A Controller Area Network Gateway to ZigBee- A Proposition of an Architecture to Extend CAN

Controller Area Network is employed widely in modern automobiles medicalinstrumentation building automation and manufacturing control systems.DeviceNet is one example of a commercial SCADA network that is based onthe CAN specification. Commercially known as ZigBee the IEEE 802.15.4wireless standard is designed to operate at low data rates with secure lowcost network configurations. Two key elements of the standard are lowpower operation and inherent security implementation.This work proposes an architecture to extend CAN to the wireless domain ofIEEE 802.15.4 thereby providing a low cost low power efficient and securewireless network interface compatible with many existing SCADA infrastructurenetworks in addition to the countless other installations incorporating aCAN backbone. An architectural model for such an extension mechanism isproposed which includes additions to the CAN protocol stack. New protocolsare recommended for the tunneling of messages and for enhancing reliability.This work is directed towards developers of products involving CAN and802.15.4 as well as researchers in the field of wireless personal area networks.