The magic triangle needs to be recalibrated

With over 1,200 participants, 57 exhibitors from 23 countries, and an extensive conference program featuring numerous OEMs from BMW to Volvo, the twelfth Automotive Ethernet Congress once again proved to be a major industry gathering

Thomas Königseder (Technica Engineering) spoke of a “magic triangle” in his keynote opening the congress, which took place in Munich. This refers to a formula for success that balances three different forces: economic factors, technological developments, and standardization efforts. Under pressure from the rapid pace of development in China, the rest of the automotive industry is now facing the challenge of recalibrating this triangle.

According to Königseder, two principles are key: OEMs should focus on their core competencies, and the automotive community as a whole should sharpen its focus and avoid getting lost in endless debates over standards and technologies. Specifically for the automotive Ethernet sector, this means consistently and actively applying standards such as IEEE or AUTOSAR. The use of open-source solutions is also beneficial—provided they are not only consumed but actively co-developed.

There is certainly no shortage of new ideas and solution approaches, as demonstrated by the subsequent presentations on E/E architectures, service-oriented architecture (SOA), and security. This is particularly true for optical data transmission, which has so far seen limited use in vehicles. A total of 17 companies active in this field presented the current state of automotive optical Ethernet communication in joint short presentations followed by a panel discussion. Their message was clear: whether transceivers, connectors and cables, test systems, or wiring harness production – the necessary technology has been tested and is ready for deployment. Although there is still some hesitation on the OEM side, China could once again drive an accelerated shift in strategy. According to the Chinese supplier Hinge, the demand for bandwidth there is so high that optical solutions are increasingly being requested.

Further presentations at the Automotive Ethernet Congress covered topics such as TSN, switch software, and networked audio. According to Cirrus Logic, even highly latency-sensitive applications such as road noise cancellation are possible using AVB audio. For applications in vehicle doors in particular, it is also important that remote-control protocol data – for example, for window operation – and AVB audio signals can be transmitted over a single connection. Microchip and Marelli demonstrated how this works not only in a presentation but also with a demo model in the accompanying exhibition.

The high-level conference program was complemented by a dedicated training day prior to the congress. Industry experts provided valuable practical knowledge on TSN, SOME/IP, and MACsec for the successful implementation of Ethernet projects. The next Automotive Ethernet Congress is scheduled for February 23–25, 2027.

We would like to thank our exhibitors and partners for 2026.