Optical Automotive Ethernet Transmitter Test Solution

03 November 2025 - Keysight Technologies introduced the AE6980T nGBASE-AU Optical Automotive Ethernet Transmitter Test Solution, the industry’s first platform to qualify next-generation optical automotive Ethernet PHYs in compliance with the IEEE 802.3cz standard. The standard defines robust multi-gigabit optical automotive Ethernet (2.5G–50G) over multimode fiber, delivering low-latency, EMI-immune links with high bandwidth and reduced cabling weight — forming the foundation for software-defined vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems.

Optical automotive Ethernet technology is transforming the in-vehicle network landscape, combining high-speed performance, robustness, and efficiency for future software-defined and autonomous vehicles. As automakers shift toward centralized zonal architectures and higher levels of automation, optical links are emerging as a critical enabler to meet the stringent bandwidth, flexibility, and reliability requirements of next-generation mobility.

Built on Keysight’s proven FlexDCA platform, the AE6980T integrates advanced Transmitter Distortion Figure of Merit (TDFOM)-assisted measurement capabilities. As the key metric for assessing optical signal quality, TDFOM enables predictive analysis of real-world performance and simplifies device debugging through detailed margin and eye-quality evaluations. The compliance application further enhances efficiency by automating complex test setups and generating comprehensive HTML reports for validation and engineering teams.

Key features and benefits of the nGBASE-AU Optical Automotive Ethernet Transmitter Test Solution include:

• Full compliance with IEEE 802.3cz Amendment 7, 2023 and Open Alliance TC7 test house specifications.
• TDFOM measurement suite (including TDFOM OMA, ER, AOP, and OAR) for industry-leading signal quality assessment.
• Supported oscilloscope models: Keysight DCA-M model N1092A/N1092C, with clock recovery via Keysight N1077B.
• Intuitive test automation interface on FlexDCA, enabling both conformant and developer test configurations.

Keysight collaborated closely during the development of the IEEE 802.3cz standard with KD, an optical transceiver chipset maker and leader in nGBASE-AU multigigabit optical automotive Ethernet technology. The collaboration also resulted in the final version of the TDFOM test specifications. KD’s software-based TDFOM reference receiver and signal metric analysis align with the IEEE standard specifications and integrate seamlessly into Keysight’s test equipment and in-vehicle networking systems.

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