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Innovation & Technologie Angebot

Controller Area Network (CAN) hub for high reliability and advanced testing in distributed control systems

Country of Origin: Spain
Reference Number: TOES20160201001
Publication Date: 9 March 2017

Summary

A Spanish university has developed a novel communication procedure and hub to build Controller Area Networks (CANs) with greater fault isolation, unprecedented testability, and compatibility with COTS components. Technology-based companies engaged in the design, implementation and test of control networks and distributed systems, in domains such as automotive, industrial automation or robotics, interested in a license or a research collaboration agreement are being sought.

Description

A Spanish research group specialized in electronic technology and awarded Best Work-in-Progress Papel Award in Emerging Technologies has developed an innovative technology based on CAN. The Controller Area Network protocol has been successfully used in many technology areas such as home automation industry, automotive and robotics. The widespread use of CAN is due to its robustness and low cost good performance in real time.



The developed procedure allows the implementation of devices or CAN networks with the aim of providing the following capabilities: discern the contribution that every node transmits and/or receives with a high time resolution; independently inject failures in the transmitted signals; failures detection in every node’s contribution and failures tolerance in the communications channel. These capabilities are very useful in embedded systems based on CAN which require high performance warranty.



Technology-based companies engaged in the design, implementation and tests of communications networks of distributed control systems such as industrial automation or robotics, interested in a license or a research collaboration agreement to implement the technology are being sought.

Advantages and Innovations

The developed technology allows building up CAN-based systems, relying on a transparent star topology, that can attain levels of dependability and testability that are impossible with any other technology proposed for CAN so far.



As concerns dependability, the novel technology allows building CAN networks in which its central element, e.g. a hub, has advanced fault-treatment capabilities. The main advantages in this sense is that the central element is able to: (1) diagnose faults affecting the nodes or the medium with a precision that is impossible in a CAN bus; and (2) isolate faults that are impossible to passivate when using a bus.



Regarding testability, the developed technology makes it possible to use the central element of the network to implement mechanisms or tools for CAN that allow to: (1) inject errors with a complexity and temporal/spatial resolution that are not possible with any other technology developed for CAN so far; (2) inject errors remotely and simultaneously in several nodes without needing to install local fault injectors in each one of them; and (3) remotely monitor the contribution that each node transmits and/or receives with the same novel high temporal/spatial resolution.



Finally, this new technology allows building up CAN stars in which each node connects to the central element by means of a single link. Thus, unlike other CAN stars, the ones that can be built with this technology are cheaper in terms of wiring/weight and are fully compatible with commercial CAN components and nodes.

Stage Of Development

Prototype available for demonstration

Stage Of Development Comment

Prototype available for demonstration. The client is interested in finding a company to implement the technology in a selected field of use.

Requested partner

Technology-based companies engaged in the design, implementation and tests of communications networks of distributed control systems such as industrial automation or robotics, interested in a license or a research collaboration agreement to implement the technology are being sought.