Battery Management System with Optical Connectivity Ready for Production

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Optical connections with POF are ideal for galvanic isolation in battery management systems

KDPOF proudly announces that the first application of a Battery Management System (BMS) based on optical connectivity will soon go into production. “We are delighted that by the end of 2019, the first carmaker will start assembly of a battery management system with POF connectivity,” stated Carlos Pardo, CEO and Co-founder of KDPOF. “Due to its inherent galvanic isolation, POF perfectly solves the electrical and interference challenges of new powertrain architectures for electric and autonomous driving.” In battery management systems, galvanic isolation is necessary between primary and secondary systems due to hazardous high voltages and noise isolation. Further applications that rely on the inherent Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) of POF are Integrated Smart Antenna (ISA) modules. For ISA, KDPOF and ALPS have developed a concept for an LTE-A telematics control module with POF links to the central communications hub in order to avoid interference with the smart antenna receivers. KDPOF’s GEPOF transceiver KD1053 provides high connectivity with a flexible digital host interface, low latency, low jitter, and low linking time.

KDPOF will present their optical Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity with high electromagnetic compatibility at IEEE-SA Ethernet & IP @ Automotive Technology Day on September 24-25, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan, USA, and ELIV (ELectronics In Vehicles) International VDI Congress on October 16-17, 2019 in Bonn, Germany.

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KDPOF drives efforts for a new optical multi-gigabit automotive standard with scalable network technology (Copyright: metamorworks/iStock/Getty Images)metamorworks/iStock/Getty Images

KDPOF Drives Efforts for a Scalable Network Technology to Enable High Data Rates of 25 Gbps and beyond

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As part of a team of automotive companies, Carlos Pardo, CEO and Co-founder of KDPOF – leading supplier for gigabit transceivers over POF (Plastic Optical Fiber) – is driving a new standard for multi-gigabit in automotive. It will enhance the existing 10GBASE-SR, which is the current standard by IEEE, to establish a communications channel in optical fiber at 10 Gb/s. “Infotainment, ADAS and growing levels of autonomy are the key trends for the exponential growth of data rates: 100 Mbps to 1 Gb/s, 2.5 Gb/s, 5 Gb/s and 10 Gb/s, with some OEMs even targeting 25 and 50 Gb/s for the upcoming years,” explained Carlos Pardo. “An existing standard such as 10GBASE-SR would ideally work for automotive applications. Unfortunately, it does not meet stringent automotive requirements.” 

Multi-Gigabit Communications Demand New Automotive Standard

The team of individuals affiliated with more than 15 key carmakers, such as PSA, Toyota, and Volvo; Tier1s; and components suppliers, including KDPOF, is specifying the needs and technologies to support a new multi-gigabit standard. The group led a Call for Interest (CFI) with the approval of the IEEE to start the standardization of an IEEE 802.3 Automotive Optical Multi-Gigabit Standard with strong support from the industry. The working group headed by Carlos Pardo (KDPOF) will kick off in the summer of 2019, with the first prototypes to be projected by the end of 2021. The study group will evaluate the creation of an IEEE Ethernet standard for the automotive industry, with speeds starting at 2.5 Gb/s and up to 50 Gb/s.

Targeting IEEE 802.3 Automotive Optical Multi-Gigabit Standard

The current IEEE standard 10GBASE-SR was originally created to meet the demands of data centers where temperature, operational life, price, reliability and mechanical robustness are very controlled and modest. With the harsh automotive environment, in addition to power consumption and especially cost being key in automotive applications, only a new communications scheme can provide enhanced robustness and adapt itself automatically to varying environmental conditions and manufacturing processes. Moreover, the technology should be scalable in order to enable even higher data rates such as 25, 50, and 100 Gbps in the future. By combining optimization in all areas of the new standard, the right balance of complexity and cost among all parts (CMOS IC, VCSEL, PD, ferrules, sleeves, cable, in-line connection technology, optics, and lenses, etc.) can be achieved in order to deliver the lowest cost, most reliable, and highly scalable solution to the automotive market.

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KDPOF presents an optical link concept with Gigabit Ethernet over POF for telematics control modules

KDPOF Introduces POF Link for Telematics Control Module

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KDPOF presents an optical link concept for telematics control modules. “Several OEMs choose the IEEE Std 802.3bv™ for Gigabit Ethernet over POF (GEPOF), which is the ideal solution to connect Smart Antenna to the central communications hub while avoiding electromagnetic interference (EMI),” explained Carlos Pardo, CEO and Co-founder of KDPOF. “The optical link enhances antenna performance, whereas in conventional systems, antenna reception sensitivity is reduced by the radiated emissions coming from the electrical communications links, such as UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) copper cables, coax, and the shielded alternatives.” KDPOF, in partnership with ALPS, has developed a concept for an LTE-A telematics control module that uses Gigabit Ethernet over POF to connect to the central communications hub such as a head unit.

