How SPE is driving digital transformation

Industrial Communication Why Single Pair Ethernet is Now Taking Off

2025-08-15 From Thomas Keller* | Translated by AI 5 min Reading Time

The standardization of Single Pair Ethernet is on the verge of a breakthrough. This removes a critical hurdle: the overwhelming number of connector interfaces that previously caused many companies to hesitate. The new universal standard for connectors could significantly simplify industrial IoT networking for digital AI services and smart factories.

Single Pair Ethernet: SPE connectors are based on international standards (IEC 63171), which promote compatibility and ensure reliable use in various applications.(Image: Rosenberger) — Single Pair Ethernet: SPE connectors are based on international standards (IEC 63171), which promote compatibility and ensure reliable use in various applications.
(Image: Rosenberger)

Thomas Keller is Product Manager Industries at Rosenberger Hochfrequenztechnik in Friedolfing (Germany).

In recent years, Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) has established itself in the automotive industry. Currently, the increasing connectivity in the "software-defined vehicle" demands secure, compact cabling in limited vehicle space, connecting sensors and controllers for autonomous driving, battery management, and driver assistance systems.

As a partner for OEMs, Rosenberger has accompanied this paradigm shift since 2012 and co-developed the protocols for the automotive connector. This experience also flowed into the current standardization process and is reflected in the new hybrid connector standard IEC 63171-7 (ED2), which will soon form the basis for future interoperability.

SPE Holds Potential for Various Areas

The IEC 63171-7 ED2 standard defines a universal connector interface for applications in control cabinets and in the field.(Image: Rosenberger) — The IEC 63171-7 ED2 standard defines a universal connector interface for applications in control cabinets and in the field.
(Image: Rosenberger)

A transmission technology with long range, combining power supply and data transmission in one cable, is also gaining increasing importance in industrial networking. The development around Industry 4.0, digitalization, and networking is becoming ever more relevant. The foundation for this is data!

While existing protocols are already used in industrial networking, accessing data cost-effectively, sustainably, and efficiently remains a challenge in practice. By providing necessary information through sensors and actuators in IoT applications, which are analyzed by AI systems for tasks such as predictive maintenance or simulations, the demand for affordable, intelligent networking continues to grow. SPE represents a viable alternative, additionally enabling security strategies like Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) for safety-critical real-time applications.

Numerous application scenarios across different industries can benefit from SPE: The technology is particularly relevant in automation and robotics, where the significantly slimmer and more flexible SPE cables contribute to greater freedom of movement. Another example is vehicles in agriculture, which increasingly incorporate data on soil conditions and weather.

But applications are also emerging in electromobilityfor— example, through sensors in charging stations or in the reuse of vehicle batteries in large energy storage systems, which require complex cabling. SPE can also simplify the networking of train compartments and has now become a trending topic in building automation.

The Variety of Protocols in the Industry Increases Development Costs

Examples of industrial SPE connectors with the new interface.(Image: Rosenberger) — Examples of industrial SPE connectors with the new interface.
(Image: Rosenberger)

Everywhere a powerful network is important, SPE can shine with features such as miniaturization, power supply through the data cable (Power over Dataline [PoDL]), and significant material savings. Using a multidrop topology, multiple sensors and actuators can also be controlled simultaneously via a single cable.

Especially in the IoT environment, many small devices also need to be powered—wireless approaches are therefore generally insufficient. They continue to play a subordinate role in factory automation: HMS Networks' market analysis for 2024 notes that only seven percent of all newly installed network nodes are based on wireless communication.

In industrial networking, there are currently over 80 different protocols through which individual components can communicate. Expensive gateways are needed to translate these protocols. Implementation, however, is particularly cost-intensive as it requires advanced expertise in these protocols—a field where skilled workers are scarce.

Save 25 Percent in Development Costs With SPE

This causes development costs to rise relatively sharply, particularly in machine and plant design. The more sensor, actuator, and connector manufacturers adopt SPE, the faster, in perspective, an entire system could communicate exclusively over the Ethernet protocol—without gateways.

In a research project with TU Munich for a CNC system, development costs were reduced by up to 25 percent. As Single Pair Ethernet becomes more widespread, the costs for this communication technology continue to decrease. So far, SPE is primarily used as a complement to existing Ethernet cabling for new digital, IoT-based scenarios. In new products and production facilities, SPE could also become the foundation in the future.

Why A Unified Connector Interface Strengthens the Adoption of SPE

Product photo of SPE cable with the new interface.(Image: Rosenberger) — Product photo of SPE cable with the new interface.
(Image: Rosenberger)

The IEEE 802.3 standard defines the SPE protocols for automotive, transportation, as well as factory, building, and process automation in terms of the physical layer and data transmission speeds. While the automotive industry requires 25 GBit/s due to high data volumes, this would be overdimensioned for the building industry. For up to 80 percent of industrial use cases, 10 MBit is sufficient, and 100 MBit can cover nearly all scenarios.

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Date: 08.12.2025

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Different distances are also taken into account by the respective protocols: While sensors in greenhouses or chemical parks need to operate together over hundreds of meters or several kilometers, only very short cable distances are required in a machine, system, or robot.

Based on earlier standardization efforts, there is already a wide range of standardized industrial connectors for SPE, described in the substandards of IEC 63171. They are suitable for various application scenarios, some of which overlap. Additionally, there are many non-standardized connectors on the market.

The Unified Hybrid Connector Interface

This results in significant complexity for both manufacturers and operators. The associated uncertainty has led many companies to take a wait-and-see approach. At the end of 2024, the Profibus User Organization (PNO) announced that it intends to standardize and establish IEC 63171-7 (ED2) as a uniform, hybrid interface as an industrial standard. This aims to universally cover all application scenarios, including those in protected areas.

From Rosenberger's perspective, this acknowledges the prior development work in the automotive industry, where connectors are already being produced in mass production (300 million in 2024) fully automatically: "High-Speed Modular Twisted Pair Data" has provided a single-panel connector for high data rates, fully shielded, since 2016. The connector now recommended by the PNO exhibits strong similarities—particularly in terms of size and shielding—with this connector developed for the automotive industry.

The Timeline: The Right Moment to Evaluate SPE

The ongoing standardization process, in which key players have already agreed on a design, is expected to result in a CDV standard by the end of 2025—ushering in the interoperability desired and needed by the market. The fact that many companies are already poised to act is reflected in the strong customer interest and the palpable relief that the "connector drama" is coming to an end.

For many, SPE is still uncharted territory, and there is a significant need for consultation: An important aspect remains to thoroughly analyze the specific use case and, based on that, select the appropriate physical layer and protocol to achieve the greatest possible benefits.

Every new technology takes time to establish itself in the market. However, using the automotive industry as an example, it is clear as a trend how comparatively quickly SPE can gain acceptance due to its advantages.

The currently declining economic situation with less filled order books could—as observed with other innovation leaps—provide the necessary leeway to invest more resources in engaging with the new technology.

For anyone in companies dealing with data communication, now is the right time to familiarize themselves with SPE—whether it's automation and robotics, building automation, cooling systems in the food industry, or plant development. Manufacturers in particular should assess the advantages SPE brings to the next product generations to enhance their competitiveness. (kr)