NXP Semiconductors acquires OmniPHY, a provider of automotive Ethernet subsystem technology for an undisclosed amount. With OmniPHY’s advanced high-speed technology and NXP’s leading portfolio and heritage in-vehicle networks, is said to uniquely position NXP to deliver next-generation of data transfer solutions to carmakers. OmniPHY’s expertise includes automotive Ethernet, a technology that enables the rapid data transfer required for autonomous driving.
Current plans for next-generation vehicles call for eight or more cameras, high definition radar, lidar and V2X capability, all of which generate steep data challenges for current car networks.
These requirements, combined with the modern vehicle’s need to offload data to enable the new business opportunities of the connected car, will soon make terabyte levels of data processing common place.
NXP’s acquisition of OmniPHY, touts to have already begun to translate 1000BASE-T1 Ethernet for the automotive space. It will also give NXP a significant position in this rapidly evolving area.
“One of the vexing questions of the Autonomous Age is how to move data around the car as fast as possible,” said Ian Riches, Executive Director for Global Automotive Practice at Strategy Analytics. He further added, “Cameras and displays will ramp the number of high-speed links in the car to 150 million by 2020 and by 2030 autonomous car systems will aggressively drive that number to 1.1 billion high-speed links.”
OmniPHY is a pioneer in high-speed automotive Ethernet IP and automotive qualified IP for 100BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-T1 standards.
OmniPHY interface IP and communication technology along with NXP’s automotive portfolio will form a “one-stop shop” for automotive Ethernet. The companies’ technology synergies will center on 1.25-28Gbps PHY designs and 10-, 100- and 1000BASE-T1 Ethernet in advanced processes.
“We are very excited to join NXP – a leader in automotive electronics, for a front-row seat to the autonomous driving revolution, one that will deliver profound change to the way people live,” said Ritesh Saraf, CEO of OmniPHY. “The combination of our teams and technology will accelerate and advance the delivery of automotive Ethernet solutions providing our customers with high quality and world-class automotive Ethernet innovation”, he added.
