In the world of In-Vehicle Network (IVN) logging, capturing every single message is paramount. Losing data during critical events, such as ECU startup or high-load scenarios, can lead to flawed analysis, delayed development, and potential safety risks. Among other excellent devices from companies such as Intrepid CS and Vector, we found the Capture Module devices from Technica and the TAP modules from b-plus to be very powerful and flexible. They both offer robust solutions to eliminate lost messages caused by slow startups or performance issues, though they approach the challenge from different and complementary angles.
This article dives into what makes these two product families stand out.
Technica's Capture Modules are designed to be an intelligent and scalable solution for gathering data from across the vehicle's various networks. They excel at ensuring data integrity and usability through innovative features.
The NETLion 1G and 10G series from b-plus provides Test Access Point (TAP) functionality, which is ideal for scenarios where non-intrusive, high-fidelity monitoring is the top priority.
Built for the Real World: With an automotive-grade power supply and a wide operating temperature range (-40 to +85 °C), these TAPs are designed for harsh environments like in-vehicle logging setups, end-of-line testing, and HiL systems. Their low and deterministic latency ensures they are suitable even for time-sensitive applications.
Both Technica's Capture Modules and b-plus's NETLion TAPs offer premier solutions to the problem of lost messages in IVN logging. The best choice depends on the specific use case.
Technica's Capture Modules are the ideal solution when you need to actively gather, synchronize, and buffer data from multiple, diverse bus systems into a single, time-coherent data stream for comprehensive analysis.
The b-plus NETLion TAPs are perfect when you need to passively and non-intrusively observe a specific high-speed Ethernet link with absolute certainty that the logging tool is not influencing the traffic, while also gaining valuable physical-layer insights.
By understanding the strengths of each approach, engineering teams can equip themselves with the right tools to build and validate safer, more reliable vehicles.
Traditional tapping methods often rely on the tapping device's internal clock, which can drift over time and introduce inaccuracies. Furthermore, different tapping setups might use different internal clocks, making it challenging to compare data across multiple test environments.
Revert to us for early access to the article called "Achieving Precise Clock Synchronization in Automotive Ethernet with b-plus QX550 and NETLion".
Traditional Ethernet required point-to-point connections, adding switches, increasing weight, complexity, and cost. To address power consumption, heat issues, and complexity, we moved to 10BASE-T1S, a simpler, efficient Ethernet technology. 10BASE-T1S changes everything. It brings back the simplicity of a bus topology, letting multiple ECUs share the same wire. Most ECU communication is under 10 Megabits per second, making 10BASE-T1S ideal for control data, just like CAN and FlexRay, but fully Ethernet. Today's cars use many network types, connected by complex gateways, but there's a movement toward a single unified network: Ethernet everywhere.