First CAN FD IP core for ASICs and FPGAs now supports both CAN FD standards after rigorous transceiver chip testing at CAN Open Plug Fest

Woodcliff Lake, NJ — May 15, 2015 — A new version of the CAN 2.0 and FD Bus Controller Core that supports both the current non-ISO and upcoming ISO specifications is now available from intellectual property provider CAST, Inc.

The first CAN Flexible Data soft IP core for ASICs and FPGAs on the market (in January 2014), the controller core is also believed to be the first soft core to undergo testing at a CAN Open Plug Fest (in March 2015) and the first to support both Bosch’s original CAN-FD specification as well as the ISO version of the CAN FD specification expected to be ratified later this year. CAST sources the core from partner Fraunhofer IPMS; early transceiver chips developed by customer ON Semiconductor were used in the Plug Fest.

“The FD version of the CAN bus is rapidly replacing other technologies in automobile and other systems, and several CAST customers have already gotten a jump on their competition by using this early controller core,” said Nikos Zervas, chief operating officer for CAST. “We’ve now put the core through the torture test of a Plug Fest and also added support for the ISO version, and we believe this to be the easiest, least-risky, and most cost-effective way for designers to integrate CAN FD in a wide variety of systems and products.”

The evolution of the CAN FD specification has been an interesting process. It passed a first ISO ballot in the Summer of 2014. As designers began using it, weaknesses in its data link protocol were detected, and fixed. The changes have little impact on most early design work, but do require a new spec. As Holger Zeltwanger, CiA managing director of trade group CAN in Automation said: “The year of 2014 was somehow challenging for the CAN FD community. But it is better to detect problems before the serial production has started.”

It is expected that the corrected, “ISO” standard 11898-1 will be approved later this year.

The new version of the CAN 2.0 and FD Bus Controller Core already conforms to the ISO standard —and to the base CAN 2.0A & 2.0B (ISO 11898) and non-ISO FD protocol—and is available today in synthesizable RTL for ASICs or optimized netlists for FPGAs. A ready-to-run Talos™ CAN FD Reference Design Board and other development aids are also available from CAST.

Learn more about Fraunhofer IPMS at www.ipms.fraunhofer.de. See ON Semiconductor’s existing line of CAN Transceivers and hundreds of other proven, cost- and energy-efficient electronics solutions at www.onsemi.com.

About CAST

CAST is a twenty-year-old developer, integrator, and aggregator of IP cores for ASICs and FPGAs. The company offers some of the best available choices for low-power, high-value IP, including 8051s and BA2x 32-bit Processors; video, image, and data compression; security, interfaces and other functions needed for complete system on chip designs. Visit www.cast-inc.com, or follow @castcores on Twitter.

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