FlexRay Communications System
Electrical Physical Layer Specification
Version 2.1
Revision B
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FlexRay Electrical Physical Layer Specification
Disclaimer
DISCLAIMER
This specification as released by the FlexRay Consortium is intended for the purpose of information only. The
use of material contained in this specification requires membership within the FlexRay Consortium or an
agreement with the FlexRay Consortium. The FlexRay Consortium will not be liable for any unauthorized use of
this Specification.
Following the completion of the development of the FlexRay Communications System Specifications commercial
exploitation licenses will be made available to End Users by way of an End User's License Agreement. Such
licenses shall be contingent upon End Users granting reciprocal licenses to all Core Partners and non-assertions
in favor of all Premium Associate Members and Associate Members.
All details and mechanisms concerning the bus guardian concept are defined in the FlexRay Bus Guardian
Specifications.
The FlexRay Communications System is currently specified for a baud rate of 10 Mbit/s. It may be extended to
additional baud rates.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from the publisher.
The word FlexRay and the FlexRay logo are registered trademarks.
Copyright © 2004-2006 FlexRay Consortium. All rights reserved.
Editor Chapters 1 - 11:
Bernd Elend, NXP Semiconductors
Editor Chapter 12:
Harald Gall, Austria Microsystems
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The Core Partners of the FlexRay Consortium are BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler AG, Freescale Halbleiter
Deutschland GmbH, General Motors Corporation, Philips GmbH, Robert Bosch GmbH and Volkswagen AG.
Version 2.1 Revision B
November-2006
Page 2 of 96
FlexRay Electrical Physical Layer Specification
Table of contents
Table of contents
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 7
1.1 Objective............................................................................................................................................... 7
1.2 Overview............................................................................................................................................... 7
1.3 References ........................................................................................................................................... 7
1.4 Terms and definitions ........................................................................................................................... 8
1.5 List of abbreviations.............................................................................................................................. 8
1.6 Notational conventions ......................................................................................................................... 9
1.6.1 Parameter prefix conventions ......................................................................................................... 9
1.7 Important preliminary notes ................................................................................................................ 10
1.7.1 Bus speed ..................................................................................................................................... 10
1.7.2 Functional classes ........................................................................................................................ 10
1.7.3 System and conformance tests .................................................................................................... 10
1.8 Revision history .................................................................................................................................. 11
1.8.1 Changes applied to “E-PL spec v2.1 Revision A”......................................................................... 11
1.9 Open issues........................................................................................................................................ 11
CHAPTER 2 COMMUNICATION CHANNEL BASICS .............................................................................. 12
2.1 Objective............................................................................................................................................. 12
2.2 Propagation delay............................................................................................................................... 12
2.2.1 Asymmetric delay.......................................................................................................................... 13
2.3 Truncation........................................................................................................................................... 14
2.4 Symbol length change ........................................................................................................................ 15
2.5 Collisions ............................................................................................................................................ 15
2.6 EMC jitter ............................................................................................................................................ 16
2.6.1 EMC jitter on signal edges ............................................................................................................ 16
2.6.2 EMC jitter on TSS-truncation ........................................................................................................ 16
2.6.3 EMC jitter on Symbol length change ............................................................................................ 16
2.7 Wake-up patterns ............................................................................................................................... 17
2.7.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 17
2.7.2 Valid wake-up pattern ................................................................................................................... 17
2.7.3 Non valid wake-up patterns .......................................................................................................... 18
CHAPTER 3 PRINCIPLE OF FLEXRAY NETWORKING ......................................................................... 19
3.1 Objective............................................................................................................................................. 19
3.2 Interconnection of nodes .................................................................................................................... 19
CHAPTER 4 NETWORK COMPONENTS ................................................................................................. 21
4.1 Objective............................................................................................................................................. 21
4.2 Cables................................................................................................................................................. 21
4.3 Connectors ......................................................................................................................................... 21
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Version 2.1 Revision B
November-2006
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FlexRay Electrical Physical Layer Specification
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4.4 Cable termination ............................................................................................................................... 22
4.4.1 Terminated cable end ................................................................................................................... 22
4.4.2 Un-terminated cable end............................................................................................................... 23
4.5 Termination concept ........................................................................................................................... 23
4.6 Common mode chokes....................................................................................................................... 24
4.7 DC bus load ........................................................................................................................................ 24
CHAPTER 5 NETWORK TOPOLOGY....................................................................................................... 26
5.1 Objective............................................................................................................................................. 26
5.2 Point-to-point connection.................................................................................................................... 26
5.3 Passive star ........................................................................................................................................ 27
5.4 Linear passive bus.............................................................................................................................. 28
5.5 Active star network ............................................................................................................................. 29
5.6 Cascaded active stars ........................................................................................................................ 30
5.7 Hybrid topologies ................................................................................................................................ 31
