EECPS/STEPS

Universidad
de Oviedo

Lesson :
Controller Area Network (CAN)
Semester 3 Power Systems in hybrid (HEVs) and electric (EV) vehicles

Lecturer: F.F.Linera

Controller Area Network (CAN)

developed by Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany in 1987

Products available from all microcontroller manufacturers
International Standards: ISO11898 (Europe), SAE J2284 (US) for
high speed CAN; ISO 11519-2 for fault-tolerant low speed
CAN
backbone serial bus system for automotive applications, but also
used in industrial automation & control
Event triggered Serial Bus System; Self-Synchronisation

More Features :
multi master bus access
random access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA )
short message length , at max. 8 Bytes per message
data rates 100KBPS to 1MBPS
short bus length, physical length depends on data rate
self-synchronised bit coding technology
Robust EMC - behaviour
build in fault tolerance
2

Controller Area Network (CAN)

Main Features :
CAN is a priority-based-on-message bus with multi-master access.
It allows to provide a bounded communication delay for each
message priority.
The MAC (Medium Access Control)
protocol of CAN uses
CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Colission
Avoidance)
The bus arbitration is non-destructive and is realized over a part of
the frame called the ID (Identifier).
The identifier is coded using 11 bits (CAN2.0A) or 29 bits
(CAN2.0B) and it also serves as priority.
Short message length. Up to 8 Bytes of data per message can be
carried by one CAN frame.
A CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Code) is added as part of the frame for
transmission error detection.
Robust EMC - behaviour
3

Controller Area Network (CAN)

Main Features :
CAN uses a NRZ bit encoding scheme for making possible the bit
by bit arbitration with a logical bit arbitration
But, the bit-by-bit arbitration limits the bit rate of CAN as the bit
time must be long enough to cover the propagation delay on the
whole network
A maximum of 1Mbps is specified to a CAN bus not exceeding
25m. Physical length depends on data rate.
Recommended Guidelines for Cable length according to CANopen
DS 102 V2.0 Physical Layer for Industrial applications (appendix):

Controller Area Network (CAN)

Main Features :

Maximum message transmission time include the worst-case bit

stuffing number and is:
34 + 8 DLC
Tframemax = 44 + 8 DLC +
,
4
&
The fraction represent the overhead due to the bit stuffing
Bit stuffing is a technique implemented by CAN for bit
synchronization which consists in inserting an opposite bit every
time five consecutive bits of the same polarity are encountered.

The Standardization of CAN

CAN is an open system and has been standardized by
ISO
CAN follows the ISO - OSI seven layer model for open
system interconnections
CAN implements layer 1, 2 and 7 only
However, Layer 7 is not standardised
Physical Layer Type

Europe
www.iso.org

North America
www.sae.org

Single Wire CAN

n/a

SAE J2411
Single Wire CAN for Vehicle
Applications

Low-Speed Fault Tolerant

CAN

ISO 11519 - 2
ISO 11898 - 3

n/a.

High-Speed CAN

ISO 11898

SAEJ2284
6

The Standardization of CAN

Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)
ISO Reference Model:
Layer

Application Layer

Layer

Presentation Layer

Layer

Session Layer

Layer

void

void
void

Transport Layer

Layer

Network Layer

Layer

Data LInk Layer

Layer

void

Layer 1: transmission line(s)

differential two-wire-line, twisted
pair with/without shield
Transceiver Integrated Circuit
Optional: fibre optical lines (passive
coupled star, carbon )
Optional: Coding as PWM, NRZ,
Manchester Code
ISO 11898
Layer 2: Data Link Layer
message format and transmission
protocol
ISO 11898
CSMA/CA access protocol

Physical Layer

Layer 7: Application Layer

different standards in industry, not
standardized in automotive
7

The Standardization of CAN

ISO11898 is the standarized version of the CAN protocol as it

was originally defined by Bosch

It only defines the layers1 (physical) and 2 (Data Link) of the

ISO/OSI model.

Layer 2 (Data Link) is the most complete defined.

