vcan TANGENT TECHNOLABS vcan CAN BUS Analyzer
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION The vcan is a easy to use low cost CAN Bus Analyzer which is useful in the development, Debugging and Diagnosis of any CAN network. It is provided with features which makes it suitable to various applications in Automotive, Industrial, Medical and Avionics domains. The vcan tool supports bitrates up to 1Mbps. The tool comes with a compact, rugged hardware and PC based GUI. It can be connected to any CAN network using the DB9 connector. The vcan has all the standard functionalities such as traffic monitor, message transmit, log file and Automated message transmission. This chapter describes the following : vcan Kit contents vcan hardware features vcan GUI software features 1.2 vcan KIT CONTENTS 1 vcan Hardware 2 vcan Software The vcan Software CD contains : Windows driver vcan PC GUI s/w 1.3 vcan HARDWARE FEATURES USB Cable This cable comes attached to the hardware. It is used to plug to the USB port of the PC DB9 Cable This cable also attached to the Hardware. It is used to connect the vcan to any CAN network. USB traffic LED It indicates the actual USB traffic between the vcan Hardware and the PC. CAN traffic LED It indicates the actual CAN traffic between the vcan Hardware and other CAN nodes. 1.4 vcan GUI SOFTWARE FEATURES Easy to use PC based CAN bus analyzer that communicates directly with any CAN network Supports 11 bit (CAN 2.0A) & 29 bit (CAN 2.0B) message identifiers Displays data, remote & error frames Displays a timestamp for each message Displays ID & data in hexadecimal format Can generate up to 50 user specified transmit messages Transmit messages can be either periodic or key triggered User can set the baud rate in the range of 20KBPS to 1MBPS Log feature to save all messages to a file Listen only mode allows non-intrusive bus watching Hardware buffer for CAN and USB data facilitates zero message loss 2
Chapter 2. INSTALLATION 2.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter describes the procedures for installing the vcan hardware and software. Installing vcan Software Installing vcan Hardware 2.2 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 2.2.1 Installing the GUI Install Matlab Compiler Runtime (MCR) version 8.1(32bit) before installing the vcan from the link : http://in.mathworks.com/products/compiler/mcr/ 1. Run vcansetup_verxyz.exe where XYZ is the version number of the software. By default this will install the files to c:\program Files\Tangent TechnoLabs\vCAN_verXYZ. 2. User can choose different installation folder by using the Browse button. 3. Then follow the steps accordingly. 4. If user has chosen desktop shortcut while following the steps in installation procedure then shortcut icon will be created in the desktop from where the vcan GUI can be launched. 2.2.2 Installing the USB Driver for Windows For the vcan hardware to be detected by the vcan GUI software, the user has to first install the vcan USB driver for Windows. For Installation of USB driver follow the procedure specified in the following document : vcan_driver_installation.pdf 2.3 HARDWARE INSTALLATION 2.3.1 System Requirements Windows 7 and Windows later versions. Matlab Compiler Runtime version 8.1(32bit) USB Port 2.3.2 Connecting the vcan to the PC and other CAN nodes 1. Connect the vcan via the USB port of the PC. You will be prompted to install the USB drivers for the vcan tool if you not yet installed the driver files. The drivers can be found in the default location. c:\program Files\Tangent TechnoLabs\vCAN_verXYZ or user selected location. 2. Connect the vcan tool to the DB9 Connector. Please refer to figure 2-1 and figure 2-2 for DB9 Pin details to make the connection of CAN network to the vcan tool. 3
Pin No. Pin Name Pin Description Pin No. Pin Name Pin Description 1. 6. 2. 7. 3. 8. 4. 9. 5. Figure 2-1 Figure 2-2 4
Chapter 3. vcan Application Overview: Features: Easy to use PC based CAN bus analyzer that communicates directly with any CAN network Supports 11 bit (CAN 2.0A) & 29 bit (CAN 2.0B) message identifiers Displays data, remote & error frames Displays a timestamp for each message Displays ID & data in hexadecimal format Can generate up to 50 user specified transmit messages Transmit messages can be either periodic or key triggered User can set the baud rate in the range of 20KBPS to 1MBPS Log feature to save all messages to a file Listen only mode allows non-intrusive bus watching Hardware buffer for CAN and USB data facilitates zero message loss References: 1 CAN Specification Version 2 (1991), Robert Bosch GmbH 2 ISO11898-1 Controller Area Network - Data link layer and physical signalling. 3 ISO11898-2 Controller Area Network - High-speed medium access unit. Glossary: CAN DLC HW ID ISO LED Controller Area Network Data Length Code Hardware Identifier International Organization for Standardization Light Emitting Diode 5
