Controller area network (CAN) (5)

If you are new to the CAN bus, look forward to some hard work before seeing the first usable results. After all, at least two microcontroller systems have to be hooked up to CAN bus controllers, and a bus-based data link implemented based on the use of talk/listen programs. Once you have data travelling over the bus, all further expansion is really simple. This article attempts to make your first practical experiments with the CAN bus as easy as possible.The CAN bus interface described in Elektor Electronics November 1999 may be controlled using the BASIC537 higher programming language. BASIC537 is an EPROM version of the well-known Intel MCS51 BASIC, specially adapted and extended for the 80C537 microcontroller. Many of you will be familiar with MCS51 BASIC because it was the subject of several articles in Elektor Electronics. Originally, this BASIC interpreter was developed for the (now obsolete) 8052AH-BASIC microcontroller. When stored in an external (E)PROM, however, it is also great for other controllers from Intel’s 80xx series and second sources.