Layer 2 defines message framing, arbitration, acknowledgement,

error detection and error signalling in the Medium Access
Control (MAC) sublayer.

Layer 2 defines how message filtering, overload notification or

the error recovery procedure must be realized.

Layer 2 can not be modified by any given protocol based on

CAN.

The Standardization of CAN

Layer 1 is not completely defined by ISO11898
The Bosch Reference document describes only the
detailed bit representation (Physical Signalling
Sublayer).
But the driver/receiver characteristics of the
physical layer are not defined and so, the transport
medium and the signal levels can be optimized for
any given application.

The Standardization of CAN

So, Layer 1 allows wire media of all kinds:
Single wire, simple and asymmetrical.
Two-wire in differential mode, with/without galvanic
isolation using optocouplers or transformers.
Optical media using optical fibers
Electromagnetic media: using ASK and FSK
modulated radio-frequency waves or infrared
waves.

Single wire and two-wires in differential mode are used

in the automotive sector
10

Practical implementations of CAN

Practical implementations of differential wires CAN

Two differential wires medium is very widespread in

industry and so, ISO has standarized the use of CAN in
this particular medium.
Two main ISO Standards:
ISO11898-2 High Speed CAN (125Kbps to 1Mbps)
ISO11898-3 Low Speed CAN (10Kbps to 125Kbps)
ISO defines the operation and electrical characteristics of
the transmission media, i.e. the electrical levels, but do not
cover the mechanical aspects (forms of connector) or any
of the problems of the other layers.
11

Practical implementations of CAN

High Speed CAN ISO11898-2
It is defined for use in applications with bit rates from
125Kbps to 1Mbps
It is implemented using a simple differential wire pair
It is the most widespread implementation used in vehicle
(power train domain) and industry applications
The following figure shows the electrical levels adopted for
the dominant (nom.2V) and recessive bits (nom. 0V)

12

Practical implementations of CAN

High Speed CAN ISO11898-2 Real Frame Waveform

Real HS CAN Waveform: CANH, CANL and the difference

13

Practical implementations of CAN

High Speed CAN ISO11898-2

Normally the uC has an integrated CAN

controller
ISO defines a characteristic line
impedance of 60 ohm.
This impedance can be obtained as it is
shown in the figure. This implementation
reduces EMC pollution.
Other impedance implementations are:
2x120 ohmios, 3x180ohmios.
Normally these resistances must be
situated at the end of the lines and can be
measured with a polymeter.
Normally the termination resistances are
included as part of the CAN devices with
the possibility to connect it between CANH
and CANL using a jumper or a switch

Typical High Speed node implementation

14

Practical implementations of CAN

High Speed CAN ISO11898-2 Typical Driver ICs
PCA82C250/251 from NXP

This
resistance
reduces slew-rate
in transition an so,
EMC pollution.

TJA 1050 from NXP

Depending of the
speed, a double
choke to reduce
EMC
can
be
neccesary.

15

Practical implementations of CAN

High Speed CAN ISO11898-2 Typical Driver ICs
TJA 1040 from NXP

TJA1040 has a
split voltage Vcc/2
drawn from the IC,
to avoid some
error reads during
wake-ups
for a
sleep-node
16

Practical implementations of CAN

High Speed CAN with diagnosis of the physical layer
ISO11898-5 Typical Driver ICs
TJA 1041/43 from NXP

Pin compatible
with ISO118982 drivers

The driver detects some type of failures on the CAN bus

and send this information to the microcontroller using
the ERR signal.
Normally, the microcontroller disconnects the node from
the CAN bus.
Typical failures are: TXD dominant (low level) clamping
detection, RXD recessive (high level) clamping
detection, TXD-to-RXD short circuit detection, Bus
dominant clamping detection or overtemperature
detection

Typical application
with 3V
microcontroller
17

Practical implementations of CAN

Partial Network systems
In automotive systems, some nodes have to remain live for functional
reasons while the contact is off (clamp-30).
Others are deliberately disconnected from the battery when the contact
is off because they need to save power (clamp-15).
Others can also be put in standby mode or sleep mode By the
microcontroller
The key point is that nodes which are in sleep mode or switched off do
not disturb the communication between the ones which remain awake