PC RAM ROM USB Personal Computer Random Access Memory Read Only Memory Universal Serial Bus System Requirements: vcan Application minimum system (PC) requirements - Windows 7 or 8 (32 or 64 bit) operating system USB port (2.0) 5M bytes of free disk space Menu: Exit: 'Exit', closes the vcan Application & the connection to vcan Hardware. View: Clear: 'Clear', erases all the current messages displayed in the 'View' window. Fixed: In 'Fixed' view mode, the received & transmitted CAN messages are listed in the 'View' window in fixed positions. Any message with the same ID as one already displayed, automatically overwrites the currently displayed message. A new message with no equivalent 'ID' as one already displayed is appended to the end of the list. A context sensitive menu appears if the right mouse button is clicked while hovering over the 'View' table. This menu allows either 'Fixed' or 'Cyclic' view mode to be selected. Cyclic: In 'Cyclic' view mode, the received & transmitted CAN messages are listed in the view table in sequential order, with new messages being added to the end of the list. 6
When the number of messages added to the list equals the size of the view table buffer, the list cycles back to the start, with the oldest message replaced by the latest one. The size of the cyclic buffer is fixed to 1000. A context sensitive menu appears if the right mouse button is clicked while hovering over the 'View' list. This menu allows either 'Fixed' or 'Cyclic' view mode to be selected. Log: Log File Settings Start Log: 'Start Log', starts the message recording mode, which logs the messages in the ' View' window to a file, in sequential order. Before starting the log, the file name & type must be specified via the 'Log File Settings section of the setup page. An example of a text format log file is shown below. The ID & data are saved in hexadecimal format. For best appearance, view a text format log file using a monospace font, such as Courier New or Lucida Console, so that the columns are correctly aligned. 7
The log file size is limited by the vcan Application to 10 million messages. Once this limit is reached, the log is automatically stopped & the log file closed. Stop Log: 'Stop Log', stops the message recording mode & closes the log file. The user must close the file before attempting to view the file. The 'Log File Settings ' box allows the file name & file format of the log file to be specified. Note : The file name box must contain a valid directory path & file name, for example 'C:\vCAN\Log.txt'. Use the Browse.. button to browse to a directory & enter a file name. The format of the log file may be specified as either plain text (Text option), or as comma separated variables (CSV option). The latter format is suitable for display in spreadsheet type programs. vcan Start: 'Start vcan', initialises the operating mode of the vcan device(hw) & enables the reception & transmission of CAN messages. The CAN message timestamp is reset to 0s. Stop: 'Stop vcan', disables the reception & transmission of CAN messages. It also stops communication with vcan hardware Help vcan Help:' vcan Help', invokes this built in help. About 'About vcan ', brings up a dialog box displaying the name & version number of the vcan Application. 8
View The 'View' is the main CAN message display window. All CAN messages transmitted & received on the CAN bus are displayed within this window The ID & data are displayed in hexadecimal format. Type The 'Type' Column in the 'View' window displays the type of message on each row in the list, using an icon followed by text. The type identifies the message as either receive, transmit or status. The numbers '11' & '29' appended to the type text in the case of a receive or a transmit, identify the message as either a CAN 2.0A (11 bit standard message id) or CAN 2.0B (29 bit extended message id) message, respectively. The table below details the possible message types. Icon Type Receive message with 11 bit message id Receive message with 29 bit message id Remote receive message with 11 bit message id Remote receive message with 29 bit message id Transmit message with 11 bit message id Transmit message with 29 bit message id Remote transmit message with 11 bit message id Remote transmit message with 29 bit message id Time The 'Time' column in the 'View' window displays a timestamp for each message. The timestamp is the arrival time of the message in seconds elapsed since vcan hardware started. ID The 'ID' column in the 'View' window displays the 11 or 29 bit message arbitrator in hexadecimal format. 