PCIe switch routes automotive data traffic PCIe switch routes automotive data traffic

The Switchtec family of PCI switches from Microchip move data around a vehicle’s “data center.”

With vehicles becoming more software-centric, their computing power relies on a central processor that manages other processors, often on a single board. PCI Express (PCIe) becomes the bus that transports all that vehicle data. The PCI100x Switchtec PCIe switches from Microchip route data around what forms a mini data center, bringing software-defined vehicles (SDVs) closer to reality.

“The SoCs in a vehicle need high bandwidth and low latency. Thus most have PCIe ports,” Microchip’s Dan Leih told EE World. “That includes ARM, nVidia, and Qualcomm-based processors used for ADAS and infotainment systems.”

The block diagram shows how a PCIe switch fits into the overall “data center” architecture. In this case, it connects two safety processors and an infotainment processor to the central processor, which also connects to sensors and radar over Ethernet such as 10Base-T1S through the NIC.

The family consists of four parts, all of which support PCIe 4.0 with 16 lanes. The PCI1005 is a packet switch that expands a single host PCIe port to as many as six endpoints. The PCI1003 switch enables multi-host connectivity through Non-Transparent Bridging (NTB). It’s fully configurable, supporting four to eight ports. Both switches comply with the PCI-SIG Gen5 specification and operate up to 16 GT/sec. High-speed DMA is supported on all variants. Advanced Switchtec technology features include Automatic Error Reporting (AER), Downstream Port Containment (DPC), and Completion Timeout Synthesis (CTS). The PCI100x devices are available in temperature ranges including commercial (0°C to +70°C), industrial (−40°C to +85°C), and Automotive Grade 2 (−40°C to +105°C) ambient ratings.