HMS Networks Introduces CAN XL for Enhanced Vehicle Communication

HMS Networks' Ixxat brand has launched CAN XL, a significant upgrade to the traditional CAN bus used in automotive and industrial communication. The new standard supports data frames of up to 2,048 bytes and data rates up to 20 Mbit/s, addressing the growing demand for data transmission.

The CAN bus has been a backbone for over three decades. CAN XL builds upon the CAN FD protocol, offering substantially greater data capacity and speed. This enhancement is designed to better support modern vehicle architectures, including zonal architectures and sensor-based systems.

A key innovation in CAN XL is the XL Frame Format (XLFF), which introduces new fields such as Virtual CAN Network ID (VCID). VCID allows for logical segmentation of networks, similar to VLANs in Ethernet, which is crucial for implementing new, zone-based vehicle architectures.

A significant advantage of CAN XL is its compatibility with existing physical infrastructure. The system continues to use CAN High and CAN Low lines, simplifying migration from older systems. Higher speeds of up to 20 Mbit/s are achieved through "mode switching," where the signal voltage is reduced and transmission occurs via a push-pull method. This combines high data rates with the robustness characteristic of the CAN bus.

CAN XL offers notable advantages, including high data capacity and backward compatibility. It enables efficient transmission of IP packets and supports the parallel use of existing CAN infrastructures. New features like VCID for creating virtual networks are important for future applications, despite the increased protocol complexity.