18

Practical implementations of CAN

High Speed CAN ISO11898-2 &ISO11898-5 Typical Driver ICs
High Speed CAN NXP transceivers

High Speed CAN TI transceivers

19

Practical implementations of CAN

FT Low Speed CAN ISO11898-3

It is defined for use in applications with bit rates up to 125Kbps

It is implemented using a simple differential wire pair
It is the most widespread implementation used in vehicle (body/confort
domain) and industry applications
The transmission is yet maintained, in degraded mode, even in sever
conditions of physical disturbances

20

Practical implementations of CAN

FT Low Speed CAN ISO11898-3

Electrical levels of the FT Low Speed physical layer

3.6V
1.4V

Main characteristics

Nominal Values

Recessive

Dominant

VCANH
VCANL
VCANH VCANL

0V
5V
-5V

3.6V
1.4V
2.2V

Maximum speed: 125 Kbps

From 2 to 20 nodes
Differential (twisted) pair with groun
return
A distributes termination network
through the bus.
Low EMC radiation

21

Practical implementations of CAN

FT Low Speed CAN ISO11898-3

The main advantage to use a slower speed is that the communication distance
can be increased without problems of EMC pollution.
Some applications do not require long distances and the communication
speed can be below 125 Kbps. In this case, this low speed CAN network can
be implemented using the same ISO11898-2 drivers shown in the previous
slides. The main difference with ISO 11898-3 is the electrical levels on the
physical layers.
It will found that as the length of the network increases, it is more likely that it
will suffer of various kinds of electromechanical disturbances due to short
circuits and/or open circuits (wires isolated or cut).
If a CAN communication must be reliable, it must be capable of being
maintained even in severe conditions of physical disturbances, continuing to
transmit, even in degraded mode and signalling and/or indicating any faults
that ocurre.
This is the reason to define a Fault Tolerant Low Speed CAN (FT LS CAN).
This CAN network is not very usual in medium-end cars. It is more usual in
high-end cars used in body applications like roof, seat, windows where a shortcircuit or cut wires can be more likely.
22

Practical implementations of CAN

FT Low Speed CAN ISO11898-3

Principle of FT LS CAN: If there are any faults on the bus, they must be
detected, signalled and repaired as well as possible.

23

Practical implementations of CAN

FT Low Speed CAN ISO11898-3

All nodes continue communicating at least with reduced signal and noise ratio.

24

Practical implementations of CAN

FT Low Speed CAN ISO11898-3

It is based in a distributed termination

resistance philosophy
to avoid
communication problems if some
wire/node is broken

The device provides differential transmit

capability but will switch in error
conditions to a single-wire transmitter
and/or receiver.
In the supported failure cases all nodes
continue communication with reduced
signal-to-noise ratio. Once the wire
corruption is removed, the fault-tolerant
transceiver
automatically
resumes
differential signal transmission

Typical implementation of a FT-CAN node

25

Practical implementations of CAN

FT Low Speed CAN ISO11898-3 Typical Driver ICs

FT LS CAN NXP transceivers

26

Practical implementations of CAN

Single-Wire CAN SAE J2411

Leaving aside any standarization of the physical layer for differential wires, a single-wire
solution (plus ground, of course) was developed several years ago for economical
reasons.

Drivers for this implementation only use one pin, normally called CANH. High Level on
this pin can be achieved with 5V (normal mode)/12V (wake-up mode) with respect to
GND.

Due to a high RF radiation, this bus is only used at low speeds. Typical values are 33,3
Kbps (normal/wake-up mode) and 83,3Kbps (high speed mode)

Failures of the short circuit and opencircuit types are theoretically insoluble and so, it is
only used for non-critical solutions intended to use and comply with the CAN protocol,
benefit from its advantages and the cost must be reduced.

Examples of application: GMLAN /SAE J2411 specification by OPEL/GM for body

system.

