[HeyLaughingBoy]

> However Ethernet topology wouldn’t preclude having those on separate buses and linked via switches

The topology might not care, but someone designing a trunk latch that communicates via Ethernet might get a visit from an annoyed representative from Value Engineering.

[elcritch]

Haha touché. However unintuitive as it may seem an ethernet based trunk latch could be overall cheaper from a system level than a straight relay based system or even CAN system.

Especially with the newer two wire ethernet with power via 10BASE-T1S. The connector likely costs more than the ethernet chip, and microprocessors can be had for nickels. So at large manufacturing scale it could easily cost less to share a single ethernet and power line and save on wiring, connector complexity, etc.

[HeyLaughingBoy]

If costs have dropped to the point that Ethernet is less expensive than LIN, it would definitely be a surprise.