The deployment of real-time Ethernet and preference of individual variants are influenced by altering infrastructures, different stakeholders and yet regulatory initiatives. The more important individual variants become in a region of interest, the more important it is to take part in those standards. But different technologies and manifold standards all lead to fragmented markets with various system-specific requirements. The best approach to keep entry barriers to all these markets low is to benefit from a multiprotocol chip interface at the lowest possible footprint.