11 bit arbitrators (CAN 2.0A) lie in the range 000-7FF (hex.) & 29 bit arbitrators (CAN 2.0B) in the range 00000000-1FFFFFFF (hex.). Data The 'Data' column in the 'View' window displays the data field associated with each CAN message. The data field may occupy from 0 to 8 bytes, these are displayed in columns D1 to D8. If the number of bytes in the data field is less than 8 then the remainder are filled with blanks. The DLC (Data Length Code) value is equal to the 9
number of columns containing data. For example, if columns D1 to D3 contain data values & the remaining D4 to D8 columns are blank, then the DLC equals 3. The data is displayed in hexadecimal format & each byte lies in the range 00 to FF (hex.). Transmit Overview vcan transmits messages on the CAN bus as specified by the user in the 'Transmit' list, on the ' Transmit' page. Transmit messages are created & modified using the 'CAN Transmit Editor'. Up to 50 transmit messages may be specified in this way. Enable The 'Enable' box in the 'Transmit' list allows the transmission of individual messages to be enabled\disabled. Any message with the box ticked is enabled for transmission. 10
Bit The 'Bit' value in the 'Transmit' list identifies the number of bits in the arbitrator of the message, either 11 or 29. ID The 'ID' is the message arbitrator, displayed in hexadecimal format. 11 bit arbitrators (CAN 2.0A) lie in the range 000-7FF (hex.) & 29 bit arbitrators (CAN 2.0B) in the range 00000000-1FFFFFFF (hex.). 11
Frame The 'Frame' is displayed as either 'Data' for a standard frame containing data or 'Remote' for a remote frame requesting data. DLC The 'DLC' or Data Length Code is the length of the data field in the message in bytes, ranging from 1 to 8. 12
Data The 'Data' field contains from 1 to 8 bytes of data for a data frame message The data bytes D1 to D8 are displayed in hexadecimal format with a range from 00 - FF On Time Transmit messages in the ' Transmit' list with an entry in the 'OnTime' column are cyclic messages that repeat continuously (when enabled), at the rate specified by the 'OnTime' parameter. The 'On Time' repeat value is displayed in milliseconds. On Key Transmit messages in the 'Transmit' list with an entry in the 'OnKey' column are transmitted (if enabled) in response to pressing the specified key. Transmit messages are either triggered 'OnTime' or 'OnKey', but not both. Can Transmit Editor 13
ID The 'ID' box in the 'CAN Transmit Editor' is used to specify the length & value of the transmit message arbitrator. The arbitrator value is entered in hexadecimal format. 11 bit arbitrators (CAN 2.0A) lie in the range 000-7FF (hex.) & 29 bit arbitrators (CAN 2.0B) in the range 00000000-1FFFFFFF (hex.). Frame The 'Frame' box in the 'CAN Transmit Editor' is used to specify the transmit message as either a 'Data' frame or a 'Remote' frame. 'Remote' frames are a request for data & therefore do not contain any data fields. Data The 'Data' box in the 'CAN Transmit Editor' is used to specify the data field of the transmit message. The 'DLC' (Data Length Code) specifies the number of bytes (1 to 8) in the data field. The data is entered in either decimal or hexadecimal format & each byte lies in the range 00 - FF 'Remote' frames do not contain a data field, but do contain a DLC. Trigger The 'Trigger' box in the 'CAN Transmit Editor' is used to specify the trigger method used to send the message. The message may either be triggered on a periodic basis ('On Time') or in response to a key press ('On Key'). 14
