FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and particularly to methods and systems for noise mitigation in Ethernet transceivers.

BACKGROUND

Various applications, such as automotive in-car communication systems, certain industrial communication systems and smart-home systems, require communication at high data rates over relatively small distances. Several types of protocols and communication media have been proposed for such applications. For example, Ethernet communication over twisted-pair copper wire media is specified in “IEEE 802.3bw-2015—IEEE Standard for Ethernet Amendment 1: Physical Layer Specifications and Management Parameters for 100 Mb/s Operation over a Single Balanced Twisted Pair Cable (100BASE-T1),” March, 2015.

The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.

SUMMARY

An embodiment that is described herein provides an automotive Ethernet physical-layer (PHY) transceiver that includes an analog Front End (FE) and a digital processor. The FE is configured to receive an analog Ethernet signal over a physical Ethernet link while the Ethernet PHY transceiver is operating in a vehicle, and to convert the received analog Ethernet signal into a digital signal. The digital processor is configured to hold one or more noise profiles that characterize respective predefined noise types of noise signals that are expected to corrupt the received analog Ethernet signal, to classify an actual noise signal present in the digital signal into one of the noise types, using the noise profiles, and in response to deciding that the actual noise signal matches a given noise type among the predefined noise types, to apply a noise mitigation operation selected responsively to the given noise type.

In some embodiments, the actual noise signal includes a transient noise signal, and the digital processor is configured to detect an onset event of the transient noise signal, and to classify the transient noise signal in the digital signal starting from the onset event. In other embodiments, in response to deciding that the actual noise signal matches the given noise type, the digital processor is configured to adjust the noise profile associated with the given noise type based on the actual noise signal. In yet other embodiments, the digital processor is configured to measure a quality of the digital signal, and to apply the noise mitigation operation by reconfiguring operation of one or both of the analog FE and the digital processor, based on the given noise type and on the measured quality.

In an embodiment, the digital processor is configured to apply the noise mitigation operation by reconfiguring one or more of a frequency response of a filter, a gain parameter and a clock rate, in one or both of the analog FE and the digital processor. In another embodiment, the digital processor is configured to generate, based on the digital signal, a sequence of multiple two-dimensional data structures, each two-dimensional data structure including multiple frequency domain vectors derived from multiple time-samples of the digital signal, and to classify the noise signal by applying a machine-learning model to the sequence of the two-dimensional data structures. In yet another embodiment, the digital processor is configured to specify, in the noise profiles, one or more characteristics selected from a list including: a source of the noise signal, a frequency pattern of the noise signal, time progression characteristics of the noise signal and a signal strength of the noise signal.

In some embodiments, the digital processor is configured to obtain one or more of the noise profiles directly from another vehicle, or by accessing a cloud storage that shares noise profiles of noise types among multiple vehicles. In other embodiments, the automotive Ethernet PHY transceiver belongs to a plurality of interconnected automotive Ethernet PHY transceivers in the vehicle, and the digital processor is configured to hold a noise profile that is not used by at least another Ethernet PHY transceiver in the plurality of the automotive Ethernet PHY transceivers. In yet other embodiments, the analog FE is configured to receive, in the actual noise signal, Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) caused by one or more of an electronic component of the vehicle, a mechanical component of the vehicle, an electro-mechanical component of the vehicle, and an electromagnetic radiation source external to the vehicle.

In an embodiment, the digital processor is configured to, based at least on an expected decay attribute of the actual noise signal determined from the noise type classification: i) apply the noise mitigation operation for a predetermined period of time, and ii) modify the noise mitigation operation during the predetermined period of time.

There is additionally provided, in accordance with an embodiment that is described herein, a method for communication including receiving an analog Ethernet signal over a physical Ethernet link while the Ethernet PHY transceiver is operating in a vehicle. The received analog Ethernet signal is converted into a digital signal. One or more noise profiles that characterize respective predefined noise types of noise signals that are expected to corrupt the received analog Ethernet signal are held. An actual noise signal present in the digital signal is classified into one of the noise types, using the noise profiles. In response to deciding that the actual noise signal matches a given noise type among the predefined noise types, a noise mitigation operation selected responsively to the given noise type is applied.

There is additionally provided, in accordance with an embodiment that is described herein, an automotive system that includes a central processor and an Ethernet network. The central processor is configured to be installed in a vehicle. The Ethernet network includes a plurality of automotive Ethernet physical-layer (PHY) transceivers configured to connect the central processor and the peripheral devices in the vehicle using physical Ethernet links. Each of the Ethernet PHY transceivers includes an analog Front End (FE) and a digital processor. The FE is configured to receive an analog Ethernet signal over a physical Ethernet link, and to convert the received analog Ethernet signal into a digital signal. The digital processor is configured to hold one or more noise profiles that characterize respective predefined noise types of noise signals that are expected to corrupt the received analog Ethernet signal, to classify an actual noise signal present in the digital signal into one of the noise types, using the noise profiles, and in response to deciding that the actual noise signal matches a given noise type among the predefined noise types, to apply a noise mitigation operation selected responsively to the given noise type.

In some embodiments, the digital processor is configured to hold a noise profile that is not used by at least another Ethernet PHY transceiver in the plurality of the automotive Ethernet PHY transceivers. In other embodiments, the central processor is configured to perform at least part of a task of classifying the actual noise signal, on behalf of the digital processor.

There is additionally provided, in accordance with an embodiment that is described herein, a method for communication, including, in an automotive system that includes a central processor installed in a vehicle, and an Ethernet network that includes a plurality of automotive Ethernet physical-layer (PHY) transceivers that connect the central processor and the peripheral devices in the vehicle using physical Ethernet links, including a given PHY transceiver, receiving by the given PHY transceiver an analog Ethernet signal over a physical Ethernet link. The received analog Ethernet signal as converted into a digital signal. One or more noise profiles that characterize respective predefined noise types of noise signals that are expected to corrupt the received analog Ethernet signal are held by a digital processor of the PHY transceiver. An actual noise signal present in the digital signal is classified into one of the noise types, using the noise profiles. In response to deciding that the actual noise signal matches a given noise type among the predefined noise types, a noise mitigation operation selected responsively to the given noise type is applied.

The present disclosure will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the embodiments thereof, taken together with the drawings in which:

