Controller Area Network: a Survey

This paper describes the main features of the Controller Area Network protocol and focuses on the key points of this communication technology. In particular, advantages and drawbacks are highlighted that may affect the application fields where it can be profitably adopted. Implementation aspects have been taken into account as well, including the architecture of modern CAN controllers and the support for time-triggered operations in TTCAN. Finally, two very popular application protocols based on CAN are considered, that is CANopen and DeviceNet, which are being adopted in automated manufacturing environments all over the world.