Optical Gigabit Connectivity Secures High Electromagnetic Compatibility

Since POF provides inherently high Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), the links do not interfere with the smart antenna receivers. With the necessary speed going beyond 100 Mbps, a 1 Gbps Ethernet link is required. Moreover, substituting the current RF link with an Ethernet data link will not only aggregate LTE-A packets but other sources such as digital radio as well. 

Optical Link Concept for Smart Antenna

New plastic, composite and crystal roofs or roofs with openings do not shield the antenna from electromagnetic noise generated inside the car compartment. Instead, a significant amount of energy is radiated by the coaxial cable that is coupled back into the Integrated Smart Antenna (ISA) electronics, which severely degrades its performance. The natural EMC problem-free POF is ideally suited for an Ethernet connection, avoiding back-coupling conditions like the above mentioned one. In addition, the EMC problem-free link permits simple re-positioning of the antenna module among vehicle configurations. Another advantage is the simple integration with current ISA chipsets thanks to the Ethernet (SGMII/RGMII) host bus of the Gigabit POF transceiver. Furthermore, thanks to the Gigabit capacity of the Ethernet link over POF, the data link will aggregate various data streams such as LTE-A, Wi-Fi, V2x, RDS, DAB radio, etc.

KDPOF will present their optical link concept with Gigabit Ethernet over POF for telematics control modules at the Nikkei Automotive Ethernet Tech Days on June 5 and 6, 2019 in Osaka, Japan.

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KDPOF robust, low latency POF backbone provides guaranteed Gigabit Wi-Fi mesh

Guaranteed Wi-Fi Mesh up to 1 Gigabit with Robust, Low Latency POF Backbone

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KDPOF boosts Wi-Fi performance to the next level for homes and small and home offices. “With our robust, low latency Plastic Optical Fiber, we provide the highest Wi-Fi mesh performance with a guaranteed 1 Gigabit per second to each access point,” stated Carlos Pardo, CEO and Co-Founder of KDPOF. “Our field study with a tier one Service Provider proves that, in combination with Wi-Fi mesh nodes, the in-wall POF backbone raises performance throughout the house to over 350 percent in flats and up to 560 percent in multistory houses, compared with using a Wi-Fi backbone.” Plastic Optical Fiber is cost-efficient, low skill to install, and robust. POF can reuse any existing conduits in the home, making the cables invisible. It is much easier and quicker to install than Cat 6 cables. In addition to being used as a backbone for home networking, POF provides convenient Optical Network Termination (ONT) to GW link for a better placement of the Gateway (GW) within the home. By working with KDPOF, operators can satisfy their clients by providing very low latency, reduced jitter, fast download speeds, and reliable connectivity for video.

Field Study Confirms Superiority of Combined POF/Wi-Fi Backbone

KDPOF has conducted the field study to compare Wi-Fi performance using the same additional Wi-Fi Mesh nodes in three different types of homes: single-family houses, multistory houses, and flats. One study group used a POF backbone and the other used a Wi-Fi backbone. Transmission speed was measured in three selected rooms in each case. The results were explicit and significant: averaged out of the 20 family test houses, the POF backbone brought about an improvement of more than 400 percent, while a pure Wi-Fi backbone had a limited performance of up to 80 Mbps in 50 percent of the houses. In the multistory houses, the POF backbone’s performance enhancement reached over 560 percent, whereas Wi-Fi only had a reduced output of up to 62 Mbps. Despite the limited number of Wi-Fi end points used in the test, the numbers provided by the Wi-Fi backbone fall far short of the access speeds users have started to enjoy up to their homes. By using the same Wi-Fi Mesh nodes with a POF backbone, the end user experience achieves those numbers. End users experience what they pay for. 

Another important result was that with only one more access point with POF as the backbone, performance is significantly better sustained than with two additional access points with a Wi-Fi backbone. POF Backbone simplifies the Wi-Fi mesh architecture and reduces costs while improving overall performance substantially. 

KDPOF will present their robust in-wall optical connectivity at stand 3 at Broadband Forum Asia on May 7-8, 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. In his presentation “Bringing WiFi Performance to the Next Level” on 7 May at 12:20, Ramón Garcia, Business Development Manager with KDPOF, will explain options and good practices for how to transform access speeds into Wi-Fi speeds for a Gigabit experience.

