Background

CAN (Controller Area Network) is a serial bus system, which was originally developed for automotive applications in the early 1980's. It is now used extensively in industrial control, medical, aeronautics, public transportation and more.

CAN provides

• a multi-master hierarchy, which allows building intelligent and redundant systems. If one network node is defect the network is still able to operate.
• broadcast communication. A sender of information transmits to all devices on the bus. All receiving devices read the message and then decide if it is relevant to them. This guarantees data integrity as all devices in the system use the same information.
• sophisticated error detecting mechanisms and re-transmission of faulty messages. This also guarantees data integrity.

CANopen is a CAN-based higher layer protocol. It was developed as a standardized embedded network with highly flexible configuration capabilities. CANopen is useful for embedded networking applications because of its real-time capability, ease of use and ability to achieve high performance at a low baud rate. For more information on CAN visit http://www.can-cia.org/

Device Driver Support

Quadros Systems offers device drivers for the CAN controllers integrated into popular microprocessors. These include the Analog Devices Blackfin family (ADSP-BF534, ADSP-BF536, and ADSP-BF537), the Freescale ColdFire family (MCF521x, MCF523x, MCF528x, and MCF548x) and the Infineon C16x family.

This low level support is ideal for customers who have their own CAN protocol solution.

CANopenRT Overview

For customers who want a complete, real-time CANopen solution, Quadros Systems has partnered with IXXAT Automation to integrate CANopenRT with the RTXC Quadros real-time operating system. CANopenRT is a version of the CANopen protocol software designed for real-time implementations. CANopenRT contains all functions necessary for implementing slave or simple master devices according to the CANopen specification DS301, version 4.02.

The tight integration with the RTXC Quadros RTOS allows CANopenRT to be used within a rich spectrum of application types, from the simplest CANopen nodes to control applications where complex and concurrent tasks have independent access to the CANopen protocol . These applications include sensor and actuator units, drives, MMI units, and other devices that require CANopen Slave and/or Slave/Master functionality.

CANopenRT Features

• Comprehensive range of functions based on the current CANopen specification DS301 version 4.02
• Enables quick and easy development of CANopen devices (slave and master/slave)
• Modular software structure with comprehensive configuration and scaling possibilities
• Clearly structured, simple programming interface
• Integrated with the RTXC Quadros RTOS
• Easy portability
• High efficiency

The CANopenRT protocol software is available in two different packages with different ranges of functions:

• Slave only
• Master/slave

The master/slave package has the complete range of functions and can be used for the development of both pure slave devices and simple master devices.

For more information contact your local Quadros Systems sales representative.