company blog about Recycle Broadcom Automotive Ethernet Product:PHYs,Switches,Microcontrollers

Recycle Broadcom Automotive Ethernet Product:PHYs,Switches,Microcontrollers

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Inventory Classification: Clients are required to carry out a simple classification of their surplus stock, identifying basic information such as model, brand, production date and quantity.

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I. Industry Overview: Broadcom’s Automotive Ethernet Core Platform

Broadcom is the pioneer of BroadR-Reach® automotive Ethernet technology and leads the OPEN Alliance standard for single-pair twisted-pair (UTP) automotive Ethernet. It offers comprehensive coverage across three core product lines—the PHY (Physical Layer), Ethernet switches and dedicated automotive MCUs—supporting all scenarios, from traditional domain-controlled systems to next-generation zonal electronic/electrical architectures and Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs).

Based on a single-pair unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) transmission solution, it reduces wiring harness costs by 80 per cent and weight by 30 per cent compared to traditional CAN/LIN and shielded coaxial cables, whilst meeting all requirements for AEC-Q100 automotive standards, stringent EMC/EMI compliance, functional safety, Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and in-vehicle cybersecurity. It is widely used in smart cockpits, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), body gateways, zonal controllers and in-vehicle perception cameras.

II. Broadcom Automotive Ethernet Physical Layer Chips (PHY Transceivers)

In-vehicle PHYs form the core of in-car network signal transmission and reception at the lowest level, handling electrical signal encoding and decoding, clock synchronisation, cable equalisation and low-noise transmission. Broadcom’s full product range covers all T1 standard speeds—10M, 100M, 1G, 2.5G and 10G—and features full automotive-grade certification, pin compatibility and a unified software and hardware SDK.

1. Main Product Lines and Representative Models

BCM8981X 100BASE-T1 100 Mbps PHY

The first-generation BroadR-Reach solution, offering 100 Mbps per port. Suitable for body control, on-board diagnostics, small central control displays and basic radar sensors. Features a low-power sleep mode and offers optimal cost efficiency. With over 50 million ports installed in vehicles, it is the standard PHY for entry-level models.

BCM8988X 100/1000BASE-T1 Gigabit Dual-Speed PHY (Flagship Mainstream)

Representative models include the BCM89881 and BCM89884. These are compatible with both the IEEE 802.3bw (100M) and 802.3bp (1G) standards, featuring a single-chip design that integrates a low-pass filter and a single power rail, whilst supporting power delivery via PoDL cables; It features built-in BroadR-Secure hardware encryption and 1588/802.1AS high-precision timestamping, with microsecond-level link establishment speeds to meet the low-latency requirements of autonomous driving.

Key advantages: Exceptional cable equalisation, ensuring stable transmission over 15 metres of twisted-pair cable; optimal EMI suppression, suitable for harsh in-vehicle electromagnetic environments; multiple low-power modes to meet the energy-saving requirements of new energy vehicles.

Applications: High-definition in-vehicle cameras, LiDAR, domain controller gateways, and multi-screen connectivity in smart cockpits.

BCM8989X 2.5G/5G/10GBASE-T1 Multi-Gigabit High-Speed PHY

Designed for high-level autonomous driving central computing platforms, it supports 2.5G/5G/10G ultra-high bandwidth, and is suitable for 8M/12M high-resolution cameras, 4D millimetre-wave radar, and high-bandwidth data exchange between the vehicle interior and exterior. It provides native hardware support for TSN flow control and MACsec link encryption.

10BASE-T1S Low-Speed PHY (Integrated into Switches)

Built into next-generation switches such as the BCM89599, this solution is designed for distributed small actuators and sensors throughout the vehicle body, enabling low-cost multi-node bus networking and simplifying peripheral cabling for zone controllers.

General Core Features of the PHY

Entire product range compliant with AEC-Q100 Grade 1 automotive standards, with a wide operating temperature range of –40°C to 125°C;

Native hardware support for TSN, AVB audio-video transmission and IEEE 1588 high-precision clock synchronisation;

Built-in hardware security engine supporting link encryption and intrusion detection;

Unified software drivers enable rapid porting across models, reducing the overall vehicle development cycle.

