Demo: Conformance testing for emerging IEEE 802.3 automotive ethernet PHY specifications

This paper and accompanying demonstration discusses IEEE 802.3bw 100BASE-T1 (100 Mbps) Automotive Ethernet physical layer conformance verification for the PCS and PMA layers, specifically exploring the PHY Control feature within the PMA. The automotive industry is adopting Ethernet as the next high speed wired data bus in the car, and as the number of solutions in the market increases so does the demand for conformance testing. The IEEE defines several state machines within the 802.3bw specification that describe how a PHY is to perform link training and properly send and receive Ethernet frames. Tools designed and developed specifically for 100BASE-T1 PHY state machine validation are presented, using common test & measurement equipment, specially designed test fixtures, and custom post-processing software.