News and New Products

Controller is CANnier than its predecessor

By Bill Schweber -- EDN, 10/2/2003

The MCP2515 CAN (controller-area-network) controller is compatible with the footprint and functions of Microchip’s earlier MCP2510, but it also adds features and functions that simplify the task of its associated processor. In addition to a 10-MHz SPI interface, this IC can filter messages based on the first two bytes of data and the 11 identifier bits, which reduces processor overhead when your design supports higher layer protocols, which use data bytes and identifier bits to tag messages.

The device, available in 18-lead PDIP/DOIC and 20-lead TSSOP packages, includes a one-shot mode in which it attempts to transmit for one time, whether or not arbitration loss or an error frame will occur; this feature is useful if you are implementing a deterministic protocol, such as time-triggered CAN. For time-slot-based protocols, the device provides a start-of-frame output, which is also useful for bus diagnostics and sensing early bus degradation. The MCP2515 costs $1.72 (1000).

Microchip Technology Inc, www.microchip.com.