SW-CAN and LIN physical layers are very similar. SW-CAN has the main advantage of
maintaining consistency and performance of the CAN protocol throughout the network,
thus avoiding the need of gateways between protocols or between a protocol and a
sub-protocol, such as LIN.
27

Practical implementations of CAN

Single-Wire CAN SAE J2411

28

Practical implementations of CAN

Single-Wire CAN SAE J2411

There are not many single-wire transceiver manufaturer in the market: NXP AU5790,
Infineon TLE6255, Melexis TH8055/56, Freescale 33897 and ONSemi NCV7356.
GMLAN operation
During Wake-up mode (Mode0 = 0 & Mode1 =
1) the nominal CAN bus electrical levels used
are 12V (high) and 0V (low).
After wake-up, normal mode is activated
(Mode0 = 1 & Mode1 = 1) the nominal CAN
bus electrical levels used are 4V (high) and 0V
(low)

29

Practical implementations of CAN

Galvanic Isolated CAN wire links
By optical coupling
Every optocoupler delays the signal 20 ms
(equivalent to 200ns)

By isolation transformer
Every optocoupler delays the signal 20 ms
(equivalent to 200ns)

30

Practical implementations of CAN

Connectors

RJ-45 Connector

31

CAN Frame Structure

Courtesy of Vector
Informatik GmbH

All fields in a CAN frame have a bit length defined with the exception of the arbitration
field.
The arbitration field has a length of 12 bits if the CAN frame corresponds to CANVersion 2.0A (Standard), where the messages uses a 11-bit standard identifier and nostuffing bits must be added.
The arbitration field has a length of 32 bits if the CAN frame corresponds to CANVersion 2.0B (Extended), where the messages uses a 29-bit standard identifier and nostuffing bits must be added.
If stuffing bits must be added, the arbitration field length can be different to 12 or 32 bits.
CAN-Standard 2.0A messages and CAN-Extended 2.0B messages can share the same
CAN physical network
32

CAN Frame Structure

Standard

CAN-Version 2.0A
messages with 11-bit -identifiers

Extended

CAN-Version 2.0B
messages with 29-bit-identifiers

==>

Suitably configured, each implementation ( BASIC or FULL)

can handle both standard and extended data formats.
33

CAN Frame Structure

ISO11898 distinguishes four types of frames in CAN networks:

Data Frame: Data is transmitted form a transmitter to one or several receivers upon the
initiative of the source (transmitter). Normally, the frame has all fields, but the data field
is optional.
Remote Frame: A bus node (receiver) can request the transmissin of a data frame of
the same frame identifier by a source. It has not data field.

REMOTE FRAME
ESCENARIO:

Error Frame: It is used to signal an error detected by a bus node (transmitter or receiver)
and to destroy the frame.
Overload Frame: It is used to provide for an extra delay between a preceding and a
succeeding data or remote request frame or to signal a specific error condition.
34

CAN Frame Structure

CAN Access Procedure: CSMA/CA
CSMA/ CA: Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision
Avoidance

access-control with non

destructive bit-wide
arbitration
if there is a collision , the
winner continues
the message with higher
priority is not delayed!
real-time capability for high
prioritised messages
the lower the identifier, the
higher the priority
Controllers losing
arbitration will wait until
bus-idle before reattempting
transmission
35

CAN Frame Structure

CSMA / CA =

"bit - wide arbitration during transmission with simultaneous

receiving and comparing of the transmitted message"
means :
if there is a collision within the arbitration-field, only the
nodes with lower priorities cancel transmission.
The node with the highest priority continues with the
transmission of the message.

