Jun 12, 2023 /SemiMedia/ -- Marvell Technology, Inc. recently announced the Brightlane Q622x family of central Automotive Ethernet switches, the highest capacity switches in a new, emerging category of devices for enabling computing architectures to improve safety and deliver software-defined services for the next generation of vehicles.

Automotive manufacturers are rapidly shifting from architectures built around domain networking schemes (where switches manage devices linked to particular applications such as infotainment or safety) and point-to-point connections to zonal networking architectures built around more scalable Ethernet. This shift will enable automakers to dramatically improve the onboard computing capabilities of vehicles for advancing safety systems, enhancing infotainment, increasing fuel efficiency and introducing software-defined services for a better driving experience. This shift, however, requires rethinking the technology used to build vehicle network platforms.

Central Automotive Ethernet switches are high-bandwidth, high-performance devices optimized to coordinate data traffic between zonal switches, which aggregate traffic from devices located within a physical zone of a car like processors, sensors, actuators, storage systems and others. Typical cars based around zonal architectures in the future will have three to up to six zones. Using a combination of zonal and central switches will provide automakers with a foundation for optimizing network performance, adding new features and services and accommodating growing bandwidth demands. Ethernet-based zonal architecture also reduces the amount of network cabling required, which reduces weight and manufacturing complexity.

Optimized for the most advanced automotive architectures, the Brightlane Q6223 switch delivers 90 Gbps of bandwidth, nearly 2x the capacity of currently available automotive switches. The non-blocking 12-port design can be configured from among the eight integrated 10G SerDes ports, four integrated 2.5G SerDes ports, and two integrated 1000Base-T1 PHYs available. The Brightlane Q6222 contains nine ports for 60 Gbps, with five integrated 10G SerDes ports, four integrated 2.5G SerDes ports, and two integrated 1000Base-T1 PHYs available for selection. Both the 90 Gbps and 60 Gbps Brightlane Q622x switches are single-chip devices to reduce cost, power and latency.

The new switch family also includes a combination of advanced security features not found together in any other automotive switch product. The Brightlane Q622x family incorporates IEEE 802.1AE-2018-compliant Media Access Control (MACsec) link security on every port, up to 10G, for encrypting data traveling between automotive components to prevent man-in-the-middle and other attacks. Marvell’s patent-pending Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM) implementation for deep packet inspection (DPI) provides for wirespeed packet classification to ensure packet validity and the ability to filter and classify more than 4,000 IPv4/IPv6 flows for heightened intrusion detection. Additionally, the Q622x family incorporates a hardware security module (HSM) for encryption, MACsec key management and trusted boot functionality to further secure the in-vehicle network.

“Marvell continues to deliver industry-first advances in Automotive Ethernet technologies to meet the needs of the most demanding customers as they develop their next-generation software-defined vehicles,” said Mike Yeager, vice president and general manager, Automotive Business Unit at Marvell. “With the new Brightlane switch family, we’re delivering future-proofed bandwidth, reducing BOM space and cost, and providing the most advanced, comprehensive combination of security features available.”

The Brightlane Q622x family is currently sampling to multiple leading automotive customers and partners.