III. Broadcom Automotive Ethernet Switches (RoboSwitch Automotive-Grade Switch Series)

Switches handle in-vehicle data aggregation, forwarding, routing and traffic scheduling, serving as the core chips for domain controllers and zone gateways. Broadcom switches are categorised into two main product lines: integrated PHY-on-chip switch SoCs and pure high-speed switching cores, covering Layer 2 + enhanced Layer 2 and hardware Layer 3 routing, and are compatible with SDV (Software-Defined Vehicle) architectures.

1. Key Product Lines

(1) BCM8956X Fifth-Generation Integrated Secure Switch

Features multi-port integrated 100M/1G BroadR-Reach PHYs, a built-in ARM Cortex-M7 hard-core processor, and a hardware HSM security module; supports line-rate encryption, Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), and L3 hardware routing offload; Native AVB/TSN audio-video scheduling and a high-speed PCIe host interface, suitable for cockpit gateways and autonomous driving domain controllers.

(2) BCM8958X 50G Ultra-High-Bandwidth Zonal Switch

Designed for the next-generation Zonal architecture, this single-chip solution features 16 ports, including 6 high-speed 10G uplinks, and integrates multiple Gigabit T1 PHYs. Its high bandwidth supports the concurrent aggregation of data from multiple lidar sensors and high-definition cameras; a programmable packet filtering engine enables switching between traffic policies for multiple driving modes, making it the preferred switch chip for central computing platforms.

(3) BCM89599 Eighth-Generation Next-Generation Zonal Switch (2025 New Iteration)

The current flagship single-chip solution with 30G switching capacity, specifically designed for zonal ECUs; integrates 2 x 10BASE-T1S low-speed PHYs for interfacing with small in-vehicle peripherals; supports 802.1AE MACsec hardware encryption and multi-level network security isolation; 2.5G USXGMII/XFI high-speed interconnect interfaces, hardware-accelerated network virtualisation, and support for OTA security updates, in-vehicle big data analysis, and subscription-based vehicle feature distribution.

(4) BCM5316X RoboSwitch Multi-Gigabit Industrial In-Vehicle Switching Platform

Multi-port 1G/2.5G switching core, with external Broadcom T1 PHYs to expand in-vehicle Ethernet ports; integrated Cortex-M7; low power consumption ≤4.5W; suitable for high-speed backplane interconnects in electric vehicle main control units and autonomous driving compute modules.

Core Switch Capabilities

Automotive-grade real-time scheduling: Hardware-based TSN traffic shaping and time synchronisation ensure zero packet loss and low latency for safety-critical messages such as those from sensors and brake control systems;

Comprehensive hardware security: Built-in independent security module supporting link encryption, firewalls, intrusion alerts and FOTA upgrade protection;

Software-Hardware Decoupling for SDV Compatibility: Virtualised network interfaces and traffic offloading/acceleration, supporting online subscription-based feature upgrades after vehicle launch;

High Integration for Simplified BOM: Multiple models feature built-in multi-channel in-vehicle PHYs, eliminating the need for external transceivers, reducing PCB footprint and lowering component costs.

IV. Broadcom Automotive Ethernet-Specific Microcontrollers (Camera MCU Perception Series)

The Broadcom BCM8910X series comprises integrated Ethernet-enabled intelligent perception MCUs, specifically designed for in-vehicle cameras and vision sensors. They bridge the entire chain from image acquisition and processing to Ethernet encoding and transmission, serving as a core single-chip solution for ADAS perception nodes.

1. Key Specifications of the BCM8910X Smart Camera MCU

Built-in image signal processor (ISP) and hardware video encoder;

Integrated 1000BASE-T1 automotive Ethernet MAC+PHY, enabling image capture, compression and high-speed transmission on a single chip;

Equipped with a dedicated real-time processing core, supporting basic vision algorithms such as lane recognition, object detection and image distortion correction;

Automotive-grade wide-temperature, low-power design; supports PoDL (Power over Data Link) cable power supply, enabling simultaneous transmission of image data and power via a single twisted-pair cable;

Hardware TSN clock synchronisation ensures millisecond-level alignment of multiple camera feeds, making it suitable for multi-camera fusion autonomous driving solutions.

2. Application Scenarios

Front-view monocular/stereoscopic cameras, 360° surround-view panoramic imaging, in-vehicle Driver Monitoring System (DMS), Occupant Monitoring System (OMS), and low-cost visual perception nodes. Eliminates the need for a dual-chip design comprising an external MCU and a separate PHY, significantly simplifying the camera module structure and reducing the cost of perception hardware.