5.8 Dual channel topologies ..................................................................................................................... 31
CHAPTER 6 ELECTRICAL SIGNALING ................................................................................................... 32
6.1 Objective............................................................................................................................................. 32
6.2 Overview............................................................................................................................................. 32
6.3 Bus state: Idle_LP .............................................................................................................................. 32
6.4 Bus state: Idle ..................................................................................................................................... 32
6.5 Bus state: Data_1 ............................................................................................................................... 33
6.6 Bus state: Data_0 ............................................................................................................................... 33
CHAPTER 7 SIGNAL INTEGRITY ............................................................................................................. 34
7.1 Objective............................................................................................................................................. 34
7.2 Definition of test planes ...................................................................................................................... 34
7.3 Eye-diagram at TP1............................................................................................................................ 35
7.4 Eye-diagram at TP4 (only valid for point-to-point connections) ......................................................... 36
CHAPTER 8 ELECTRICAL BUS DRIVER................................................................................................. 37
8.1 Overview............................................................................................................................................. 37
8.2 Operation modes ................................................................................................................................ 38
8.2.1 BD_Normal mode ......................................................................................................................... 38
8.2.2 BD_Standby mode........................................................................................................................ 38
8.2.3 BD_Sleep mode (optional)............................................................................................................ 38
8.2.4 BD_ReceiveOnly mode (optional) ................................................................................................ 38
8.3 Operation mode transitions ................................................................................................................ 39
8.4 Bus Driver – Communication Controller interface .............................................................................. 40
8.4.1 TxD/TxEN behavior in case a Bus Driver - Bus Guardian interface is implemented.................... 40
8.4.2 TxD/TxEN - behavior in case a Bus Driver - Bus Guardian interface is not implemented ........... 41
8.4.3 RxD - behavior .............................................................................................................................. 41
8.5 Bus Driver – Bus Guardian interface (optional).................................................................................. 42
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Version 2.1 Revision B
November-2006
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FlexRay Electrical Physical Layer Specification
Table of contents
8.6 Bus Driver – Host interface................................................................................................................. 43
8.6.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 43
8.6.2 Hard wired signals (Option A) ....................................................................................................... 43
8.6.3 Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) (Option B).................................................................................. 46
8.7 Bus Driver – Power supply interface .................................................................................................. 46
8.7.1 VCC supply voltage monitoring ...................................................................................................... 47
8.7.2 VBAT supply voltage monitoring ..................................................................................................... 47
8.7.3 Inhibit output (optional) ................................................................................................................. 48
8.8 Bus Driver - Level shift interface (optional) ........................................................................................ 48
8.8.1 VIO voltage monitoring................................................................................................................... 48
8.9 Bus Driver - Bus interface................................................................................................................... 49
8.9.1 Receiver characteristics................................................................................................................ 49
8.9.2 Receiver behavior ......................................................................................................................... 50
8.9.3 Receiver timing characteristics ..................................................................................................... 52
8.9.4 Receiver behavior at transition from idle to active and vice versa................................................ 54
8.9.5 Transmitter characteristics............................................................................................................ 56
8.9.6 Transmitter behavior at transition from idle to active and vice versa ........................................... 58
8.9.7 Bus Driver - bus interface behavior, when not powered............................................................... 59
8.9.8 Bus Driver - bus interface behavior under short-circuit conditions ............................................... 59
8.10 Bus Driver – Wake-up interface (optional) ....................................................................................... 60
8.10.1 Local Wake-up operating requirements...................................................................................... 60
8.11 Remote Wake-up event detector (optional)...................................................................................... 60
8.11.1 Remote Wake-up operating requirements.................................................................................. 60
8.12 Bus Driver behavior under fault conditions....................................................................................... 61
8.12.1 Environmental errors................................................................................................................... 61
8.12.2 Behavior of unconnected digital input signals ............................................................................ 62
8.12.3 Dynamic low battery voltage ....................................................................................................... 63
8.12.4 Bus failure detection ................................................................................................................... 64
8.12.5 Over-temperature protection....................................................................................................... 64
8.13 Bus Driver functional classes ........................................................................................................... 65
8.13.1 Functional class “Bus Driver voltage regulator control” .............................................................. 65
8.13.2 Functional class “Bus Driver - Bus Guardian interface”.............................................................. 65
8.13.3 Functional class “Bus Driver internal voltage regulator” ............................................................. 65
8.13.4 Functional class “Bus Driver logic level adaptation” ................................................................... 65
8.14 Bus Driver signal summary............................................................................................................... 66
CHAPTER 9 ACTIVE STAR....................................................................................................................... 68
9.1 Overview............................................................................................................................................. 68
9.2 Hardware realization........................................................................................................................... 68
9.2.1 Active star - Communication Controller interface (optional) ......................................................... 69
9.2.2 Active star - Bus Guardian interface (optional) ............................................................................. 69
9.2.3 Active star - Power supply interface ............................................................................................. 69