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Future-ready: KDPOF automotive Gigabit Ethernet provides electromagnetic compatibility, robustness, and smooth integration

Optical Network Is Ready for Future Wire Harness Architectures

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KDPOF – leading supplier for gigabit transceivers over POF (Plastic Optical Fiber) – will present automotive Gigabit Ethernet POF (GEPOF) for future wire harness architectures at stand 18 at the 7th International Conference Automotive Wire Harness on March 26 and 27, 2019 in Ludwigsburg, Germany. “With its inherent galvanic isolation and robustness, the optical Ethernet technology ideally suits current and future in-vehicle network infrastructure,” stated Carlos Pardo, CEO and Co-founder of KDPOF. “POF lives up to the challenges of electromagnetic compatibility and safety requirements created by the new 48-volt electrical architecture.” A well-supplied and competitive market worldwide ensures seamless integration into the wire harness of the vehicle. The inherent Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) makes POF perfectly suitable for applications such as Battery Management Systems (BMS) and Integrated Smart Antenna (ISA) modules. Autonomous driving relies on POF for a redundant system in addition to copper cabling in order to increase safety and avoid the autonomous car locking up if one of the systems is disturbed in some way.

KDPOF Automotive Gigabit Ethernet Provides Electromagnetic Compatibility, Robustness, and Smooth Integration

POF cables are very reliable: they can withstand harsh environments, vibrations, and misalignments. In addition, POF allows fast dynamic bending, tight bending, and dark liquid immersion in addition to delivering low noise and robustness regarding in-coupling of electromagnetic fields. As a plastic, wide diameter fiber, POF is cheap to manufacture and install: installation is just easy plug and play; winding and clamping is similar to copper cables. With the first automotive Gigabit Ethernet POF transceiver KD1053, KDPOF provides high connectivity with a flexible digital host interface, low latency, low jitter, and low linking time. The transceiver complies with the standard amendment IEEE Std 802.3bv™ and thus fully meets the requirements of carmakers.

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KDPOF's optical data network enhances safety for autonomous driving

Optical Data Network Enhances Safety for Autonomous Driving

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KDPOF provide their optical network technology in order to enhance safety for autonomous driving. “For safety-related functions such as the data network backbone, autonomous driving requires redundant systems in order to increase safety and avoid the autonomous car locking up if one of the systems is disabled in some way,” explained Rubén Pérez de Aranda, CTO and Co-founder of KDPOF. Reliability analysis shows that a technology redundancy like optical and copper cabling provides the highest reliability. Consequently, more and more OEMs are now considering Plastic Optical Fiber.

EMC Lessons Learned on Gigabit Ethernet Implementation for ADAS & AV

The lessons learned in the iterative design process give KDPOF the knowledge to bring into the market a mass-produced automotive Gigabit Ethernet PHY integrated in an ECU and meeting the most stringent EMC specifications. “This grows more important as in-car network speeds increase to accommodate the demands of driverless systems,” he added. “Higher speeds are achieved by wider use of the electromagnetic spectrum.”

Rubén Pérez de Aranda is CTO and Co-Founder of KDPOF
Rubén Pérez de Aranda is CTO and Co-Founder of KDPOF

This situation makes the underlying communication system implementation less immune to radiated and conducted noise. It also forces OEMs to impose more and more stringent emissions limits on the electronic components, limits that are often already tighter than the demands imposed by international standards. POF is ideal for the new architectures since it provides natural galvanic isolation between communicating modules and a radiation-free harness.

With the first automotive Gigabit Ethernet POF (GEPOF) transceiver KD1053, KDPOF provides high connectivity with a flexible digital host interface, low latency, low jitter, and low linking time. The transceiver complies with the standard amendment IEEE Std 802.3bv™ and thus fully meets the requirements of carmakers.

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KDPOF’s optical connectivity provides galvanic isolation for Battery Management Systems and Smart Antenna Modules

Galvanic Isolation Secures New 48-volt Electrical Architectures

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KDPOF provide their optical connectivity technology in order to secure new 48-volt electrical architectures via the inherent galvanic isolation. “The new 48-volt electrical architecture pushes the envelope in terms of electromagnetic compatibility and safety requirements,” stated Carlos Pardo, CEO and Co-founder of KDPOF. “New safety precautions are needed, since even a single malfunction between the 48-volt and the 12-volt electrical system will lead to a short circuit, which can damage the entire 12-volt system due to overvoltage.” Optical connections with POF, such as KDPOF’s innovative Automotive Gigabit Ethernet POF (GEPOF), provide the optimal means to achieve galvanic isolation, providing 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps Ethernet compatible solutions with enough margin to withstand the harsh automotive environment. Applications such as Battery Management Systems (BMS) and Integrated Smart Antenna (ISA) modules profit from the inherent Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) of POF. KDPOF will present their GEPOF technology at the Automotive Ethernet Congress on February 13 and 14, 2019 in Munich, Germany.

