Keysight Technologies has announced a significant expansion of its automotive test portfolio with the unveiling of next-generation in-vehicle network validation solutions at the Automotive Ethernet Congress 2026 in Germany. The company’s latest innovations are designed to address the rapidly evolving demands of automotive Ethernet, particularly as the industry accelerates toward high-speed, software-defined, and data-centric vehicle architectures.
At booth B-07 during the event, Keysight is showcasing advanced receiver compliance testing solutions that support a wide range of automotive Ethernet standards—from 10BASE-T1S, commonly used in low-speed edge applications, all the way up to 10GBASE-T1, which is critical for high-bandwidth in-vehicle communication. These solutions are expected to play a pivotal role in enabling automakers and suppliers to validate next-generation network architectures while ensuring reliability, safety, and compliance with global standards.
The Growing Importance of Automotive Ethernet
As the automotive industry undergoes a profound digital transformation, vehicles are becoming increasingly software-defined. This shift is driven by the growing integration of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous driving technologies, infotainment platforms, and over-the-air (OTA) software updates. All of these applications require robust, high-speed data communication within the vehicle.
Automotive Ethernet has emerged as the backbone of this transformation. Unlike traditional in-vehicle networking protocols such as CAN, LIN, or FlexRay, Ethernet offers significantly higher bandwidth, scalability, and flexibility. It enables seamless data exchange between sensors, control units, and computing platforms, making it ideal for modern vehicle architectures.
One of the most notable trends shaping the future of automotive networking is the transition to zonal architectures. In this model, electronic control units (ECUs) are grouped into zones, each managed by a central controller. This approach reduces wiring complexity, lowers costs, and enhances system scalability. However, it also increases the need for reliable and high-performance communication networks.
As a result, ensuring the integrity and performance of Ethernet communication—particularly at the receiver level—has become a mission-critical requirement.
Why Receiver Testing Matters
Receiver (Rx) testing plays a crucial role in validating the performance of automotive Ethernet systems. While transmitters (Tx) send signals across the network, receivers must accurately interpret those signals under a wide range of real-world conditions, including noise, interference, and signal degradation.
In modern vehicles, where safety-critical systems depend on uninterrupted data flow, even minor communication errors can have serious consequences. This makes rigorous receiver testing essential for:
- Ensuring compliance with industry standards
- Verifying signal integrity under challenging conditions
- Identifying potential failure points early in the development cycle
- Supporting functional safety requirements
Keysight’s new solutions are specifically designed to address these challenges, providing comprehensive tools for validating receiver performance across diverse automotive Ethernet implementations.
Introducing the 10BASE-T1S Receiver Test Solution
One of the highlights of Keysight’s showcase at the Automotive Ethernet Congress is its new 10BASE-T1S Receiver Test Solution. This solution is tailored for emerging multi-drop Ethernet architectures, which are increasingly being adopted in zonal and edge-controller applications.
Developed in collaboration with BitifEye Digital Test Solutions GmbH, the solution offers a comprehensive suite of capabilities designed to simplify and accelerate receiver validation.
Key Features and Benefits
1. Automated Compliance Testing
The solution includes advanced software that automates receiver compliance testing for physical layer (PHY) devices. It supports the Open Alliance TC14 PMA Test Suite 5.2.1 specification, ensuring that devices meet the latest industry requirements.
2. BER Verification Under Real-World Conditions
Bit Error Rate (BER) testing is a critical metric for evaluating communication reliability. Keysight’s solution enables BER verification under impaired channel conditions and in the presence of coupled noise. This is achieved באמצעות specialized hardware components such as:
- A 10BASE-T1S media converter
- Ringing boards
- MDI (Medium Dependent Interface) adapters
These tools allow engineers to simulate real-world scenarios and validate receiver performance under challenging conditions.
3. Multi-Drop Network Testing
Unlike traditional point-to-point Ethernet, 10BASE-T1S supports multi-drop configurations, where multiple devices share the same communication medium. Keysight’s solution enables comprehensive testing of these configurations, ensuring reliable operation in scalable zonal architectures.
