Many users involved with CAN Bus programming (and exploring the extended capabilities of CAN FD) may not be aware that Classic CAN Bus and CAN FD are excluding each other due to compatibility issues. For more detailed information, see our post CAN FD On A Legacy CAN Bus Network Is Not A Good Idea Due To Compatibility Issues.

This situation does not post a problem when it comes to new designs based entirely on CAN FD, but will not play well when older CAN Bus devices are needed.

About CAN FD

CAN FD was created to provide increases in bandwidth within automotive and industrial networks. The CAN FD protocol has taken application software closer to "real time" through the minimization of delays between instruction and transfer of data (latency) and higher bandwidth. CAN FD provides more storage capacity in the CAN Bus data frame. While classic CAN can hold 8 bytes of data within the CAN frame, CAN FD can hold up to 64. This is achieved through a decrease in relative overhead and improvements to software simplicity and efficiency when transmitting large data objects. CAN FD also has reduced the number of undetected errors by increasing CRC-algorithm performance. CAN FD is compatible with existing CAN 2.0 networks, allowing the new protocol to function on the same network as classic CAN. CAN FD has been estimated to transmit data up to 30 times faster than classic CAN. More Information...

Just the other day, we posted an article, CAN Bus Router Connects Classic CAN And CAN FD Networks And Operates As A CAN Bus Recorder, that pointed to a solution, however, the product as described is not practical for the majority of applications (not mentioning the attached costs).

Teensy 3.6 CAN 2.0B and CAN FD Breakout Board

This is a Teensy 3.6 board with CAN 2.0B and CAN FD interface. The CAN FD is supplied by the Microchip MCP2517FD CAN FD controller with MCP2562FD CAN FD transceiver. There is also a socket for a 128x64 (I2C) OLED display (not included in delivery).

Features

• Teensy 3.6 (installed)
• CAN 2.0B interface
• CAN FD interface
• On board voltage regulator (Input voltage range 6 VDC to 14 VDC)
• Reverse supply voltage protection
• 120 Ohm termination resistor

Teensy is a line of hardware boards designed to offer maximum I/O capabilities, backed up by a slew of fully featured software libraries designed to run on Arduino. The Teensy is a complete USB-based microcontroller development system, in a very small footprint, capable of implementing many types of projects. All programming is done via the USB port. The Teensy boards are fully compatible with Arduino Software & Libraries.

This board presents a low-cost solution that can act as a bridge device between Classical CAN and CAN FD networks. In addition, the hardware could be used to map message IDs and convert CAN Bus baud rates.

The product comes with sample software for both Classic CAN Bus and CAN FD.

More Information...