Kit helps speed the design of CAN and LIN networking protocol applications

Cypress has introduced a new kit that enables designers to evaluate the Controller Area Network (CAN) and Local Interconnect Network (LIN) slave communication capability of its PSoC programmable system-on-chip and Flexible Microcontroller (MCU) families. The new CY8CKIT-026 CAN and LIN shield kit features two CAN transceivers for high-accuracy, high-speed transmissions, two LIN transceivers and Arduino compatible headers. Additionally, the kit includes five example projects that demonstrate the CAN and LIN capabilities of PSoC 4. The CAN and LIN protocols are widely used in automotive applications and some industrial applications. The CY8CKIT-026 CAN and LIN Shield Kit enables designers to quickly create their own projects with easy-to-use CAN and LIN slave components in Cypress's PSoC Creator Integrated Design Environment (IDE) or by altering code examples provided with this kit. The IDE simplifies system design and accelerates time-to-market by enabling concurrent hardware and firmware design. PSoC Creator works with PSoC Components - free embedded ICs represented by an icon in the IDE - to enable rapid prototyping of end applications while minimizing PCB redesigns and firmware changes. "Our new shield kit enables designers to easily evaluate CAN and LIN communication using any Arduino-compatible microcontroller-based kits that support the protocols," said Dr. Jing Mu, senior director, automotive HMI marketing, Cypress. "Cypress makes this even simpler with the use of our PSoC Pioneer kit, example projects and very-easy-to-configure components in PSoC Creator." The CY8CKIT-026 CAN and LIN Shield Kit's Arduino-compatible shield board can be used with Cypress's CY8CKIT-042 PSoC 4 Pioneer Kit and CY8CKIT-044 PSoC 4 M-Series Pioneer Kit. The kit's CAN code example demonstrates how to send and receive data over the CAN bus using a capacitive touch-sensing button implemented with Cypress's industry-leading CapSense technology. The status of the button on the Pioneer kit is sent using the CAN protocol to control LEDs at the CAN receiver. This code example demonstrates the configuration and use of the CAN Transmit and CAN Receive mailboxes. The kit's LIN code examples demonstrate the implementation of LIN slave communication in PSoC 4. The LIN component in PSoC 4 supports a LIN slave with both LIN v1.3 and LIN v2.1/2.2 protocol specifications.