Advancing Optical Automotive Ethernet with nGBASE-AU
In addition to its 10BASE-T1S solution, Keysight is also demonstrating its nGBASE-AU optical automotive Ethernet test solution. This cutting-edge platform is designed to meet the growing demand for high-bandwidth, long-reach, and EMI-resistant communication in next-generation vehicles.
Why Optical Ethernet?
As data rates continue to increase, traditional copper-based Ethernet solutions face limitations in terms of electromagnetic interference (EMI), signal attenuation, and reach. Optical Ethernet addresses these challenges by using fiber-optic communication, which offers:
- Higher bandwidth capacity
- Improved immunity to EMI
- Longer transmission distances
- Enhanced reliability in harsh environments
These advantages make optical Ethernet an attractive option for future automotive networks, particularly in autonomous and connected vehicles.
Key Features of the nGBASE-AU Solution
1. Standards Compliance
The solution is fully compliant with IEEE 802.3cz Amendment 7 (2023) and Open Alliance TC7 test house specifications. This ensures that automotive manufacturers can validate their systems against globally recognized standards.
2. Advanced Signal Quality Metrics
Keysight’s platform includes a comprehensive TDFOM (Transmitter and Dispersion Figure of Merit) measurement suite. This suite provides detailed insights into signal quality through metrics such as:
- Optical Modulation Amplitude (OMA)
- Extinction Ratio (ER)
- Average Optical Power (AOP)
- Optical Amplitude Ratio (OAR)
These measurements are essential for evaluating the performance of optical communication systems.
3. High-Performance Instrumentation
The testbed supports advanced oscilloscope models such as the Keysight DCA-M series (N1092A and N1092C), along with clock recovery capabilities provided by the Keysight N1077B. This combination enables precise and reliable measurements across a wide range of test scenarios.
4. Intuitive Test Automation
The solution features an intuitive interface built on Keysight’s FlexDCA software platform. This interface supports both standardized compliance testing and customized development workflows, allowing engineers to tailor their testing processes to specific requirements.
Supporting the Shift to Software-Defined Vehicles
The introduction of these new testing solutions comes at a time when the automotive industry is undergoing a fundamental shift toward software-defined vehicles (SDVs). In this paradigm, software plays a central role in defining vehicle functionality, enabling continuous updates, new features, and improved performance over time.
However, this shift also places greater demands on in-vehicle networks, which must support:
- High-speed data transfer between sensors and processors
- Real-time communication for safety-critical systems
- Scalable architectures that can adapt to future requirements
Keysight’s solutions are designed to address these challenges by providing the tools needed to validate and optimize automotive Ethernet networks at every stage of development.
Industry Perspective
According to Thomas Goetzl, Vice President and General Manager of Automotive & Energy Solutions at Keysight, the company’s latest innovations are closely aligned with the evolving needs of the automotive industry.
He emphasized that as vehicle architectures become more software-driven and data-intensive, the importance of resilient, high-speed Ethernet communication continues to grow. The launch of the 10BASE-T1S receiver test portfolio and the nGBASE-AU optical solution reflects Keysight’s commitment to enabling innovation while ensuring robust, standards-compliant performance.
Live Demonstrations at Automotive Ethernet Congress
Attendees of the Automotive Ethernet Congress 2026 have the opportunity to experience these solutions firsthand at Keysight’s booth. The company’s experts are available to provide live demonstrations, answer technical questions, and discuss how these tools can be integrated into existing development workflows.
The event itself serves as a key platform for industry stakeholders to explore the latest advancements in automotive networking, exchange ideas, and collaborate on future innovations.
About Keysight Technologies
At Keysight (NYSE: KEYS), we inspire and empower innovators to bring world-changing technologies to life. As an S&P 500 company, we’re delivering market-leading design, emulation, and test solutions to help engineers develop and deploy faster, with less risk, throughout the entire product life cycle. We’re a global innovation partner enabling customers in communications, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, automotive, semiconductor, and general electronics markets to accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world.
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