Add/modify/delete The 'Add', 'Modify' & 'Delete' buttons in the 'CAN Transmit Editor' are used to add, modify or delete a message in the 'CAN Transmit' list using the settings in the 'CAN Transmit Editor'. The 'Add' button appends the message in the 'CAN Transmit Editor' to the end of the 'CAN Transmit' list. If any of the values are out of range then an error is indicated & the message is ignored. A maximum 50 transmit messages are supported. The 'Modify' & 'Delete' buttons modify & delete respectively the message selected in the 'CAN Transmit' list. If no message is selected then these buttons will be disabled. The 'Add' & 'Delete' buttons are disabled while vcan is running. vcan Baud rate Setup The 'Baud rate' specifies the bit rate on the CAN bus. All nodes connected to a CAN bus must operate at the same baud rate to within +/- 1%. The vcan baud rate may be set to any value in the range 20k to 1M baud. The currently specified baud rate is automatically calculated & displayed in the status bar. The custom baud rate is set by adjusting the following parameters - PRESCALER - Baud Rate Prescaler SJW Synchronisation jump width BS1 - Bit Segment 1 BS2 - Bit Segment 2 15
BR=42000/(prescaler*(SJW+BS1+BS2)) For example - 42000 / (1 * (1 + 5 + 5 ) = 3818kbaud Baud rates 20k, 50k, 100k, 200k, 300k, 400k,500k, 600k & 1M are predefined, other baud rates are custom programmable. The vcan HW system clock is divided down by the BRP value to produce the CAN sub-system clock. A single bit on the CAN bus is made up of a number of these CAN clock cycles. The cycles are grouped into the segments SYNCSEG, PROPSEG, PHSEG1 & PHSEG2. The SYNCSEG is always 1. The PROPSEG & PHSEG1 values define the number of CAN clocks before the receive bit sample point & the PHSEG2 value defines the number of CAN clocks after the sample point. The baud rate cannot be changed while vcan is running. The SJW (Synchronisation Jump Width) specifies the extent to which the BS1 & 2 times may be adjusted by vcan in order to synchronise the bit sampling to the received signal edges on the bus. There are some rules that apply to setting the above values as they are to some extent interdependent - SJW +BS1 >= BS2 SJW+ BS1 + BS2 >= 7 BS2 >= SJW Operating Mode 16
vcan may operate in one of three modes - Normal Loop_back Silent 'Normal' mode, allows full transmission & reception of CAN messages & is the normal mode of operation. In this mode, the vcan device operates as an active CAN node on the CAN bus, meaning that it responds to valid messages with an acknowledgment, as per the CAN bus standard. ' Silent ' mode, only allows messages to be received by vcan. At least two other active CAN nodes must be present on the CAN bus for correct operation in this mode. 'Loop_back' mode, is for testing purposes only & allows transmissions from vcan to be received & checked without any other CAN nodes present. In this mode vcan does not transmit on the CAN bus. The operating mode cannot be changed while vcan is running. Status Bar Overview The status bar displays the program running status & the vcan device status. The status bar has following panels - Run State Status Version details Run state 17
The first panel of the status bar displays the vcan run state. While running, the elapsed time since starting vcan is displayed in hours, minutes & seconds. Status This panel shows the HW connection status and also the error status Version details The version details contains the following fields - Hardware version Firmware version Library version Software version Edition 18
Chapter 4. vcan Hardware Overview Led indicators The LEDs on the topside of the vcan casing indicate the operating status of the device as detailed in the respective table below. GREEN LED : Toggle -> indicates USB communication in progress BLUE LED : Toggle -> indicates CAN communication in progress Pinouts The CAN bus connections on the 9 way 'D' type connector in the vcan housing are detailed below. Pin No. Signal 1 N.C. 2 CAN L - CAN bus low 3 N.C 4 N.C. 5 N.C. 6 N.C. 7 CAN H - CAN bus high 8 N.C. 9 N.C. N.C. - Not Connected The CAN bus & the USB ground connections within the vcan unit are electrically connected. Specification USB vcan Specification Parameter Min. Typ. Max. Units USB supply voltage 4.0-5.25 V USB supply current - 45 80 ma USB suspend current - 330 500 ua CAN Bus output voltage - dominant state CAN Bus Low CAN Bus High Bus output voltage - recessive state CAN Bus Low CAN Bus High - - 2.3 2.3 - - V V Common mode range relative to GND -4-16 V Transient voltage relative to GND -25-25 V 0.5 2.45 - - 1.25 3.5 V V 19
Short circuit output current -250-250 ma Environmental Operating temperature range -10-50 Deg. C Storage temperature range -40-85 Deg. C Mechanical Enclosure dimensions 85mm (L) x 50mm (W) x 18mm (H) USB tethered cable length 1.0 1.3 1.5 M 20