Membership Surges in OPEN Alliance Automotive SIG

IRVINE, Calif., May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

News Highlights:

• Open Alliance membership expands > 7X in first few months of formation to 45 partnering companies
• New promoter members include Bosch, Continental, Jaguar-Land Rover and Renesas Electronics
• Dr. Kirsten Matheus, Ethernet Project Manager at BMW, named as OPEN Alliance Chair

The OPEN Alliance (One-Pair Ether-Net) Special Interest Group (SIG), established to drive wide-scale adoption of Ethernet-based automotive connectivity, today announced a 7X increase in membership since the organization was formed in November 2011. With 45 partnering organizations representing the tech and automotive sectors, the OPEN Alliance was formed to address industry requirements for improving in-vehicle safety, comfort, and infotainment, while significantly reducing network complexity and cabling costs. In related news, members have voted to appoint Dr. Kirsten Matheus, Ethernet Project Manager at BMW, as Chair of the OPEN Alliance.

In addition to founding members Broadcom, BMW, Freescale Semiconductor, Harman, Hyundai and NXP, new promoter members include Bosch, Continental, Jaguar-Land Rover and Renesas Electronics. The 35 adopter members include Agilent Technologies, Alpine Electronics, Aptina Imaging, Aquantia, Cadence Design Systems Inc., C&S Group, dSPACE GmbH , DSP-Weuffen, ETAS GmbH, Fujitsu Semiconductor, Infineon Technologies AG, Intedis, JAE Europe Limited, KDPOF, Lear Corporation, LeCroy, Leoni Cable Inc., Melexis, Molex, OmniVision Technologies, Panduit, Rosenberger, Symphony Teleca, TE Connectivity, Time Critical Networks, TTTech Computertechnik AG, TUV Nord, University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory, Valeo, Vector Informatik GmbH, ViGEM, Visteon, Wipro, X2E and Yazaki Corporation.

At its initial meeting earlier this year, the OPEN Alliance established technical committees to address interoperability requirements, third party testing platforms, certification procedures, and higher data rate specification requirements. Members will gather again this week during the Embedded Systems Expo event.

Key to the newly established SIG is the proliferation of Broadcom's BroadR-Reach® technology as an open standard. BroadR-Reach technology, designed to address the stringent requirements of the automotive industry, delivers high-performance bandwidth of 100Mbps over an unshielded single twisted pair cable. By eliminating the need for expensive, cumbersome shielded cabling, automotive manufacturers can significantly reduce connectivity costs and cabling weight. License to the specification for BroadR-Reach is available to OPEN Alliance members under RAND terms via a license from Broadcom.

To see the technology in action, visit the Broadcom booth at this week's Embedded Systems Expo, May 9 – 10 in Tokyo or visit http://www.opensig.org to learn more.

Quotes:

Kirsten Matheus, Ethernet Project Manager, BMW, OPEN Alliance SIG Chair

"Ethernet-based communication is the next big networking technology in automotive and the OPEN Alliance facilitates and accelerates its deployment. The increasing number of members shows that OPEN has set the right goals. It provides information for using BroadR Reach technology, allows for discussions, consolidates the related interests and thus paves the way into a flexible, scalable and future proof automotive networking future."

Michael Schaffert, Vice President, Center of Competence for Electronic/Electric (E/E) Architecture, Bosch

"The potential of Ethernet is shaking up the entire Automotive and Ethernet industry as the technology will lead to simpler but more powerful E/E-Architecture. Low cost Ethernet solutions will significantly contribute to a fast market penetration of camera based driver assistance functions. The perspective of a scalable technology from 100 Mbps today towards 1 Gigabit Ethernet gives the Automotive Industry a consequent and required upgrade path which reduces the investment risk in a new communication technology."

Helmut Matschi, Member of the Continental Executive Board and Head of the Interior Division, Continental AG

"We regard Ethernet as the ideal solution for system integration in vehicle electronics. In the OPEN Alliance SIG, we can define standards across the industry, and thus minimize development costs. This means we are on the right road for quickly going into production with Ethernet. The Ethernet derivative used in the OPEN Alliance cannot fail to impress with its particularly uncomplicated and cost-effective cabling."

Hiroaki Kaneko, General Manager, Automotive Systems Division, Renesas Electronics Corporation

"With the recent advancement of automotive applications, there is a growing demand for a high-speed and large capacity network. In addition to high-speed, key challenges such as quality, lighter cables and standardization come into play. It is essential for Renesas to join the OPEN Alliance to address these challenges in a timely manner and to further provide our customers with enhanced Ethernet-based automotive connectivity." 　

About OPEN Alliance

OPEN Alliance (One-Pair Ether-Net) is a jointly developed special interest group (SIG) that encourages wide scale adoption of Ethernet-based, single-pair unshielded networks as the standard in automotive applications. The SIG is made of 45 leading tech and automotive member companies that address industry requirements for improving in-vehicle safety, comfort, and infotainment, while significantly reducing network complexity and cabling costs. For more information visit www.opensig.org.

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SOURCE OPEN Alliance SIG