Vcc

node 1
high : reccessive
low : dominant

node 2
node 1
high
high
low

node 2
high
low
low

node 3
node 3
high
high
high

bus
high
low
low

36

CAN Frame Structure

(1) arbitration-field :
denote the priority of the message
logical address of the message (identifier)
Standard frame, CAN 2.0A: 11 bit-identifier
Extended frame, CAN 2.0B: 29 bit-identifier

37

CAN Frame Structure

Courtesy of Vector
Informatik GmbH

Because dominant (logic 0) wins over recessive (logic 1), low-valued identifiers always
have higher priority to access the bus.
If Std IDs and Ext IDs are involved, the Std IDs compete with the 11 most significant bits
(b28b18) of the Ext IDs.
If all 11 first bits are identical, the Std ID wins if it is a data frame because of the
dominant RTR bit (SRR is always recessive)
If all 11 first bits are identical, the Std ID wins if it is a remote frame because of the
dominant IDE bit (the IDE bit belongs to the arbitration field in the Extended frame and
belongs to the control field in the standard frame)

38

CAN Frame Structure

(3) control-field :
Transmit the number of bytes in the data-field (DLC From 0 to 8)

39

CAN Frame Structure

(3) data field :

up to 8 bytes per message ,
a 0 byte message is also permitted

40

CAN Frame Structure

(4) CRC field:

cyclic redundancy check ; contains a checksum generated by a CRCpolynomial

41

CAN Frame Structure

(5) ACK field:

The ACK Field is two bits long and contains the ACK Slot and the ACK Delimiter (always
recessive).
The transmitter of a frame transmits both bits fo the ACK Field recessive.
Every CAN node that receives any error-free transfer (from SOF to CRC) reports this to
the transmitter by sending a dominant bit during the ACK slot regardless of whether the
message was intended for that node.
If the transmitter detects a positive acknowledge, that is a dominant ACK slot, the
transmitter knows that in minimum one node has got his message.
If no one receives the message correctly the ACK Slot stays recessive.
42

CAN Frame Structure

(6) End Of Frame Field:

Seven Recessive bits

If a dominant level occurs in bit number:

[1..6] A form error is detected by the receiver and the transmitter. The frame is discarded
and an error flag is started. The transmitter repeats the transmission.
[7] The frame is valid for the receiver but not for the transmitter. The tranmitter repeats
the transmission, that frame is received twice. A higher layer protocol must handle this
situation.
43

CAN Frame Structure

start
1 bit

RTR
r0
1bit
1 bit
IDE
1 bit
Identifier
11 bits

data
0...8 byte

CRC
15 bits

EOF + IFS
10 bits
ACK
2 bits

DLC
4 bits

DATA-Frame CAN 2.0A (11-bit-identifier)

s ta rt
1 b it

SRR
1 b it
ID E
1 b it
Id e n tifie r
1 1 b its

R TR
r0
1 b it
1 b it
r1
1 b it
Id e n tifie r
1 8 b it

d a ta
0 ...8 b yte

DLC
4 b its

CRC
1 5 b its

E O F + IF S
1 0 b its
ACK
2 b its

DATA-Frame CAN 2.0B (29-bit-identifier)

44

CAN Frame Structure

start bit

(1 bit - dominant): beginning of a message; after idle-time falling-edge to

synchronize all transmitters
identifier (11 bit): mark the name of the message and its priority ;the lower the value
the higher the priority
RTR
(1 bit): remote transmission request; if RTR=1 (recessive) no valid data inside
the frame - it is a request for receivers to send their messages
IDE
(1 bit): Identifier Extension; if IDE=1 then extended CAN-frame
r0
(1 bit): reserved
CDL
(4 bit): data length code in byte (0...8)
data
(0...8 byte): the data of the message
CRC
(15 bit): cyclic redundancy code for error detection, no correction; hammingdistance 6 (up to 6 single bit errors can be detected)
ACK
(2 bit): acknowledge; if a receiving node has received a valid message, it
must transmit an dominant acknowledge bit
EOF
(7 bit = 1, recessive): end of frame; intentional violation of the bit-stuff-rule ;
normally after five recessive bits one stuff-bit follows automatically
IFS
(3 bit = 1, recessive): inter frame space; time space to copy a received
message from bus-handler into buffer
Extended Frame only :
SRR
(1 bit = recessive): substitute remote request ; substitution of the RTR-bit in
standard frames
r1
(1 bit ): reserved
45

CAN Frame Structure

Remote Frames

RTR bit = 1

No Data Field

46

CAN Frame Structure

INTERFRAME SPACE: SEPARATES A FRAME (of
whatever type) FROM A DATA O REMOTE FRAME:

