Detecting automotive communication cable degradation without interrupting normal operations

A method of detecting degradation in a first cable over which a physical layer (PHY) device of a computer system of a vehicle is configured to communicate with other components of the vehicle, the method comprising:

• communicating with another component of the vehicle using the PHY device and the first cable at a first timing;
• capturing first characteristics of at least one first signal communicated with the other component at the first timing, and determining a first degradation parameter using the first characteristics;
• communicating with the other component of the vehicle using the PHY device and the first cable at a second timing that is after the first timing;
• capturing second characteristics of at least one second signal communicated with the other component at the second timing, and determining a second degradation parameter using the second characteristics;
• and
• comparing the first degradation parameter with the second degradation parameter, and generating a degradation warning if a difference between the first and second degradation parameters indicates degradation in the first cable.

A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions that are executable in a computer system of a vehicle, wherein the instructions when executed cause the computer system to carry out a method of detecting degradation in a first cable over which a physical layer (PHY) device of the computer system is configured to communicate with other components of the vehicle, and wherein the method comprises:

• identifying first characteristics of at least one first signal communicated between the PHY device and another component of the vehicle at a first timing using the first cable, and determining a first degradation parameter using the first characteristics;
• identifying second characteristics of at least one second signal communicated between the PHY device and the other component at a second timing that is after the first timing, using the first cable, and determining a second degradation parameter using the second characteristics;
• and
• comparing the first degradation parameter with the second degradation parameter, and generating a degradation warning if a difference between the first and second degradation parameters indicates degradation in the first cable.