Electromagnetic susceptibility assessment of controller area networks

Mixed signal communication networks are used in electromagnetically noisy environment to establish a stable link between local systems. The ability to predict their EMC compliance to standard immunity tests in design phase is required. The paper focuses on an AMS modeling procedure allowing to describe the CAN bus behaviour when affected by disturbances. The network is simulated combining mixed-signal models of CAN transceiver, cables and noise injection circuits, correctly assessing at system level the relationship between analog and digital signals. The obtained model efficiently predicts the influence of a continuous wave disturbance and estimates the immunity graph obtained through standard testing in a design phase. An application example on a real CAN network concludes the paper and confirms its ability to assess EMC problems.