ADM3050E Data Sheet
Rev. B | Page 16 of 19
THEORY OF OPERATION
CAN TRANSCEIVER OPERATION
The ADM3050E facilitates communication between a CAN
controller and the CAN bus. The CAN controller and the
ADM3050E communicate with standard 1.8 V, 2.5 V, 3.3 V
or 5.0 V CMOS levels. The internal transceiver translates the
CMOS levels to and from the CAN bus.
The CAN bus has two states: dominant and recessive. The
recessive state is present on the bus when the differential voltage
between CANH and CANL is less than 0.5 V. In the recessive
state, both the CANH pin and CANL pin are set to high
impedance and are loosely biased to a single-ended voltage of
2.5 V. A dominant state is present on the bus when the differential
voltage between CANH and CANL is greater than 1.5 V. The
transceiver transmits a dominant state by driving the single-
ended voltage of the CANH line to 3.5 V and the CANL pin to
1.5 V. The recessive and dominant states correspond to CMOS
high and CMOS low, respectively, on the RXD pin and TXD pin.
A dominant state from another node overwrites a recessive state
on the bus. A CAN frame can be set for higher priority by using
a longer string of dominant bits to gain control of the CAN bus
during the arbitration phase. While transmitting, a CAN
transceiver also reads back the state of the bus. When a CAN
controller receives a dominant state while transmitting a
recessive state during arbitration, the CAN controller surrenders
the bus to the node still transmitting the dominant state. The
node that gains control during the arbitration phase reads back
only its own transmission. This interaction between recessive
and dominant states allows competing nodes to negotiate for
control of the bus while avoiding contention between nodes.
Industrial applications can have long cable runs. These long
runs may have differences in local earth potential. Different
sources may also power nodes. The ADM3050E transceiver
has a ±25 V common-mode range (CMR) that exceeds the
ISO11898-2 requirement and further increases the tolerance
to ground variation.
See the AN-1123 Application Note for additional information
on CAN.
SIGNAL ISOLATION
The ADM3050E device provides galvanic signal isolation
implemented on the logic side of the interface. The RXD and
TXD channels are isolated using a low propagation delay on/off
keying (OOK) architecture with iCoupler digital isolation
technology.
The low propagation delay isolation, quick transceiver
conversion speeds, and integrated form factor are critical for
longer cable lengths, higher data speeds, and reducing the total
solution board space. The ADM3050E isolated transceiver
reduces solution board space while increasing data transfer
rates over discrete optocoupler and transceiver solutions.
INTEGRATED AND CERTIFIED IEC ELECTROMAGNETIC
COMPATIBILITY (EMC) SOLUTION
Typically, designers must add protections against harsh operating
environments while also making the product as small as possible.
To re du ce the board space and the design efforts needed to meet
system level ESD standards, the ADM3050E isolated transceiver
has brought robust protection circuitry on-chip for the CANH
and CANL lines.
±40 V MISWIRE PROTECTION
High voltage miswire events commonly occur when the system
power supply is connected directly to the CANH and the CANL
bus lines during assembly. Supplies may also be shorted by
accidental damage to the field bus cables while the system is
operating. Accounting for inductive kick and switching effects,
the ADM3050E isolated transceiver CAN bus lines are protected
against these miswire or shorting events in systems with up to
nominal 24 V supplies. The CANH and CANL signal lines can
withstand a continuous supply short with respect to GND2 or
between the CAN bus lines without damage. This level of protection
applies when the device is either powered or unpowered.
DOMINANT TIMEOUT
The ADM3050E features a dominant timeout (tDT in Figure 3). A
TXD line shorted to ground, or malfunctioning CAN controller
are examples of how a single node can indefinitely prevent further
bus traffic. tDT limits how long the dominant state can transmit
to the CAN bus by the transceiver. The TXD function restores
when the line is presented with a logic low.
The tDT minimum also inherently creates a minimum data rate.
Under normal operation, the CAN protocol allows five consecutive
bits of the same polarity before stuffing a bit of opposite polarity
into the transmitting bit sequence. When an error is detected,
the CAN controller purposely violates the bit stuffing rules by
producing six consecutive dominant bits. At any given data rate,
the CAN controller must transmit as many as 11 consecutive
dominant bits to effectively limit the ADM3050E minimum
data rate to 9600 bps.
FAIL-SAFE FEATURES
In cases where the TXD input pin is allowed to float to prevent bus
traffic interruption, the TXD input channel has an internal pull-up
to the VDD1 pin. The pull-up holds the transceiver in the recessive state.
THERMAL SHUTDOWN
The integrated transceiver is designed with thermal shutdown
circuitry to protect the device from excessive power dissipation
during fault conditions. Shorting the driver outputs to a low
impedance source can result in high driver currents. The thermal
sensing circuitry detects the increase in die temperature under this
condition and disables the driver outputs. The circuitry disables the
driver outputs when the die temperature reaches 175°C. The
drivers are enabled after the die has cooled.