Flexray: the future in automotive communication
The FlexRay protocol is the route to a new network standard for achieving a high bandwidth, fault-tolerant operation for use in automotive communication. This flexray bussytem, which consists of a bus and processors, or electronic control units (clocks), improves upon the widely-accepted CAN automotive standard, which functions as an event-triggered communications system.
The flexray bussystem, on the contrary, avoids the overloads inherent in old CAN networks, as the time-triggered architecture of Flexray organizes communication in predefined time slots on the Flexray bus.
This global time system, though still under development by the Flexray Consortium, is now being realized by NEC Electronics with its first silicon implementations. NEC Electronic's flexrays are proving to be a safe, viable option for adding electronics into existing car environments.
Most flexray features in the NEC Electronics product, such as its self-test capability and its RAM content protection by parity check, help make the devices a valuable component in a car's overall safety. The flexray can not only prevent overloads, for example, in the damping system, it also avoids redundancy and is known for its high data rates of 10 megabits per second and its fault-tolerance.
Truly proving itself in terms of performance and price, the Flexray is surely the future of automotive.