9.2.4 Active star - Bus interface ............................................................................................................. 69
9.3 Basic functionality............................................................................................................................... 69
9.4 Enhanced functionality ....................................................................................................................... 70
9.4.1 Functional class: “Active Star - Communication Controller interface” .......................................... 70
9.4.2 Functional class: “Active Star - Bus Guardian interface” .............................................................. 71
9.4.3 Functional class "Active Star - Voltage regulator control" ............................................................ 71
9.4.4 Functional class "Active Star - Internal voltage regulator"............................................................ 71
9.5 Active Star timing characteristics ....................................................................................................... 71
9.6 Active Star operation modes .............................................................................................................. 72
9.6.1 AS_Sleep ...................................................................................................................................... 72
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Version 2.1 Revision B
November-2006
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FlexRay Electrical Physical Layer Specification
Table of contents
9.6.2 AS_Normal.................................................................................................................................... 72
9.6.3 AS_Standby .................................................................................................................................. 72
9.7 Active Star operation mode transitions............................................................................................... 73
9.7.1 Active Star behavior after wake-up............................................................................................... 74
9.8 Operating states of branches ............................................................................................................. 74
9.8.1 Branch_Idle ................................................................................................................................... 74
9.8.2 Branch_Active............................................................................................................................... 74
9.8.3 Branch_FailSilent.......................................................................................................................... 74
9.9 Branch operating state transitions ...................................................................................................... 75
9.10 Collisions .......................................................................................................................................... 76
9.10.1 Collisions on busses ................................................................................................................... 76
9.10.2 Collision of bus activity and TxEN .............................................................................................. 76
9.11 Active Star behavior under fault conditions ...................................................................................... 78
9.12 Behavior of unconnected digital input signals .................................................................................. 79
CHAPTER 10 BUS GUARDIAN................................................................................................................. 80
CHAPTER 11 GENERAL FEATURES FOR FLEXRAY PARTS............................................................... 81
11.1 Objective........................................................................................................................................... 81
11.2 Input voltage thresholds for digital signals ....................................................................................... 81
11.3 Voltage limits for digital output signals ............................................................................................. 81
11.4 ESD protection on chip level ............................................................................................................ 82
11.5 ESD protection on ECU level ........................................................................................................... 82
11.6 Operating temperature ..................................................................................................................... 82
11.7 Serial peripheral interface (SPI) ....................................................................................................... 83
11.7.1 Behavior of unconnected digital input pins ................................................................................. 83
CHAPTER 12 SYSTEM TIMING CONSTRAINTS ..................................................................................... 84
12.1 Objective........................................................................................................................................... 84
12.2 Overview of timing parameters......................................................................................................... 84
12.3 Requirements of the decoding process according to [PS05] ........................................................... 84
12.4 FlexRay topologies ........................................................................................................................... 85
12.4.1 Signal chain ................................................................................................................................ 87
12.4.2 Example of a signal chain ........................................................................................................... 88
12.5 Description of asymmetry portions ................................................................................................... 89
12.5.1 Communication Controller .......................................................................................................... 89
12.5.2 Contribution of the Bus Driver..................................................................................................... 90
12.5.3 Interface between the Bus Driver and Communication Controller ............................................. 91
12.5.4 Passive networks ........................................................................................................................ 91
12.5.5 ECU............................................................................................................................................. 92
12.6 Requirements for Communication Controller ................................................................................... 92
12.7 Overview of the network integrity ..................................................................................................... 93
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Version 2.1 Revision B
November-2006
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FlexRay Electrical Physical Layer Specification
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Objective
This specification describes the electrical physical layer for FlexRay communications systems.
1.2 Overview
The electrical physical layer for FlexRay is designed to network automotive electronic control units (ECUs). The
medium that is used is dual wires. Signaling on the bus is accomplished by asserting a differential voltage
between those wires. Topology variations range from linear passive busses up to active star topologies.
Furthermore the physical layer optionally incorporates a so called bus guardian as an instance, which may watch
over the bus access and has the power to disable the bus access of a node module to a channel in case of
mismatches in the time schedule.
This specification includes the definition of electrical characteristics of the transmission itself and also
documentation of basic functionality for bus driver (BD), bus guardian (BG) and active star (AS) devices.
1.3 References
[PS05] FlexRay Communications System - Protocol Specification, v2.1 Revision A,
FlexRay Consortium, December 2005
[EMC05] FlexRay Communications System - Physical Layer EMC Measurement Specification, v2.1,
FlexRay Consortium, December 2005
[EPLAN06] FlexRay Communications System - Electrical Physical Layer Application Notes, v2.1 Revision B,
FlexRay Consortium, November 2006
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Version 2.1 Revision B
November-2006
Page 7 of 96
FlexRay Electrical Physical Layer Specification
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.4 Terms and definitions
FlexRay specific terms and definitions are listed in [PS05].
1.5 List of abbreviations
AS:
active star
BD:
bus driver
BG:
bus guardian
BSS: byte start sequence
CC:
communication controller
ECU: electronic control unit
SPI:
serial peripheral interface
TSS:
transmission start sequence
uVBAT: means a voltage applied at the VBAT pin relative to ground of the semiconductor device
uVECU: means a voltage applied at the battery connector of an ECU relative to ground
don’t care
placeholder for a figure [2, 3, 4, …]
X:
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Version 2.1 Revision B
November-2006
Page 8 of 96