Isolated CAN Transceiver Reference Board from Dengrove Solves Circuit Design and Protection Challenges

Now available from Dengrove Electronic Components, the RECOM R-REF03-CAN1 reference board streamlines the design of an isolated CAN interface with all the necessary circuitry to reduce noise and protect the system against excessive voltages.

To ensure signal integrity and reliability, isolated CAN transceivers need isolated power as well as properly designed bus protection. The R-REF03-CAN1 satisfies these requirements as a ready-to-use reference board that solves the critical component-layout, signal-termination and routing challenges when bringing up a robust and reliable transceiver design.

The board contains a TI ISO1042 isolated CAN transceiver, which supports data rates up to 5Mbps in CAN-FD mode and 1Mbps in CAN Classic. All the necessary protection components including TVS diodes and common-mode choke are provided, and the board gives users the flexibility to bypass these if desired. A 120Ω line-termination resistor can also be added for optimum CAN-bus performance with 120Ω-impedance twisted-pair cable.

A RECOM R1SX-3.305/H isolated surface-mount DC/DC converter provides the single 3.3V rail needed to power the ISO1042. Energy efficient and compact, measuring only 10.8mm x 12.75mm x 5.5mm, the converter is pre-configured with a “split” termination network. Common-mode capacitance and additional capacitors on the CAN bus are included for optimum protection.

The converter output powers the CAN-bus side of the ISO1042 transceiver and lights a green LED power-good indicator. As the entire transceiver draws about 80mA, the R1SX-3.305/H can also power additional external loads up to about 120mA. The board provides a connector pin and a test point to facilitate this.

The R-REF03-CAN1 board and R1SX isolated DC/DC converter are available now from Dengrove Electronic Components.