Glossary · Vehicle Networks

CAN

Also known as: Controller Area Network

Controller Area Network — the dominant low-bandwidth automotive bus.

CAN (ISO 11898) is the broadcast multi-master bus used for body, chassis, and powertrain control communication. It is fault-tolerant, cheap, and well-understood, but inherently lacks authenticity — which is why higher-layer mechanisms such as SecOC are deployed on safety-relevant CAN frames.

Related terms

CAN FD
CAN with Flexible Data-rate — extended payload (up to 64 bytes) and higher bit rate.
SecOC
AUTOSAR Secure Onboard Communication — message authentication for in-vehicle communication.
UDS
Unified Diagnostic Services (ISO 14229) — standard ECU diagnostic and reprogramming protocol.

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CAN

CAN FD

SecOC

UDS