Annual review and preview to 2022

The CiA team wishes the CAN community a contemplative end to the year and a good start into the new year. The CiA office is closed from December 24 to January 2.

Just at the end of 2021, CiA has released the first CAN XL specifications. It was a challenging year, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. No face-to-face meetings, everything needed to be discussed online including the 17th international CAN Conference (iCC). Participation in webinars and other e-learning opportunities was low. Only the CAN XL meetings were always very well attended. Of course, virtual meetings are not that effective as meetings in person. Nevertheless, CiA finished the CAN XL data link layer and the CAN SIC XL medium attachment unit specifications. They have been already submitted for integration into the ISO 11898 standard series. First ISO meetings are scheduled for January 2022.

In 2022, CiA continues the development of CAN XL specifications. In the pipeline are documents for CAN XL data link layer security and for CAN XL frame fragmentation. Additionally, higher OSI layer specifications for CAN XL are under development. This includes the SDU (service data unit) type specification indicating the used higher-layer protocol. CiA will also provide device and network design recommendations and guidelines. The year 2022, will be as busy as the last year.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic continues. Many of the tradeshows CiA liked to participate have been cancelled or postponed. Alternatively, CiA offers on Fridays Zoom sessions (January 21 and January 28), in which you can talk to CiA representatives. Of course, this is not the same as a visit on a CiA booth, but still more than nothing. These CiA open forums are scheduled on 11:00 (UTC + 1) to 12:30.