SMSC's MOST technology penetrates 100 car models

SMSC celebrated a milestone after putting its Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) technology, the de facto standard for high-bandwidth automotive infotainment, on its 100th car model.

Nine years after MOST was used in the first car in Europe, SMSC said there are now 22 MOST models in Asian cars while the rest are in European vehicles. MOST25, the first implementation, was the first optical, high-bandwidth network for automotive infotainment applications. For the first time, car designers were able to seamlessly and quickly connect data and entertainment applications. The second generation, MOST50, came out in 2006 and featured an unshielded twisted pair/copper configuration to deliver a 25 Mb/s speed enhancement with a plug-in, component approach. The latest incarnation, MOST150, allows 150Mb/s data transfers using an isochronous transport mechanism that supports extensive video applications and an embedded Ethernet channel.

MOST, which is now in 10 hybrid car models, will be appearing in all car platforms of Volkswagen brands, SMSC said in a statement. Some 12 percent of vehicles around the world, representing almost 50 percent of current global light vehicle production, use MOST, the company added.

The MOST Cooperation, founded in 1998, counts 16 international carmakers and more than 60 key component suppliers as members.