Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. ..

..Working together is success.

(Source: Adobe Stock)

This proverb by Henry Ford inspires me to manage the CiA association. This year, CiA organizes face-to-face CAN XL technologies days in Detroit and Paris and you can meet CiA members on different tradeshows (Embedded World in Nuremberg, SAE WCX in Detroit, Interlift in Augsburg, and SPS in Nuremberg). In 2023, CiA also organizes free-of-charge online meetings (two CiA technology days and six webinars). This is a beginning.

Becoming a CiA member is the next step. As member you may participate in CiA technical groups to develop specifications, recommendations, guidelines, and application notes. There are also CiA marketing groups organizing joint marketing activities. This includes CAN XL and CANopen Lift plugfests, for example. This is progress.

In 2023, several CiA documents will be released – some of them, soon. Especially, the CAN XL ecosystem is growing: The next documents include the CiA 610-2 and the CiA 610-4 conformance test plans for the CAN XL protocol respectively the CAN SIC XL physical medium attachment (PMA) sub-layer. Another one is the CiA 612-1 CAN XL system design guideline. In the pipeline is also the CiA 612-2 PWM-coding implementation guideline.

CiA is also continuing the development and improvement of CiA profiles for different device classes and application fields. CiA profiles can be mapped to different CAN-based application layers. Historically, the CiA profiles have been developed for classic CANopen (CiA 301), some of them have been already adapted for CANopen FD and J1939. The adaptation to CAN FD Light and CAN XL is the next logical step.

Other work items include device synchronization, dual-mode redundancy, CAN XL simulation, and new profiles for rail vehicles, commercial vehicle body applications, and the multi-PDU concept for CAN XL. Additionally, CiA supports a research project for long CAN FD/XL networks.

All these joint work activities foster CAN technologies in many markets and application fields. This is success.

If you like to learn more about CiA and its work items, register for the online CiA technology days. If you like to get more information on specific topics, register for the related online CiA webinars. Scheduling details will be available soon on this website. There is also the possibility to contact CiA office to arrange an individual online meeting to discuss your needs and demands.