A Bi-directional physical layer converter

Between 100BASE-T1 (OPEN Alliance BroadR-Reach – OABR) and 100BASE-TX (Fast Ethernet),

Enabling the user to easily connect automotive cameras or ECUs with OABR / Automotive Ethernet media link to a standard computer network.

The interface establishes a point-to-point link between an unshielded twisted-pair Automotive Ethernet (IEEE 100BASE-T1) port and a Fast Ethernet port. The converter features one DSUB9 (BroadR-Reach, CAN bus), one Fast Ethernet port with RJ-45 connector, and a Micro-USB connector. The BroadR-Reach channel is configurable as either Master or Slave by a switch button or programmatically, and the device can be powered either via DSUB connector or via USB.

The converter enables access to SMI registers of both transceivers (PHYs) via a CAN bus or a USB’s virtual serial port. This enables the user to evaluate signal strength, detect polarity of the T1 port, carry out a BroadR-Reach media test to diagnose cable errors, fine-tune the PHYs parameters, and generally to read and write the registers.

The 100BASE-T1 Media Converter is available as a serial port (COM port) when it is connected to a PC over USB. The PC application reads the following information out of the converter: