MIPI Alliance and IEEE Sign Agreement to Bring Automotive SerDes Standard to Broader Ecosystem

Collaboration intended to expand global availability of standardized, interoperable solutions for high-speed in-vehicle connectivity

PISCATAWAY, N.J., October 13, 2020 – The MIPI Alliance, an international organization that develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries, today announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity, to facilitate adoption of the MIPI A-PHY specification as an IEEE standard. MIPI A-PHY v1.0 is the first industry-standard, long-reach serializer-deserializer (SerDes) physical layer interface for automotive applications such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous driving systems (ADS) and other surround-sensor applications, including cameras and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) displays.

“Our collaboration with IEEE is intended to bring the MIPI A-PHY SerDes specification to a broader ecosystem beyond MIPI’s membership, which in turn will foster greater interoperability, choice and economies of scale for the global automotive industry,” said Joel Huloux, chairman of MIPI Alliance. “Automotive OEMs and their suppliers require end-to-end, high-performance connectivity solutions, and A-PHY v1.0 delivers with high reliability, resiliency and performance for high-speed data transfer within vehicles.”

MIPI A-PHY serves as the foundation of an end-to-end system designed to simplify the integration of cameras, sensors and displays across a vehicle while adding functional safety and security to the MIPI CSI-2 and MIPI DSI-2 protocols used in billions of mobile devices and widely implemented in automotive today. As the only long-reach PHY with native support for CSI-2 and DSI-2, as well as third-party protocols such as VESA DisplayPort and Embedded DisplayPort, A-PHY offers seamless integration by eliminating the need for bridge ICs.

A-PHY provides an asymmetric data link in a point-to-point topology, delivering high-speed unidirectional data, embedded bidirectional control data and optional power over a single cable, reducing wiring, cost and weight. MIPI A-PHY v1.0 offers an ultra-low packet error rate (PER) of 10^‑19 for unprecedented performance over the vehicle lifetime, ultra-high immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) effects in demanding automotive conditions and data rate as high as 16 Gbps, with a roadmap to 48 Gbps and beyond.

The MIPI A-PHY v1.0 specification became available to MIPI members in September 2020 and now will go through the IEEE standards-adoption process. The MOU also paves the way for the adoption of other MIPI specifications, such as A-PHY protocol adaptation layers for MIPI CSI-2 and DSI-2, as IEEE standards in the future.

Under the MOU, the MIPI Alliance joins the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) as a corporate member and will participate in the IEEE Industry Affiliate Network (IAN). Through IAN, the MIPI Alliance leverages visibility for its specifications across and beyond more than 419,000 IEEE members in over 160 countries and an unmatched range of technology spaces.

“IAN is designed to facilitate IEEE adoption of industry-recognized, market-relevant specifications from industry consortia, toward the goal of advancing standards development and market adoption that address technological innovations and market advancements,” said Dr. Konstantinos Karachalios, Managing Director of IEEE SA. “The contribution of MIPI A-PHY will add a new asymmetric approach to our existing portfolio of IEEE automotive standards. We are excited to work with MIPI Alliance to bring this standardized solution to the automotive ecosystem.”

For more information on IAN, please visit https://bit.ly/2GPhazt.

MIPI offers educational resources for system designers and developers of automotive solutions:

• Upcoming automotive industry events
• MIPI A-PHY webinar
• Automotive white paper

About MIPI Alliance

MIPI Alliance (MIPI) develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries. There is at least one MIPI specification in every smartphone manufactured today. Founded in 2003, the organization has over 300 member companies worldwide and 14 active working groups delivering specifications within the mobile ecosystem. Members of the organization include handset manufacturers, device OEMs, software providers, semiconductor companies, application processor developers, IP tool providers, automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, and test and test equipment companies, as well as camera, tablet and laptop manufacturers. For more information, please visit www.mipi.org.