Performance comparison of IEEE 802.1Q and IEEE 802.1 AVB in an Ethernet-based in-vehicle network

The traditional in-vehicle network is changing due to the increasing number of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and the bandwidth demand of future applications. Instead of using MOST for multimedia applications, there are some efforts of the automotive OEMs to introduce Ethernet for these applications. The legacy switched Ethernet network is not able to provide guaranteed Quality-of-Service (QoS) so that information can be delayed or lost in certain situations. With the introduction of the IEEE 802.1 Audio/Video Bridging (AVB) specification, low latency multimedia streaming services with guaranteed QoS are possible in a switched Ethernet network. In this paper, we focus on the evaluation of the Ethernet AVB standard for the use in a vehicle by comparing the performance to a prioritized network based on IEEE 802.1Q. We consider different in-vehicle applications and determine how the background load will influence these applications. Scope of the work is to reveal the benefits and weakness of Ethernet AVB compared to the legacy prioritization mechanism specified in IEEE 802.1Q.