48 Volts Generate Need for Galvanic Isolation

The chassis is a common ground potential for all 48-volt ECUs in the car. As the chassis has a non-zero impedance, a significant return current will be conducted through it, and a portion of this return current will find its way through a parallel path: the copper cables‘ shielding. “An OEM has stated that the shield of Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) cables can conduct more than 8A of return current due to the 48-volt jump start effect,” added Carlos Pardo. 

In addition, the need for a ubiquitous communications network within the vehicle, and particularly between ECUs belonging to different voltage domains, represents a source of potential hazards. Thus, it imposes the additional requirement of galvanic isolation between the communicating nodes. Any event that could cause the 48-volt to cross into the 12-volt, for example due to line transceivers that don’t provide sufficient galvanic isolation, might destroy the ECUs in the 12-volt domain. 

With regulations driving car companies to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions further by 2021, a new hybrid architecture concept based on a two-voltage power line (12-/48-volt) is already in the advanced marketing announcements of OEMs and Tier-1. As a further example of this new industry-wide technological trend towards 48V power supply and the handling of it, the German VDA published recommendation 320, which covers electric and electronic components in vehicles for the development of a 48-volt power supply. It defines requirements, test conditions and tests performed on electric, electronic and mechatronic components and systems for use in motor vehicles with a 48-volt on-board power supply. 

Battery Management Systems 

Galvanic isolation is also necessary between the primary and secondary systems of both ac-dc and dc-dc converters due to the presence of hazardous high voltage (above 25 Vac or 60 Vdc). According to the FMVSS 305 and ECE-R standards, the isolation barrier between the battery and exposed conductive parts should maintain 500 Ω/V before and after a crash impact. “This is a tough requirement that is very hard to reach without a nearly perfect isolation that copper-based networks are unable to ensure,” added Carlos Pardo. Moreover, the BMS is a very noisy environment and communications are susceptible to disturbance by conducted and radiated RF emissions. Optical communications have been demonstrated to be the most robust regarding EMC.

Smart Antenna Modules

Integrated Smart Antenna (ISA) Modules consist of several antennas for signal reception, an Antenna Hub, and an Ethernet connection to the consumers of the antenna signals such as a radio device. If each of the several antennas in a car is routed to its respective ECU with its own cable, the complexity soon becomes unacceptable. The Antenna Hub routes all signals from each antenna to an Ethernet network connected to all receptors of the signals. Gigabit Ethernet over POF is ideally suited for an Ethernet connection due to its natural EMC-free property. “In conventional systems, if the roof is not metallic, or has openings, an immense amount of energy is radiated by the coaxial cable that is coupled back into the ISA. This seriously degrades the ISA performance,” explained Carlos Pardo. Replacing the coaxial cable with POF completely solves this issue.

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JASPAR approves compliance for KDPOF automotive optical Gigabit Ethernet KD1053

KDPOF Automotive Optical Gigabit Ethernet Receives Compliance Approval from JASPAR

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JASPAR (Japan Automotive Software Platform and Architecture) announced that KDPOF’s automotive optical Gigabit Ethernet technology has successfully achieved their conformance tests. With the KD1053, KDPOF provides the first IEEE® Std 802.3bv compliant automotive 1000BASE-RHC PHY to deliver 1 Gbit/s data rates over Plastic Optical Fiber (POF). Hideki Goto, Chairman of JASPAR’s Next Generation High-Speed Network Working Group and Group Manager at Toyota stated: “KDPOF’s optical network solution greatly improves the speed of automotive networks and moves beyond obsolete, lagging networking protocols. Optical Ethernet technology is ideal for future in-vehicle network infrastructure, since it provides a radiation-free harness, and thus meets prerequisites concerning electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). Higher speeds are achieved by wider use of the electromagnetic spectrum, which forces OEMs to impose more and more stringent emissions limits on electronic components.”

