CAN XL demonstrators and CAN-connectable products

This year over 950 exhibitors from 44 countries showed their products at the Embedded World 2023 tradeshow in Nuremberg, Germany. In one of the conference sessions, CiA provided information on CAN XL and CAN FD.

"We were overwhelmed by the number of visitors," reported Benedikt Weyerer, the Executive Director from Nürnberg Messe. Almost 27000, which is over 50 percent more than last year, flowed through the exhibition halls during the three days. Over 40 percent came from abroad. Remarkable was the presence of companies from Taiwan. Mostly, they were showing comprehensive computing solutions with AI (artificial intelligence) support. We already reported about some exhibited products with CAN connectivity.

At the Embedded World conference, CiA presented three papers. Two of them reported about CAN XL regarding physical layer options respectively the use case of a backbone network for fire-fighting body applications on trucks. The third paper was focused on CAN FD network use cases in agriculture and construction machinery.

In general, CAN was not always visible at the first glace. Of course, many products provided CAN interfaces, but this was not explicitly indicated. Since many years, CAN, often used as embedded or deeply embedded network technology is state-of-art, so to speak, and therefore not a new feature, which needed to be advertised. Even the migration from Classical CAN to CAN FD was not always promoted on the Embedded World booths. But the delicate flower CAN XL was demonstrated on the fairground by means of three running networks.

The delicate flower CAN XL

On the CiA stand, Vector and NXP showed their CAN XL demonstrators, which aroused the visitors interest. Bosch also presented a CAN XL demonstrator on its booth. Cast offering the CAN XL IP core by Fraunhofer informed their visitors about the 3rd CAN protocol generation; the company has already sold the first IP cores, especially to China. The IP core provider DCD-Semi from Poland, which already serves Classical CAN and CAN FD markets, is also developing an IP core featuring CAN XL. Kvaser and Peak have also started to develop CAN XL IP cores.

NXP and STM did not exhibit their micro-controllers supporting CAN XL. Nevertheless, first engineering samples are available for dedicated customers. MCU prototypes with CAN XL on chip from Infineon, Microchip Automotive, and Renesas will be available within this year or beginning of next year.

The printed March issue of the CAN Newsletter magazine available on CiA’s booth contained four articles about CAN XL. While speaking with a lot of attendees, it became clear that CAN XL is currently mostly an issue for the automotive industry. First cars implementing the 3rd CAN protocol generation are expected to be on the road in 2026/2027, stated NXP. Of course, pilot projects in the transportation industry are ongoing. The first bus drive with CAN XL happened already.

From classical CAN to CAN FD

The migration from classical CAN to CAN FD is still in progress. There are still many companies supporting CAN connectivity in their products, which have not yet adapted CAN FD, never mind CAN XL. Suitable to the trade show name, they provide embedded boards with classical CAN interfaces or offer embedded (PC) solutions according to customers wishes. For example, Technexion showed the CAN-connectable TEK3-IMX6UL and TEK3-IMX6 embedded PCs for industrial applications. The Ultron PC from Smartcow is an AI-based (artificial intelligence) controller with sensor fusion capability dedicated to factory automation. Another CAN-supporting Smartcow box-PC is the Athos suitable for smart city, traffic, and retail applications. Micro-Star Int'l offers the MS-9A89 box-PC with two CAN ports as well as the MS-9A79 with an optional CAN interface used e.g. in railway applications. C&T Solution provides the RCO-1000-EHL series with two CAN channels and extended wireless connectivity. The manufacturer’s ACO-6000 and the new ACO-6000-CML series are suited for use in rail and heavy-duty applications. The Nvidia-Jetson-based ENVP-JAO-AI-V0008 and ENVP-JON-AI-UB box-PCs from Everfocus are designed for automotive and railway use. These computers can be deployed for example as a centerpiece in the company’s Xfleet fleet management solution. For fleet management the telematics gateways from Iwave can be used, too. Further embedded box PCs can be purchased from Geshem. The PC-GS3285A has a CAN interface on board. Other PCs can be supplied with CAN as well, explained the manufacturer.

A variety of CAN-enabled hardware is offered by Connect Tech. The solutions include the Polaris rugged embedded system for robotics, smart city, and autonomous machines, Sentry-X for aerospace, defense, and heavy machinery as well as the Rudi-NX series of edge AI computing devices. Additionally, the firm provides CAN-capable carrier boards for different Nvidia Jetson modules. Delta Components provides versatile industrial and automotive panel and box PCs with CAN (FD) interfaces as well as according components. Providing mobile-network und satellite-based connectivity (e.g. GPS, GNSS), the devices can serve in fleet management solutions, marine networking, railways, and other transportation solutions. Incostartec offers the Incobee industrial box-PC series with one or two CAN ports. Further, it offers HMIs (human machine interface) with optional CAN support.

Some of the exhibited IPC (industrial personal computer) solutions provide extension slots and thus can be equipped with CAN (FD) ports using interface cards. Those products are available for example from Cincoze, Plug-In, Arbor, Lex Computech, Pyramid Computer, and Arestech.

Boards, boards, boards

Embedded systems implement different modules, carrier boards, systems-on-board, etc., which comprise the required electronics. To serve different applications, boards with diverse functionality and interfaces are on the market. For instance, the MSC SM2S-IMX8Plus Smarc compute module from Avnet Embedded for AI applications features two CAN FD ports. Also with two CAN FD interfaces come the Picocore and Efus modules from F&S Elektronik Systeme. The provider’s recent Soldercore MX8ULP series supports FlexCAN. Mitac Computing Technology is a global provider of embedded systems, panel PCs, rugged tablets, and complete solutions. To implement the CAN connectivity into these devices, the company’s MS 26CAD-T10 module is used. Imaging Source Europe is a manufacturer of vision and camera solutions. Its six-channel carrier board for FPD-Link III cameras with Nvidia Jetson SOMs (system on module) supports CAN. ICOP Technology provides CAN-connectable PC/104 modules, SBCs (single board computer), and CPU (central processing unit) modules (e.g. DIP-128 and DIP-168) as well as the SerialCAN UART-to-CAN module. CAN-enabled motherboards (e.g. JN F631R series) are available from Jetway Information. MAS Elettronica offers the Mina SBC (single-board computer) based on the I.MX8M processor from NXP and implementing two CAN interfaces with CAN stand-alone controllers from Microchip. Hartmann Electronic develops and sells backplane systems and complete solutions with optional CAN connectivity. JWIPC offers the JES-R68S embedded single-board computer and JSOM embedded core board series with one or two CAN ports.

CAN protocol controllers and transceivers

DMP Electronics presented the Vortex86 SOC (system on chip) series, which are MPUs (micro-processor units) supporting Windows, Linux, and RTOS. For instance, the 600-MHz Vortex86EX2 implements two CAN interfaces. Albatros Semiconductor (a company from Genemec) provides the 32-bit AT32 M0 and AT32 M4 MCU (micro-controller unit) series providing one or two CAN interfaces. The low to high-performance components are available in different packages. Albatros also distributes the CAN and CAN FD transceivers from SIT. The chips (e.g. SIT1042, SIT1043) can be used as a second source to replace similar components from other manufacturers. Trenz Electronic provides the automotive TE0720 SOC (system-on-chip) series with a CAN option. It also sells the TEP0001 automotive dual CAN FD transceiver module compatible with Digilent’s Pmod interfaces. Data bit rates of up to 5 Mbit/s are possible.

Other CAN-connectable products

Smartwin Electronics Technologies presented CAN-FD-connectable automotive and motorcycle displays deployed by well-known customers such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Volvo, Yamaha, and Kawasaki. Some TFT modules from Yeebo Display feature CAN connectivity. The smart cameras manufacturer New Electronic Technology (NET) has CAN-connectable cameras in its portfolio. Pro-Data International is specializing in connectors and cable assemblies. Serving the customer demands, they provide CAN connectors and cables used e.g. in e-bikes or other applications with specific requirements (water-proofed, temperature-resistant, etc.). Elec-Con (Germany) is a development house working on customized solutions. Regarding CAN, they engineered a CAN splitter, which divides a CAN line in two CAN lines. The solution can be used in safety applications based on the redundancy principle. If one CAN line fails, the other would still work.

Save the date

The next Embedded World exhibition is held in Nuremberg from April 9 to 11, 2024. CiA plans to participate as usual with an own booth. Members can show their products by means of product panels on the CiA stand.

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