Ethernet Ring Topology Fault Wrapping for In-Vehicle Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
In-vehicle networks face challenges with reliability and bandwidth due to increased wiring and the inability of conventional networks like CAN, LIN, and FlexRay to meet the higher transmission requirements of advanced sensors in electric and intelligent vehicles, necessitating a more reliable data transmission method.
Innovation Solution
A data transmission method that utilizes Ethernet in a ring topology, where a ring node detects link faults and wraps data packets to ensure continued transmission, improving reliability by avoiding unnecessary retransmissions of wrapped packets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If point-to-point direct connection is used for networking, then communication reliability is improved, but the quantity of wiring harnesses increases exponentially
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple ECUs are connected through a shared Ethernet backbone infrastructure rather than individual point-to-point connections. The ring topology merges communication paths, allowing multiple devices to share the same physical medium while maintaining reliable communication through redundant paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The Ethernet ring infrastructure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides communication paths for multiple ECUs, offers redundant routing for fault tolerance, and enables high-bandwidth data transmission for various vehicle systems including ADAS sensors through a single unified network architecture.
2Device complexity
If conventional low-rate in-vehicle networks are used, then device complexity is reduced, but transmission bandwidth requirements of ADAS sensors cannot be met
Solution Approach 1:
The network transitions from conventional low-rate protocols (CAN, LIN, FlexRay) to Ethernet with significantly higher transmission rates. This parameter change in transmission speed and bandwidth capacity enables ADAS sensors to communicate high-volume data while the standardized Ethernet protocol keeps implementation complexity manageable through industry-wide support.
3Reliability
If data packets are retransmitted after link faults in ring topology, then data delivery reliability is improved, but transmission latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-establishes alternative transmission paths through the ring topology before faults occur. When a link failure is detected, data packets can immediately switch to pre-configured alternative routes without waiting for retransmission protocols, thereby maintaining reliability while minimizing latency penalties.
Solution Approach 2:
The network dynamically adjusts data transmission paths based on real-time link status. Upon detecting a fault, the system dynamically redirects traffic through alternative ring paths, providing adaptive reliability improvement while keeping latency increases minimal through intelligent route selection rather than blanket retransmission.
Data Source
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AI summary
A data transmission method and an apparatus are disclosed, which relate to the field of in-vehicle networks, and resolve a problem of reliability of data transmission using Ethernet in a ring topology in an in-vehicle network and data transmission in the in-vehicle network. The method includes: When a single-point link fault occurs in a ring network, when two ring nodes on two sides adjacent to a fault point detect the fault, it is determined whether a received data packet is a wrapped data packet. If the data packet is a non-wrapped data packet, a port loopback is performed on a ring port in a fault direction, the data packet is wrapped into a wrapped data packet, and the wrapped data packet is received from or forwarded to the ring network, so that the data packet can be further transmitted to a destination device. If the received data packet is a wrapped data packet, it indicates that the data packet has been wrapped once, and the data packet is discarded.