Protocolo de comunicaciones CAN aplicado a sistemas satelitales y vehículos lanzadores

CAN (Controller Area Network) is an open and high reliable protocol for automotive uses, suitable for distributed real time applications like an avionics network. The main motivation for analysing and applying this protocol is to be able to use commercial components (COTS, Commercial off the Shelf) in developing a communication system for aerospace devices, achieving low costs but performing the requirements of a Modular Distributed Avionics System (MDAS). This paper presents an application of the CAN communication protocol to be implemented in an aerospace system. Its advantages in satellite interconnection and launch vehicles of a prototype are analysed, using microcontrollers connected to the bus with CAN transceivers