Data frames and remote frames are separated from preceding frames whatever type
they are (Data, remote, error or overload) by a field called INTERFRAME SPACE.
In contrast, Overload and error frames are not preceded by an Interframe space and also
if multiple Overload frames has to be transmitted.
Interframe Space constains two parts: INTERMISSION and BUS IDLE.
INTERMISSION consists of 3 recessive bits. During Intermission the only action to be
taken is signalling an OVERLOAD condition and no station is allowed to actively start a
transmission of a data or remote frame
BUS IDLE may be of arbitrary length. The bus is recognized to be free and any node
having something to trnsmit can access the bus. Even if a message is pending of
transmission during a previous one, it will be started in the first bit following
INTERMISSION.
47

CAN Frame Structure

Overload Frames
USED TO DELAY NEXT CAN MESSAGE:

A node can generate a maximum of 2 sequential overload

frames to delay the start of the next data or remote frame

48

CAN Frame Structure

CAN Error Frame
any node that detects a bus error generates an error - frame
an error frame is transmitted as soon as an error has been
detected, e.g. inside a data frame
consists of two fields: Error Flag Field; Error Delimiter Field
Error Delimiter Field:
8 recessive bits
allow bus nodes to restart bus communication after an error
Error Flag Field:
Type depends on the error-state of the node:
error active: 6 consecutive dominant error bits; all other
nodes will respond to this violation with their own error
frames Error Flag Field = 612 dominant bits
error passive: 6 consecutive recessive bits plus 8 error
delimiter bits = 14 recessive bits
receiver: does not corrupt the message
transmitter: other nodes may respond with active
error frames
49

CAN Frame Structure

CAN Error Frame

Example1: Active error frame

data

error frame

Inter frame space

6 bit error flag

6..12 bit error overlay

8 bit error delimiter

Active error frame

50

CAN Frame Structure

CAN Error Frame
data

error frame

Inter frame space

8 bit error delimiter

6 bit error flag

passive error frame from a receiver

data

error frame

Inter frame space

6 bit passive error flag

8 bit error delimiter
6 bit active error overlay
from another active node

passive error frame from a transmitter

51

CAN Frame Structure

CAN Error Frame
data

Transmitter X
CAN - Tx

Receiver Y
CAN - Tx

Receiver Z
CAN - Tx

CAN
Bus - level

5
3

Example: active error frame

52

CAN Frame Structure

CAN Error Frame
1

Node X sees a bit error

Node X generates an active error flag field

Nodes Y, Z realize a stuff bit error after bit 6 of the active error flag field
(note: if the corrupted data frame had dominant bits, the stuff bit error is
detected earlier)

Nodes Y,Z transmit their own active error flag field of 6 dominant bits

All nodes transmit the recessive error delimiter field. Node Y and Z see
no difference @ bus level, but node X detects a delay of 6 bits
between bus level and its own output First node to message error

After the last 8 recessive error delimiter bits @ CAN-bus and 3 bit of
inter frame space a new arbitration is entered by node X, e.g. it has to
compete again with other nodes
53

CAN Frame Structure

CAN Error Frame
1.

Bit-Error

the transmitted bit doesnt read back with the same digital
level (except arbitration and acknowledge- slot )
2.

Bit-Stuff-Error

more than 5 continuous bits read back with the same digital
level (except end of frame-part of the message )
3.

CRC-Error

the received CRC-sum doesnt match with the calculated sum

4.

Format-Error

Violation of the data-format of the message , e.g.: CRCdelimiter is not recessive or violation of the end -of-framefield
5.

Acknowledgement-Error

transmitter receives no dominant bit during the

acknowledgement slot, i.e. the message was not received by
another node.
54

CAN Frame Structure

CAN Error STATUS
error
handling

error
detection

error
managing

Purpose: avoid persistent disturbances

of the CAN by switching off defective
nodes three Error States :
error
limitation

error
active

error
passive

bus
off

Error Active: normal mode, messages will be received and

transmitted. In case of error an active error frame will be transmitted.
Error Passive: after detection of a certain number of errors, the node
reaches this state. Messages will be received and transmitted but in
case of an error the node sends a passive error frame.
Bus Off: the node is separated from CAN, neither transmission nor
receive of messages is allowed and the node is no longer able to
transmit error frames.

