CAN in digital signal processors

CAN Newsletter December 2008

Digital signal processors (DSP) with CAN interface, as supplied by Texas Instruments (TI), are used in several medical devices. Some of them are equipped with deeply embedded CAN-based networks. The TMS320C24x family with up to two eCAN on-chip modules controls for example ECG and EEG devices. The deeply embedded networks often do not use standardized application layers. However, increasingly CANopen is used in order to separate medical application software and communication programs. This is done to reuse the higher-layer protocol stacks and not reinvent them with every new project. Several CANopen source code vendors provide low-level CAN drivers for DSPs from TI and other DSP manufacturers. If the CAN interface is used to connect the medical device to other device from other manufacturers, open network interfaces are necessary or both vendors have to develop jointly the communication protocols.