KD1053 1000BASE-RHC Automotive Ethernet PHY Surpasses Stringent Operational Performance Benchmarks Set by JASPAR

Established in 2004, JASPAR’s mission is to identify the common issues to be faced in the future by the car electronics sector and initiate standardization in order to resolve these issues and encourage the resulting objectives across the entire automotive industry. Among over 220 member companies are leading global carmakers and Tier1 suppliers such as Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, and Denso and so on.

Comprehensive EMC Testing

Diverse Tier1 and Tier2 carmakers have carried out evaluation tests on KDPOF’s KD1053-based development boards in coordination with JASPAR. The wide-ranging test scopes included EMC emissions and immunity tests, plus extreme temperature testing with standard automotive POF and optical connectors compliant with current ISO 21111-4 CD. EMC included radiated and conducted emissions (voltage and current), bulk current injection (BCI) testing, radiated RF immunity, and portable handy transmitters immunity. In addition, electrostatic discharge (ESD) and transient pulses were performed. The KD1053 solution achieved all test standards by a remarkable margin.

Automotive Innovation Roadmap

“Our core objective at JASPAR is to generate an environment that enables those serving the Japanese automotive sector to cooperate and push automotive innovation further,” added Hideki Goto. “We are very pleased with the results achieved with this joint test project.” 

About JASPAR 
Focused on the Japanese automotive market, JASPAR was established in order to pursue increasing development efficiency and ensuring reliability, by standardization and common use of electronic control system software and in-vehicle networks as they become more advanced and complex. Engineering staff from various car manufacturers, research institutes, academic establishments, software developers, electrical equipment suppliers, and semiconductor vendors all participate in its activities. To learn more, please visit: www.jaspar.jp/en/about_us

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KDPOF speeds up home networking with POF backbone for higher Quality of Experience

Broadband World Forum: KDPOF Elevates Wi-Fi Mesh Beyond 100 Mbps

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At Broadband World Forum in Berlin, Germany, KDPOF will present their robust in-wall wired optical connectivity from October 23 to 25, 2018 at Stand A133 in Hall 22a. “With our Plastic Optical Fiber backbone, we elevate Wi-Fi EasyMesh(TM) performance to the next level: from more than 100 Mbps up to 1 Gigabit to any point in homes and small and home offices,” stated Carlos Pardo, CEO and Co-Founder of KDPOF. In combination with Wi-Fi access points, POF provides end users with maximum performance for both wireless and wired connectivity throughout the house. POF can reuse any existing conduits in the home, making these cables invisible. Plastic Optical Fiber is cost-efficient, low skill to install, and robust. In addition, it provides convenient Optical Network Termination (ONT) to Gateway (GW) link for a better placement of the GW within the home. By working with KDPOF, operators can offer their clients low latency, fast download speeds, and reliable connectivity for video.

Quality of Experience

“ISPs and Telecom operators are facing the paradox that while access speeds have increased, customer satisfaction rates drop if home networks cannot keep up,” added Carlos Pardo. Access speeds are growing higher and higher while users at home are locally connecting more and more devices to the internet. Customers expect to experience the speeds they are paying for. If these speeds are lower than expected, they are disappointed and the Quality of Experience declines. A trial of KDPOF and Telefónica to test the benefits of POF has resulted in the outcome that KDPOF’s technology helps to provide subscribers with very high connectivity speeds all around the home, allowing users to enjoy high-quality video streaming such as 4K IPTV, and supporting services such as online gaming with the lowest latency. Thus, the combination of Wi-Fi with Plastic Optical Fiber can increase Quality of Experience dramatically, leading to a surge in customer loyalty.

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KDPOF's optical data network enhances safety for autonomous driving

Autonomous Driving: Optical Data Network Enhances Safety

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KDPOF's optical data network enhances safety for autonomous driving

KDPOF’s optical data network enhances safety for autonomous driving

KDPOF provide their optical network technology in order to enhance safety for autonomous driving. “For safety-related functions such as the data network backbone, autonomous driving requires redundant systems in order to increase safety and avoid the autonomous car locking up if one of the systems is disabled in some way,” explained Rubén Pérez de Aranda, CTO and Co-founder of KDPOF. Reliability analysis shows that a technology redundancy like optical and copper cabling provides the highest reliability. Consequently, more and more OEMs are now considering Plastic Optical Fiber. KDPOF will demonstrate the seamless and EMC-compliant network integration with POF at the AESIN (Automotive Electronics Innovation) Conference on October 2, 2018 in Solihull, UK, and at the IEEE-SA Ethernet & IP @ Automotive Technology Day on October 9-10, 2018 in London, UK. Read more

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