An Inside Look at an Automotive Ethernet Seminar

Figure 1: Students gain first-hand experience in
Automotive Ethernet protocol testing

Teledyne LeCroy's Automotive Technology Center (ATC) in Farmington Hills, MI recently hosted a full-day seminar on Automotive Ethernet. Below, Bob Mart, product line manager, shares some of his thoughts on how the seminar went and provides a preview of Teledyne LeCroy's next live Automotive Ethernet day at the ATC on June 15, 2017 (detailed information on this and other automotive-related events can be found here).

I recently spent a full day sharing my knowledge about Automotive Ethernet, which has been a focus area of mine for the last few years, at the Automotive Technology Center. The group included 12 attendees from a variety of key OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers (Figure 1). At the seminar's outset, each of the attendees said they had little to no experience with Automotive Ethernet but would be working on an Ethernet design in the future. However, by the end of the seminar, they had learned how to talk about the technology, developed an understanding for why testing is important, and walked out feeling confident about tackling their forthcoming Automotive Ethernet projects.

The seminar comprised two parts. In the first, we covered the basics of Automotive Ethernet, including a history and evolution of the technology. I also offered my thoughts on how the specification might evolve in the future. After enjoying an on-site lunch, the afternoon session's focus was on compliance testing. We discussed the differences between testing to the BroadR-Reach and the 100Base-T1 specifications, and also covered all of the required test modes and how to generate them. We concluded with hands-on testing using Teledyne LeCroy oscilloscopes.

Figure 2: Interactive learning spawns
deep discussion and insights

This group in particular was really fun to work with. The seminar was extremely interactive, with tons of great questions about real-world problems that attendees encountered in their own jobs (Figure 2). For example, we covered how to isolate the root cause of a failure during the compliance test process. These insights really enhanced the discussion beyond what was provided in the course material and spawned interesting and informative discussions. Group learning of this nature is something that you do not get to experience when you are delivering or participating in a webinar.

As a presenter, it is extremely rewarding when your material spawns a breakthrough in understanding for an attendee. For example, among some of the comments I heard were, “Whoa, I had no idea that oscilloscopes can do that” and, “I didn’t even realize it was possible to make an eye diagram on PAM3. I thought that only worked for NRZ.” Additionally, I always find that I leave these presentations having learned some important things myself.

I am looking forward to further refining the presentation materials in preparation for the next Automotive Ethernet Day, which will be held on June 15th.