Enforcing Dependability and Timeliness in Controller Area Networks

Standard fieldbuses, such as the controller area network (CAN), are today a cost-effective solution for distributed computer control systems. However, the standard CAN protocol exhibits a set of severe shortcomings in respect to the provision of strict dependability and timeliness guarantees. This paper identifies those shortcomings and discusses the main design challenges we have been tackling in a comprehensive way to provide a CAN-based infrastructure support for extremely reliable hard real-time communications, dubbed CAN enhanced layer (CANELy)