Today, Continental and Ethernovia, Inc. have unveiled a collaborative effort aimed at creating a high-bandwidth, low-latency switch designed for automotive use. This switch, manufactured using an automotive-qualified 7nm process, will play a critical role in efficiently and securely managing data within software-defined vehicles (SDVs).

The partnership between Continental and Ethernovia will unfold in two main phases. First, the companies will work together to optimize the advanced switch for inclusion in High-Performance Computers (HPC) developed by Continental, preparing it for series production. In the second phase, the collaboration will focus on the joint development of a highly integrated network chip tailored specifically for automotive applications.

Jean-Francois Tarabbia, Head of Architecture and Networking Business Area at Continental, emphasized the importance of this endeavor: "With Ethernovia, we have the perfect partner at our side to develop a particularly innovative and urgently needed technology solution for the mobility of the future. New functions in the vehicle drive an increase in computing power, and with it an increased amount of data to be absorbed and acted upon. Conventional computing topologies are reaching the limits of their performance. With the new approach of a switch tailored to meet the needs of automotive customers, in combination with innovative design of High-Performance Computers, we can offer our customers an effective, power-efficient, and cost-efficient solution."

Ramin Shirani, CEO and co-founder at Ethernovia, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the significance of their partnership: "This partnership allows us to help shape tomorrow's mobility. Continental's expertise in building High-Performance Computers for the automotive sector and designing complex electrical/electronic architectures in vehicles perfectly complements our know-how in developing communication components for transferring and processing data within the automotive market’s unique requirements, including functional safety."

The collaborative effort between Continental and Ethernovia is expected to yield advanced switching technology that will play a pivotal role in accelerating data exchange within vehicles effectively. This technology is essential to meet the growing demands of connectivity solutions, emerging driver assistance systems, and the increasingly automated and autonomous driving functions of the future, all of which rely on real-time data exchange and processing.