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AutomotiveCANBusSystemExplained|KirilMucevski|Pulse|LinkedIn

Designed by Kiril Mucevski

Automotive CAN Bus System Explained

Published on December 8, 2015

Kiril Mucevski Follow

Automotive Engineer, Service Advisor at Porsche Macedonia

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AutomotiveController Area Network System

TheControllerAreaNetwork(CAN,alsoknownasCANBus)isavehiclebusstandard
designedtoallowelectroniccontrolunitsanddevicestocommunicatewitheachother
inapplicationswithoutahostcomputer.Asanalternativetoconventionalmultiwire
looms,CANBusallowsvariouselectroniccomponents(suchas:electroniccontrol
units,microcontrollers,devices,sensors,actuatorsandotherelectroniccomponents
throughoutthevehicle)tocommunicateonasingleordualwirenetworkdatabusupto
1Mb/s.
TheCANBusisamessagebasedprotocol,designedoriginallyformultiplexelectrical
wiringwithinmotorvehicles,butalsocanbeusedinmanyothercontexts.
Figure1showsasimplifiedschematicdiagramoftheCANsystemandshowssomeof
thepossibleunits/devicesthatcanbeconnectedontotheCANbus.

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Figure1.CANSystemSchematicDiagram
1.EngineManagementElectronicControlUnit
2.TransmissionElectronicControlUnit
3.AntiLockBrakingElectronicControlUnit
4.TractionControlElectronicControlUnit
5.AirbagElectronicControlUnit
6.PowerSteeringElectronicControlUnit
7.OnBoardDiagnostic(OBD)Connector
8.ControllerAreaNetwork(CANBus)

CAN Bus Components and Output Signal

TypicallytheCANBusismadeuptwowires,CANH(CANHigh)andCANL(CAN
Low)whichconnecttoallthedevicesinthenetwork.ThesignalsonthetwoCANlines
havethesamesequenceofdata,buttheiramplitudesareopposite.Soifapulseonthe
CANHlinegoesfrom2.5Vto3.75VthenthecorrespondingpulseontheCANLline
goesfrom2.5Vto1.25V(oppositethanCANH).Bysendingthedatainequaland
oppositewayslikethisallowsforgreaternoiseimmunityandthereforelesschanceof
thedatabeingcorrupted.

Figure2.CANHandCANLDifferentialOutput
Statusofbitwiththevalue0=2.5Vdifferentialvoltage=dominantstate
Statusofbitwiththevalue1=0Vdifferentialvoltage=recessivestate

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Figure3showsanexampleoftwoconnecteddevicesaswellasthecomponentsthat
makeupaCANBus:CANcontroller,CANtransceiver,twodatabusterminals(R)and
twodatabuslines(CANHighlineandCANLowline).

Figure3.CANBusComponents
CANControllerreceivesthetransferdatafromthemicrocomputerintegratedinthe
controlunit/device(alsoknownasCANNode).TheCANcontrollerprocessesthisdata
andrelaysittotheCANtransceiver.Also,theCANcontrollerreceivesdatafromthe
CANtransceiver,processesitandrelaysittothemicrocomputerintegratedinthe
controlunit/device(CANNode).
CANTransceiverisatransmitterandreceiverinone.Itconvertsthedatawhichthe
CANcontrollersuppliesintoelectricalsignalsandsendsthisdataover
thedatabuslines.Also,itreceivesdataandconvertsthisdatafortheCANcontroller.
CANDataBusTerminalisaresistor(R)typicallyof120ohms.Itpreventsdatasent
frombeingreflectedattheendsandreturningasanecho.

CAN Data Transfer Process and Message Structure

TheCANdatatransferprocessconsiststhefollowingstages:supplyingdata,sending
data,receivingdata,checkingdataandacceptingdata.

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Figure4.CANBusDataTransferProcess
SupplyingData:TheCANNodeprovidesdatatotheCANcontrollerfortransfer.
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SendingData:TheCANtransceiverreceivesdatafromtheCANcontroller,convertsit
intoelectricalsignalsandsendsthembackintothenetwork.
ReceivingData:AllotherCANNodesnetworkedwiththeCANdatabusbecome
receivers.
CheckingData:TheCANNodecheckswhethertheyrequirethedatatheyhave
receivedfortheirfunctionsornot.
AcceptingData:Ifthereceiveddataisimportant,itisacceptedandprocessed.Ifnot,
thereceiveddataisignored.
TherearetwodifferentISOstandardsforCANsystemsthatrelatetothephysicallayer:
ISO118983lowspeedCANupto125kb/s(distanceupto500m)andISO118982
highspeedCANupto1Mb/s(distanceupto40m).
TheCANsystemisfurtherdividedintotwoformatsforthemessageframes2.0Aand
2.0B,thetwostandardsdifferinthesizeoftheidentifiers(ID):
StandardCAN(version2.0A)uses11bitidentifiersinthearbitrationfield.Extended
CAN(version2.0B)supportsalengthof29bitsfortheidentifier,madeupofthe11bit
identifier(baseidentifier)andan18bitextension.
Figure5showstheCANBusdatamessagestructure.Thebasicstructureofthemessage
isthesameforbothstandardandextendedversion.

