Time Triggered CAN (TTCAN) is an extension of the well-known CAN protocol, introducing to CAN networks time triggered communication and a system wide global network time with high precision. Time Triggered CAN has been accepted as international standard ISOCD11898-4.
The time triggered communication is built upon the unchanged standard CAN protocol. This allows a software implementation of the time triggered function of TTCAN, based on existing CAN ICs. The high precision global time however requires a hardware implementation. A hardware implementation also offers additional functions like time mark interrupts, a stopwatch, and a synchronization to external events, all independent of software latency times.
The TTCAN testchip (TTCAN_TC) is a standalone TTCAN controller and has been produced as a solution to the hen/egg problem of hardware availability versus tool support and research. The TTCAN_TC supports both TTCAN level 1 and TTCAN level 2; its time triggered communication is - apart from the configuration and the watchdog function - not depending on software control. The package has been designed to be pin-compatible to existing standalone CAN controllers.
The first application of the TTCAN_TC is the evaluation of TTCAN networks, both for research and for system development. TTCAN network monitoring tools (TTCANanalyzer), based on the TTCAN_TC, will soon be available.