CAN Driver

This Control Area Network (CAN) driver provides an interface for CAN message transfer.

The following driver variant is available:

  • CAN Asynchronous Driver: The driver supports a callback handler for the IRQ caused by hardware state changes. Functionality is asynchronous to the main clock of the MCU.

CAN Basics and Best Practice

CAN is a multi-master serial bus standard for connecting Electronic Control Units (ECUs) also known as nodes. Two or more nodes are required on the CAN network to communicate. The complexity of the node can range from a simple I/O device up to an embedded computer with a CAN interface and sophisticated software.

CAN bus is a message based protocol designed specifically for automotive applications, but is also used in areas such as aerospace, maritime, railway vehicles, industrial automation, and medical equipment. The CAN message ID not only provides identification for the type of message being sent or received, it also determines the priority of the message. Message IDs must be unique on a single CAN bus, otherwise two nodes would continue transmission beyond the end of the arbitration field (ID) causing an error.