CAN Bus

The original CAN bus system (controller area network), was developed for the automotive industry in the 1980s. By 1993, the CAN protocol had been internationally standardized so that different types of industries across the globe could benefit from it. CAN provides for two different types of industrial communication services: data frame transmission and remote transmission request.

Advantages of CAN Bus

A CAN bus gives a very high degree of system flexibility because it uses a content-oriented addressing scheme. As CAN is based on the "broadcast communication mechanism," multiple lots of data can be received and the system can be added to easily. Another advantage with CAN is that if one section of the system develops a defect, the rest of it will still work.

The list of applications for a CAN bus is pretty impressive. Trucks and buses, passenger cars, off road vehicles, passenger and cargo trains, maritime electronics, aircraft and aerospace electronics, factory automation, lifts and escalators, industrial machine control, building automation, and non-industrial control and equipment are just some of the applications to which CAN bus has been successfully put. CAN is becoming an important factor in automated industry.

Yet another extensive area where CAN bus is in use is the medical equipment field. This includes all kinds of medical applications and devices that are controlled by computers. CAN is so versatile because it can be implemented in a way that suits the end user best, either embedded or non-embedded.