Reducing Vehicle Weight and Improving Security by Using Plastic Optical Fiber

Despite the extensive use of communication networks in today´s vehicles, the mass of automotive electrical wiring has continued to increase as new technologies evolve. Approximately 100 kg of wire are used in a typical vehicle and the problem is exacerbated for electrified vehicles such as hybrids where additional electronic control circuitry is used along with high current cables for electric propulsion. Another consideration that is of increasing concern is the vulnerability of the network to security breaches where access to the network is illegally acquired or where the network integrity is compromised by electromagnetic interference. This paper describes the use of plastic optical fiber with Ethernet networks to alleviate many of these concerns.