Toyota Continues Roll Out of MOST50 for Its Cars’ Infotainment System

Reports say that Toyota Motor Corp. is continuing the roll out of Microchip’s MOST50 Intelligent Network Interface Controllers (INICs) to power the infotainment systems throughout its vehicle line.

The Toyota premium Lexus RX SUV is the newest deployment among a wide range of the Toyota brands, which have been using MOST50 in their infotainment systems for a number of model years. As the Japanese automaker has in previous implementations, it is utilizing MOST® technology to guarantee high-quality digital audio streaming throughout its Lexus RX SUV.

In a statement, Dan Termer, vice president of Microchip’s Automotive Information Systems pision, said that the Lexus RX is the newest luxury SUV launched in mass production that employs MOST50 network technology in its infotainment system to offer the highest quality in digital audio streaming applications. “The Lexus RX SUV deployment reflects Toyota’s trust and confidence in using MOST technology for developing feature-rich and cost-effective infotainment systems.”

MOST continues the extension of its global adoption as the high-speed networking technology developed by automakers for automakers. For several years, Toyota, along with other key automakers, has successfully employed MOST technology in their multi-node infotainment networking systems. Since 2001, around 200 million MOST devices have been deployed in 194 mass production car models.

Toyota’s infotainment networks use Microchip’s MOST50 INICs featuring an Electrical Physical Layer (ePHY). This results in an efficient system that is highly capable of transporting audio, video, packet and control data throughout the vehicle without time-synchronization protocols, utilizing dedicated channels for minimal processor overhead in the key infotainment control unit processors.

The remote-control and remote-connection-management capabilities of all Microchip MOST INICs enable further options, which include the ability to build slim network nodes. In addition, MOST INICs offer industry-standard hardware interfaces to process and peripheral devices for the efficient routing of video, audio and packet data, which streamlines module designs. Thanks to MOST INIC’s ultra-fast network startup feature, end users can utilize the vehicle’s infotainment system right away.

The MOST Cooperation standards provide OEMs and their Tier 1 suppliers with a proven and well-supported methodology for the definition and implementation off high-bandwidth infotainment and ADAS systems, including a standard physical layer and a solid method for system management and control with excellent reliability and Quality of Service (QoS). What’s more, the use of MOST technology has been proven to result in weight reduction for easier conformity to environmental regulations.