• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.39-48
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• 2016

One of the major trends of automotive networking architecture is the introduction of automotive Ethernet. Ethernet is already used in single automotive applications (e.g. to connect high-data-rate sources as video cameras), it is expected that the ongoing standardization at IEEE (IEEE802.3bw - 100BASE-T1, respectively IEEE P802.3bp - 1000BASE-T1) will lead to a much broader adoption in future. Those applications will not be limited to simple point-to-point connections, but may affect Electric/Electronic(EE) Architectures as a whole. It is agreed that IP based traffic via Ethernet could be secured by application of well-established IP security protocols (e.g., IPSec, TLS) combined with additional components like, e.g., automotive firewall or IDS. In the case of safety and real-time related applications on resource constraint devices, the IP based communication is not the favorite option to be used with complicated and performance demanding TLS or IPSec. Those applications will be foreseeable incorporate Layer-2 based communication protocols as, e.g., currently standardized at IEEE[13]. The present paper reflects the state-of-the-art communication concepts with respect to security and identifies architectural challenges and potential solutions for future Ethernet Switch-based EE-Architectures. It also gives an overview and provide insights into the ongoing security relevant standardization activities concerning automotive Ethernet. Furthermore, the properties of non-automotive Ethernet security mechanisms as, e.g., IEEE 802.1AE aka. MACsec or 802.1X Port-based Network Access Control, will be evaluated and the applicability for automotive applications will be assessed.