Design and Implement Higher Layers of Controller Area Network for Electric Autonomous Vehicles

This chapter proposes a customized design and implementation of controller area network (CAN) protocol to provide high reliability and high-speed communication that allows the transmission of multiple data frames for application in modern automobiles or automation systems. The protocol is designed based on the reference to the open systems intercommunication (OSI) model, which has four levels: the physical layer, the data link layer, the network layer, and the application layer, and is used for connecting open systems. To overcome the challenges of sending large data packets over CAN networks when the maximum payload allowed for a frame sent at the physical layer of the CAN protocol is only eight bytes, we need a protocol with higher layers of the OSI model. With the higher layers in the OSI model, we can combine multiple CAN frames to transport a data payload longer than 8 bytes. The suggested approach uses algorithms for error detection, frame alignment, and data flow control to reduce data loss and errors while maintaining high speed, high reliability, and low costs. This design is suitable for use in contemporary automobiles or automation systems that incorporate increasingly complex sensors and actuators. It has been tested and assessed on an electric vehicle.