Ixia, Marvell and NXP Delivered the First Successful Multivendor Interoperability Demonstration of the AVnu AVB Automotive Profile

a leading provider of network testing, visibility, and security solutions, partnered with Marvell Technology Group, a global leader in providing complete silicon solutions, and NXP Semiconductors, the world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, to deliver the first public interoperability demonstration of the AVnu Audio Video Bridging (AVB) profile dedicated for automotive usage at the Automotive Ethernet Congress held in Munich, Germany, February 3rd and 4th, 2016.

What is AVB/TSN?
Audio Video Bridging/Time Sensitive Networking (AVB/TSN) guarantees reliable transmission of audio, video, and control data over standard Ethernet. AVB/TSN assures not only a minimum bandwidth, but a maximum guaranteed latency, which is crucial for real-time media. The technology enables car makers to use the same Ethernet network for real-time and non-real-time communications, at much higher speeds than previous automotive busses. AVB/TSN allows for more advanced entertainment and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) features even on lower end car models.

What was demonstrated at the Automotive Ethernet Congress?
The demonstration showcased the automotive Ethernet specific physical layer, IEEE 100BASE-T1 (Ethernet running at 100Mbps over a single twisted pair), a milestone that reflects that automotive AVB/TSN is a technology that is ready for use in production. AVB/TSN allows time-sensitive application traffic to be carried over Ethernet reliably and is a common name for the set of technical standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Audio Video Bridging Task Group of the IEEE 802.1 standards committee.

The demonstration included a complex scenario of real and emulated AVB talkers and listeners from NXP and Ixia communicating over a network of AVB bridges from Marvell and NXP. The term ‘talker’ denotes a stream source while ‘listener’ denotes a stream destination.

The benefits of the joint solution were observed on the real endpoints, as precisely measured by the Ixia AVB tester, and include:

• Verification of synchronization and timely delivery of time-sensitive streams
• Validation of bandwidth, QoS, priority remapping, and latency guarantees
• Checking that both AVB and best effort traffic are handled appropriately at the same time through the AVB system
• Validation of AVB Network boundaries in time-sensitive networks

What is the AVnu Alliance?
The AVnu Alliance is a community creating an interoperable ecosystem of low-latency, time-synchronized, highly reliable networked devices using open standards through certification. AVnu Alliance members include more than 95% of the Ethernet silicon suppliers in the market, leading players in the networking infrastructure space, household names from the automotive and industrial sectors, and prominent firms in audio-visual markets.