Figure5.CANBusDataMessageStructure
SF=StartField:indicatesthebeginningofamessagewithadominantbit.Sothis
fieldmarksthestartofthedataprotocol.Abitwith3.75V(dependingontheused
system)issentovertheCANHlineandabitwith1.25VissentovertheCANL
line,i.e.thedifferentialvoltageis2.5V(seefigure2).
MessageIdentifier:definesthelevelofpriorityofthedataprotocol.If,forinstance,
twoCANNodeswanttosendtheirdataprotocolsimultaneously,theCANNodewith
thehigherprioritytakesprecedence.Thelowerthevaluethehigherthepriorityofthe
message.Asstatedearlier,dependingonthestandardbeingused,thelengthofthe

framescanbeintwoformats:standard,whichusesan11bitarbitrationID,and
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Control,alsoknownasCheckField:displaysthenumberofitemsofinformation
containedinthedatafield.Thisfieldallowsanyreceivertocheckwhetherithas
receivedalltheinformationtransferredtoit.
DataField:inthisfieldtheinformationistransferredtotheotherCANNodes.
CRC=CyclicRedundancyCheck,alsoknownasSafetyField:Contains15bitcyclic
redundancycheckcodeandarecessivedelimiterbit.TheCRCfieldisusedfortransfer
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faultsdetection.
ACK=AcknowledgeField,alsoknownasConfirmationField:Inthisfieldthe
receiverssignaltothetransmitterthattheyhavecorrectlyreceivedthedataprotocol.If
anerrorisdetected,thereceiversnotifythetransmitterofthisimmediately.The
transmitterthensendsthedataprotocolagain.
EF=EndField:thisfieldmarkstheendofthedataprotocol.Thisisthelastpossibility
toindicateerrorswhichleadtoarepeattransfer.

Summary: How the CAN System Works

Asstatedearlier,attheCANsystemthereisnomasterthatcontrolswhenindividual
CANNodeshaveaccesstoreadandwritedataontheCANBus.WhenaCANNodeis
readytotransmitdata,itcheckstoseeiftheBusisbusyandthensimplywritesaCAN
frame(message)ontothenetwork.TheCANframesthataretransmitteddonotcontain
addressesofeitherthetransmittingnodeoranyoftheintendedreceivingnode(s).
Instead,anarbitrationIDthatisuniquethroughoutthenetworklabelstheframe.
AllCANNodesontheCANnetworkreceivetheCANframe,anddependingonthe
arbitrationIDofthattransmittedframe,eachCANNodeonthenetworkdecides
whethertoacceptorignorethereceivedframe.
IfmultipleCANNodestrytotransmitamessageontotheCANBusatthesametime,
thenodewiththehighestpriority(lowestarbitrationID)automaticallygetsBusaccess.
LowerpriorityCANNodesmustwaituntiltheBusbecomesavailablebeforetryingto
transmitagain.Inthisway,youcanimplementCANnetworkstoensuredeterministic
communicationamongCANNodes.
Thetablebelowshowsanexampleofhowtheinformationofenginecoolant
temperaturecanbetransferredwith1,2and3consecutivebitsandrespectively2,4and
8possiblevariations:

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Thehigherthenumberofbits,themoreitemsofinformationcanbetransferred.The
numberofpossibleitemsofinformationdoubleswitheachadditionalbit.

Thankyouforreadingmyarticle!Ifyouenjoyedreadingthisorfounduseful,please
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letmeknow,provideyourfeedbackorjustclickthelikebutton.
Ifyouwouldliketoreadsimilarautomotivearticles,repairtipsortestingprocedures,
youarewelcometovisitmyLinkedInarticlepage:
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Tagged in: embedded systems,can bus,automotive electrical systems

Kiril Mucevski

Automotive Engineer, Service Advisor at Porsche Macedonia

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Kiril Mucevski

6mo

Automotive Engineer, Service Advisor at Porsche Macedonia

Thanks for your input Janez.

I searched on google and found the suggested article in pdf format. More interesting and more indepth information are provided. Also, there is and second part SSP 269: Data transfer on CAN data bus
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II. Both included great graphics and illustrations.

My article, where are provided only the fundamentals, is just introduction and short explanat
See more
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John Anderson

7mo

National Sales Manager at GlasWeld systems

Great post Kiril,

Can anyone suggest where I could get some training on this subject.
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Kiril Mucevski

7mo

Automotive Engineer, Service Advisor at Porsche Macedonia

Thank you John for the support and connection.

At the moment I have not some suggestions. If I hear or see something that you prefer, I'll let
you know.
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Rajkumar R

7mo

C - Suite Executive with SME in Automotive Electronics

Vector Informatik GmbH - Check it out!

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