FlexRay and Ethernet AVB Synchronization for High QoS Automotive Gateway

Modern in-vehicle networks are comprised of heterogeneous systems that use various communication protocols with different source clocks. Moreover, gateway systems are designed with additional features that ensure converted/forwarded data meet real-time constraints. In this paper, we propose a synchronization mechanism for FlexRay and Ethernet audio video bridging (AVB) network that guarantees a high quality-of-service. We also designed the corresponding embedded system based-gateway system. Moreover, we built an in-vehicle network environment that consists of FlexRay and Ethernet AVB networks using an embedded system, which is integrated and synchronized by the gateway. We evaluate the synchronization performance of the proposed method using the developed gateway by conducting experiments as well as a theoretical analysis. The results of the experiment show that the synchronization mechanism provides timing guarantees for the FlexRay network that are similar to those of the Ethernet AVB network.