NXP Announces Industry’s First Integrated CAN Transceiver Microcontroller Solution

CAN is recognized as a robust and reliable communication channel for rugged environments. With the introduction of the LPC11C22 and LPC11C24 integrated CAN transceiver microcontroller solution, NXP has opened the door for widespread adoption of low-cost CAN in an increasing variety of industrial and automation applications for factories, buildings and in the home. Typically, CAN transceivers can cost as much as or even more than the microcontroller itself. Integrating the CAN transceiver on board increases system reliability and quality, reduces electrical interconnect and compatibility issues, and reduces board space by over 50 percent while adding less than 20 percent to the MCU cost. The LPC11C22 and LPC11C24 are the latest additions to the LPC11C00 series of CAN 2.0B-compliant controllers.

“Offering a highly optimized CAN solution in a single package simplifies industrial network design,” said Geoff Lees, vice president and general manager, microcontroller product line, NXP Semiconductors. ”The close coupling of transceiver and 32-bit MCU with CANopen protocol support directly on-chip extends our plug-and-play system approach.”

The CAN Physical Layer is designed for up to 1 Mbit/s High-Speed CAN networks and delivers optimal performance for industrial applications with state-of-the-art Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection, improved Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and low power operation. The LPC11C22/C24 CAN Physical Layer is fully compliant with the ISO 11898-2 standard for two-wire balanced signaling and is optimized for sensor applications and rugged industrial CAN networks. High ESD handling capability on bus pins is combined with additional fail-safe features such as high DC handling capability on CAN pins, Transmit Data dominant time-out function, undervoltage detection, and thermal protection. Low power management is fully integrated, and the transceiver can disengage from the bus when it is not powered up.

CANopen drivers are provided in on-chip ROM with easy-to-use APIs enabling users to rapidly adopt the LPC11C22/C24 into embedded networking applications based on the CANopen standard. This standardized CANopen layer (EN 50325) is especially well suited for embedded networks in all kinds of control, such as machines and elevators, making proprietary or application-specific application layers obsolete. Incorporating CANopen drivers in on-chip ROM reduces overall risk and effort while providing design engineers with the added advantage of reduced operating power, as well as secure and safe bootloading via CAN. With the security and peace of mind offered by ROM-based drivers, updating Flash via In System Programming (ISP) over the CAN-bus provides the whole range of functionality – from programming blank parts in production, through changing system parameters, to full in-field re-programmability. The following functions are included in the API:

* CAN set-up and initialization
* CAN send and receive messages
* CAN status
* CANopen Object Dictionary
* CANopen SDO expedited communication
* CANopen SDO segmented communication primitives
* CANopen SDO fall-back handler