Unified Centralized Network Stack (UNICENS)

The Unified Centralized Network Stack (UNICENS) sets a new standard for handling complex, heterogeneous infotainment networks out of one single software framework.

Modern cars are offering advanced audio and video capabilities to their users. Handling multiple audio or video sources that can be dynamically distributed to multiple sinks is requiring complex hardware and software mechanisms to ensure high quality, perfect synchronization and low latency. Car makers are also using in-vehicle networks to transfer increasing amount of data e.g. for performing updates. System engineers need expert know-how of each bus technology and this complexity is traditionally also reaching application engineers who need to communicate over such networks. Application codes use to be complex and development cycles long.

UNICENS is a new technology that separates application development and network management by defining a standardized abstraction layer between low-level hardware specific software and applications. That is, application engineers can fully concentrate on their applications without knowing anything about the underlying physical layer. Network configuration can be done in a simplified way within record time. System engineers from OEM and Tier 1 can easily configure the vehicle’s networks (e.g. MOST® technology) alone or with Microchip’s support. 

Compared to MOST NetServices (MNS), that need to be running on every nodes of a system, UNICENS only needs to be installed and running on one single node, commonly called the Root Node. UNICENS acts as a centralized control and management instance for the whole network, which can be configured in static or dynamic mode. In the latter mode, it scans the network at startup time to discover the nodes and then it configures properly every node. Once the network is up and running, UNICENS controls it all over its operating time. UNICENS also handles the multiple connections between the nodes in order to guarantee bandwidth and latency to transfer audio or video, to send or receive control information along with sending small or big datasets of information using standard Ethernet frames over MOST network. All this has been implemented and encapsulated in UNICENS in a manner that only minimum handling is required from the developers. UNICENS dramatically reduces the development cycles. It reduces the complexity of the software and makes the overall experience of using MOST technology easier than any other technology.

UNICENS is also offering new capabilities for hardware developers, by introducing the concept of slim nodes. Traditional nodes in an infotainment system used to require a local microprocessor or microcontroller to handle the communication on the bus and perform the required actions on the node. UNICENS’s slim nodes are eliminating the need to have a local intelligence in the node. The root node centrally controls all the nodes of the system. It sends data and remote commands to the INIC of the other nodes. Then the local INIC on each remote node passes data and commands to the local hardware components. With fewer components, slim nodes are smaller, less expensive and they become more reliable.

For applications requiring intelligence and processing power on remote nodes, UNICENS also supports traditional nodes integrating e.g. a microcontroller. Slim nodes and traditional nodes can be mixed in the same network.

UNICENS can be used on a variety a microprocessors and microcontrollers. For small devices, it is available in a lightweight bare-metal version. For complex systems, such as typically head-units or instrument clusters, Microchip provides a suitable driver for e.g. Linux or QNX. Extensive integration in the operating systems and in standardized application frameworks is also available to abstract applications from the technology used for the physical network.

UNICENS is compatible with following Intelligent Network Interface Controllers: OS81118, OS81119 and future controllers. UNICENS can be used with MOST INIC for free. It is released under the 3-Clause BSD License, a permissive open source license that allows Microchip’s customers to easily integrate it into or link it to their application, no matter if this application is open source or closed source.

Microchip offers UNICENS training to existing and new customers. Existing customers who have already experience with MOST physical layer and MOST NetServices will be trained to the new UNICENS software and how to migrate their existing software from MOST NetServices to UNICENS. New customers will be trained to both UNICENS and MOST physical layer.