55

CAN Frame Structure

CAN Error Counter
State - Diagram:

REC <127
and
TEC <=127

error active
'reset' or 'init
node'
REC >127 or
127<TEC<255

error passive

bus off

TEC > 255

transitions will be carried out automatically by

the CAN-chip
states are managed by 2 Error Counters :
Receive Error Counter (REC)
Transmit Error Counter (TEC)
Possible situations :
a) a transmitter recognises an error:
TEC:=TEC + 8
b) a receiver sees an error : REC:=REC + 1
c) a receiver sees an error, after transmitting an
error frame:
REC:=REC + 8
d) if an error active-node finds a bit-stuff-error
during transmission of an error frame:
TEC:=TEC+ 1
e) successful transmission:
TEC:=TEC - 1
f) successful receive:
REC:=REC - 1

56

Message Filtering

The data transmission via CAN network is based on the principle of message
broadcasting.
This means that all messages transmitted on the bus are accessible to all nodes and
received by the CAN controllers.
In many cases a certain node will only be interested in a few messages intended for it.
For this reason it is very appropriate to implement an additional message filtering
mechanism which ensures that a host controller is only informed of the reception of a
new message is actually relevant for it
For the implementation of this filtering mechanism, the CAN controllers has several
internal registers normally called: mask registers and filter register
The mask registers are formed, at least, by the same number of bits than an identifier in
a CAN frame (29). Every bit in this register indicates if the corresponding bit in the
received frame is relevant or not to inform to the controller core about its reception.
The filter register are also formed, at least, by the same number of bits than an identifier
(29). A received message is relevant for this node if the corresponding identifier bit has
the same value in the filter register.
Normally, a CAN controller has several filter register and several mask register. The
same CAN register can be combined with several filter register
The filter and/or mask registers has normally extra bits in order to define if the filtering
process is only applicable to standard messages, extended messages or both of them

57

Message Filtering
Main Principle

To explain the filtering main principle, we are going to suppose that the identifiers are
formed by only 4 bits
Mask bit = 1 means that this bit is relevant for recepetion
Mask bit = 0 means that this bit is not relevant for reception. It can be 1 or 0.
Receiver3
Mask: 1000b
Filter: 1110b

Receiver1
Mask: 1001b
Filter: 1111b

Transmitter
ID: 1001b

X
Receiver2
Mask: 0000b
Filter: 0110b

Receiver4
Mask: 1000b
Filter: 0001b

Receiver1 relevant messages: ID=1xx1b Receiver2 relevant messages: ID=xxxxb (all)

Receiver 3 relevant messages: ID=1xxxb Receiver4 relevant messages: ID=0xxxb
Relevant means that the microcontroller must expend some time to extract the message
from the CAN buffer and decode the data
58

Message Filtering
Main Principle
Receiver2
Mask: 1000b
Filter: 1110b

Receiver1
Mask: 1001b
Filter: 1111b

Transmitter
ID: 1000b

X
X
Receiver4
Mask: 1000b
Filter: 0001b

Receiver3
Mask: 0000b
Filter: 0110b
Receiver2
Mask: 1111b
Filter: 1110b

Receiver1
Mask: 1001b
Filter: 1111b

Transmitter
ID: 1110b

X
X
Receiver3
Mask: 0000b
Filter: 0110b

Receiver4
Mask: 1000b
Filter: 0001b

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CAN Useful Links

Videos
Youtube - Controller Area Network(CAN)]-Introduction CAN Bus
Technology.flv by SaidyNguyen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKWrlsu2IXc
Youtube CAN Seminar Part 1/2/3/4 of 4 by Wilfried Voss (esdelectronics) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8HTVlEC7Lg

Web Resources

CAN-CiA Organization. http://www.can-cia.org/index.php?id=can

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