LIN Bus Systems For Automotive Application Development

GREENFIELD, Mass. - PrZen -- LIN (Local Interconnect Network) is a serial network protocol used for communication between vehicle components. It is a single-wire, serial network protocol that supports communications up to 19.2 Kbit/s at a bus length of 40 meters (~120 feet). Copperhill Technologies offers a variety of embedded solutions for LIN Bus applications.

The Raspberry Pi Pico LIN Bus board supports the programming of automotive applications using MicroPython. The RPi Pico is a low-cost, high-performance microcontroller board with flexible digital interfaces. It features two ARM Cortex-M0+ cores that run up to 133MHz, 256KB RAM, 30 GPIO pins, and a wide range of interfacing options. These features are paired with 2MB of onboard QSPI Flash memory for code and data storage. In addition to powerful hardware resources, the Pico offers rich and complete software support and community resources. It comes with a complete Rasberry Pi official C/C++ SDK, Micropython SDK.

This PiCAN FD board has a LIN Bus interface, and the Microchip MCP2518FD IC provides classic CAN and CAN FD. A dsPIC33 microcontroller provides the LIN Bus connection. Communication to the Pi is per UART on ttyS0 using ASCII text commands. A sample LIN-bus GUI app is available, written in Python3 and tkinter. The firmware is updatable using the Microchip UnifiedHost java app, which requires the Raspberry Pi to run in GUI mode. There is an easy-to-install SocketCAN driver, and programming is supported in C or Python. The 3A SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) module powers the PiCAN FD LIN-bus board and Raspberry Pi from 7 VDC to 24 VDC external supply.

The Teensy 4.0 with CAN FD and LIN Bus is a CAN FD breakout board for use with the Teensy 4.0 (included in the scope of delivery). It has an onboard 5 VDC regulator with reverse voltage protection and a CAN FD transceiver. The Microchip MCP2004A chip provides the LIN Bus connection. The Teensy is a complete USB-based microcontroller development system compatible with Arduino software and libraries. It comes with a minimal footprint and is capable of implementing many projects. All programming is accomplished via the onboard USB port.

Furthermore, Copperhill Technologies offers a LIN Bus breakout board with a Microchip MCP2004A transceiver for all other embedded systems. The connection between the LIN bus breakout board and an embedded system, such as the Arduino, is a simple standard UART connection. The board complies with SAE J2602 and meets LIN Bus Specifications 1.3, 2.0, and 2.1. It can operate in Master or Slave mode through an onboard jumper.