
ELMOS Semiconductor AG
October
2007
DRIVENBY
E910.56
FlexRay StaR CoupleR
Features
applications
Part of the FlexRay electrical, physical layer
Active star coupler connects up to
4
branches
Support of data rates up to
10
Mbit/s
Optional support of low power mode for an ECU
Remote wake up via bus line
Enhanced diagnosis capability provided via SPI
Protection against overload damage by current
Bus driver outputs withstand -
27
V / +
40
V DC
Low EME due to balanced differential transmission
(FlexRay busses) to nodes or other active stars
with interrupt generation
limitation and overtemperature detection
voltage
Star coupler and additionally usable as transceiver
in FlexRay nodes (ECUs)
Brief Functional Description
The star coupler is part of the electrical, physical layer
in a FlexRay communication network. The
E910.56
provides interfaces to connect up to four branches of
twisted pair physical bus lines to other bus drivers or
star couplers. It also interfaces with a communication
controller (CC) and a μC. Via SPI the bus driver (BD) pro-
vides status information concerning failure detection
on the bus lines (e.g. short circuit, ground loss) and
overtemperature condition to a host controller (HOST).
An interrupt signal is generated whenever the failure
status changes.
The device supports normal and standby modes and
provides remote wake up capability via bus line. The
output (INH) can be used to control an external vol-
tage regulator.
Host Interface
(SPI + Interrupt)
Single_Branch_1
Single_Branch_2
....
Single_Branch_3
....
Single_Branch_4
....
Star Transmitter &
Receiver
Central
Logic
E910.56
Communication
Controller Interface
BP_1
BM_1
SCSN
SCK
SDI
RxD
TxD
Inhibit & Wake
INH
LWU
TxEN
Power
Supply
Undervolt.
Monitor
VBAT
VCC
VIO
SDO
INTN
GND
BP_2
BM_2
BP_3
BM_3
BP_4
BM_4
TRXD1
TRXD2
VBUF
Bus Failure
Detector_1
Transmitter_1
Receiver_1
Wake up
Detector_1
POR
Vref
5V Regulator
Overtemp.
Monitor
Microcontroller
(HOST)
Communication
Controller
Bus Driver
E910.56
TxEN
SPI
4
INTN
TRXD1
TRXD2
BP_1
BM_1
TxD
RxD
VIO
VCC
INH
VBAT
GND
Power
Supply
ECU 1
LWU
Local
to additional
VBUF
BP_2
BM_2
BP_3
BM_3
BP_4
BM_4
typical application
Blockdiagram
ELMOS is member of the FlexRay consortium