NXP ships 1 millionth FlexRay transceiver

NXP Semiconductors, which claims to be the number one supplier of in-vehicle networking technology, said it has shipped its one millionth FlexRay™ Physical Layer compliant transceiver. Virtually all of the transceivers have been shipped for use in BMW vehicles, but Rob Hoeben, marketing manager for FlexRay at NXP, said another automaker is expected to launch a vehicle incorporating FlexRay technology later this year.

FlexRay is the automotive standard for deterministic, fault-tolerant, high-speed data communication. It  has much higher bandwidth than CAN (Controller Area Network) and is expected to be the communication backbone for Drive-by-Wire applications that will help reduce car weight and energy consumption and allow for better safety.

NXP’s Hoeben said FlexRay technology is still in its infancy, with an average of five or six transceivers per-vehicle and fewer than a dozen at most, but he added deployment is expanding to more applications and more vehicles. He expects to see as many as 20 nodes in high-end vehicles and smaller (four node) networks in mainstream vehicles by around 2014.

According to Strategy Analytics, global automotive networking protocol deployment will lead to deployment of two billion network nodes per year, and a bus transceiver market worth almost $1 billion by 2015. FlexRay Technology is expected to gain an increasing share of this key market as demand for robust, real time electronic control in safety-critical applications expands.  By 2015 Strategy Analytics expects FlexRay to account for around eight percent of global bus transceiver revenues, from less than one percent in 2009.

NXP’s FlexRay transceiver was first road tested by BMW with its 2007 BMW X5, the first series production car with a built-in FlexRay system. This was followed in 2008 by the fifth generation 7 series, which uses up to 11 FlexRay node transceivers.

“In order to implement new features such as the BMW Dynamic Driver Control, which offers our customers exceptional ride control, BMW has used NXP FlexRay technology,” said  Kai Barbehön, BMW Department Manager, Platform-Technologies, and FlexRay Consortium Executive Board Member. “BMW is committed to further develop the FlexRay bus system that provides the safety, speed and robust quality demanded in automotive applications and counts therefore on the strong partnership within the semiconductor industry in the future, too.”

Chris Webber, VP Automotive Practice at Strategy Analytics says, “The primary challenge facing vehicle makers is how to make cars more feature-rich, cleaner and safer while also reducing costs. Vehicle multiplex networks are a key tool in minimizing the complexity and cost impact on vehicle architectures of increasing electronic content. The rapidly moving development in the in-vehicle networking industry means that suppliers must continually innovate.”

Complementing the TJA1080A product, NXP recently released the TJA1081 and TJA1082 FlexRay node transceivers addressing car manufacturers’ need for high-speed, fault-tolerant communication systems and flexible and scalable electronic networks.