its data messages are sent in a so-called “time-triggered” fashion, instead of the more conventional “event-triggered” way. Time-triggering ensures messages reach their destination because it uses flexible time division media access (FTDMA) slots for data. Thus, messages aren’t lost or forgotten. By employing the time-triggered design, FlexRay provides fault tolerance under all conditions, including the presence of a failed sensor, short circuit or transient software glitch.
Without time-triggered methods, creation of brake- and steer-by-wire systems would be nearly impossible, because engineers would be unable to ensure messages would reach their destinations without delay. As a result, brake and steering performance could be effected.
NXP engineers say FlexRay is gaining momentum with automakers. The FlexRay Consortium now includes more than 100 companies, including all major automakers.
Due to costs reasons, however, engineers don’t expect FlexRay to replace the industry’s popular CAN (controller area network) bus in the near future. For now, they say, CAN will continue to dominate in powertrain applications, while FlexRay picks up more safety-related applications.
“We are seeing projects popping up among customers who say, ‘We want to use FlexRay for other applications,’” Hoeben says. “It’s spreading a little faster than we initially expected.”