Softing CAN bus products - Components with a system | |
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CAN, CANopen and DeviceNet Communication | |
The CAN bus Interface Cards from Softing are a large family of powerful PC interfaces for CAN bus, CANopen and DeviceNet.
A single programming interface (API) can be used for all hardware formats of the Softing CAN bus cards. An OPC server is available for integration in standard applications. Our CAN bus Tools for development support and network analysis and configuration help device and system developers, component integrators and users carry out their tasks. Through our active involvement in the relevant organizations - CAN in Automation e.V. and the Open DeviceNet Vendor Association - we ensure that Softing CAN products always conform to the latest standards. This enables us to offer our customers a complete range of CAN bus products from a single source. | |
Products | |
 | CAN Bus (Controller Area Network) |
CAN (Controller Area Network) is a serial bus system, which was originally developed for automotive applications in the early 1980's. The CAN protocol was internationally standardized in 1993 as ISO 11898-1 and comprises the data link layer of the seven layer ISO/OSI reference model. CAN, which is by now available from around 40 semiconductor manufacturers in hardware, provides two communication services: the sending of a message (data frame transmission) and the requesting of a message (remote transmission request, RTR). All other services such as error signaling, automatic re-transmission of erroneous frames are user-transparent, which means the CAN chip automatically performs these services. The equivalent of the CAN protocol in human communication are e.g. the Latin characters. This means a CAN controller is comparable to a printer or a type writer. CAN users still have to define the language/grammar and the words/vocabulary to communicate. For more information, please visit Softing CAN Bus Page | |
| CANopen |
CANopen is a CAN-based higher layer protocol. It was developed as a
standardized embedded network with highly flexible configuration
capabilities. CANopen was designed for motion-oriented machine control
networks, such as handling systems. By now it is used in many various
fields, such as medical equipment, off-road vehicles, maritime
electronics, public transportation, building automation, etc. For more information, please visit Softing CANOpen Page | |
| CAN Bus Interface Cards and Boards CAN PCI, CAN PC/104, CAN USB, CAN PC Card, PCMCIA |
Softing offers CAN Interface Cards with various form factors and interfaces. All CAN bus Interfaces are delivered with the CAN API by default. Alternatively, there are also APIs available for CANopen and DeviceNetFor more information, please visit Softing CAN Bus Interface Page | |
| CANopen Interface Cards and Boards CANopen PCI, CANopen PC/104, CANopen PC Card, PCMCIA |
| Softing offers interface cards in various hardware formats for
operating a PC as a CANopen master. You can integrate them in your
application either via the standardized OPC interface or by means of
the programming interfaces (APIs) available for the cards.
You can use our CANopen OPC Server for connections via OPC. This is available either as an accessory to the CAN interface cards or in an inexpensive package (server + card). Its integrated CANopen Configurator will help you commission your network. For more information, please visit Softing CANopen Interface Page | |
| DeviceNet Interface Cards and Boards DeviceNet PCI, DeviceNet PC/104, DeviceNet PC Card, PCMCIA |
Softing offers
interface cards in various hardware formats for operating a PC as a
DeviceNet master and/or slave. They can be integrated in your
application using the powerful DeviceNet API. They have been realized
on the basis of the protocol stack from Allen-Bradley (Rockwell) and
are optimized for performance and exact protocol timing.
Since the protocol is implemented directly in the cards' firmware, the cards are particularly well-suited to fast, extensive control tasks. Even very complex systems can be optimally coordinated thanks to comprehensive configuration services. Since the DeviceNet cards can handle master and slave functionality at the same time, they can also be used to realize multi-master architectures with any types of relationships between the stations. The slave functions make the local data on a PC available via I/O messaging. For more information, please visit Softing DeviceNet Page | |
| CAN bus Drivers |
Softing's CAN Windows CE Driver connects embedded CE systems to CAN networks via a powerful interface.
The CAN Windows CE Driver supports CAN-PC/104 and CANcard2 interface cards. For the CANcard2 interface card, Softing also offers a driver for the HP iPAQ Pocket PC Series with the Intel SA-1110 StrongARM or XScale CPU. Information on drivers for the various versions of Windows 9x, NT and XP, for Linux and for numerous realtime operating systems such as Ardence RTX, VxWorks and QNX can be found in the sections featuring our CAN interface cards, CANopen interface cards and DeviceNet interface cards. For more information, please visit Softing CANBus Driver Page | |
| CAN bus Servers |
OPC is today's standard interface for the exchange of data between Windows applications in automation environments.
More than ever before, OPC client applications for visualization, measurement data acquisition or control tasks are using OPC servers to access process data and peripheral information. With many applications, it is extremely important for operators and integrators to be able to implement efficient connections to CANopen networks as quickly as possible and without programming overhead. For more information, please visit Softing CANBus Server Page | |
| CAN bus Configuration Tools |
For optimal
performance, the individual participants in a CAN bus network need to
be coordinated with regard to prioritization, bandwidth usage and
controlling the transfer of information. The multi-master architecture
of CAN permits a number of possible parameterizations.
Our easy-to-use configuration tools make it as simple as possible for you to coordinate your system. Connected devices are detected automatically, and communication relationships are defined as graphics or text. The configurator then autonomously proposes an optimized configuration, which you are free to modify as you like. The system configuration is fed to control applications via the network, for example, and the parameters are stored directly in the field devices. For more information, please visit Softing CANBus Configuration Tool Page | |
| CAN bus Diagnostic Tools |
The CAN bus Analyzer and Tester from Softing prove their worth in daily use.
Their functionality is optimized for various applications and uses - from development to the commissioning and maintenance of CAN bus, CANopen and DeviceNet systems. For more information, please visit Softing CANBus Diagnostic Tool Page | |
