Connecting two CAN or Ethernet networks

> How can I connect two CAN or Ethernet networks?

I'll let somebody else expound on the simplicity of configuring a Linux box with two Ethernet cards to be an Ethernet bridge. Asking a question like that around here is like tossing chum to sharks.

I am familiar with connecting two CAN networks in two ways:

1. Store-and-forward repeater
2. Protocol-specific I/O spanner.

A variety of CAN repeaters may be found on the CAN in Automation ( "www.can-cia.com":http://www.can-cia.com ) and ODVA ( "www.odva.org":http://www.odva.org ) websites. Some convert to another
physical media (radio, fiber, Ethernet) and some just accept a CAN packet in one side, then arbitrate for bus access and retransmit on the other side. My favored vendor for those is Western Reserve Controls ( "www.wrcakron.com":http://www.wrcakron.com ).

Because CAN comes in two flavors (11-bit and 29-bit identifiers), make sure the
repeater you choose supports the frame type used by your network.

The other method I've seen for connecting two CAN networks is to use a protocol-specific slave I/O device that copies a few I/O bytes from one network to another. Turck offers a nice rugged one for DeviceNet.

What both methods presume is that you have protocol-compatible CAN networks. If you're asking how to connect a CanOPEN network to a DeviceNet, that's a different question.
 
D

david mertens

Two Ethernet networks can be linked in several different ways:
1) with a hub
2) with a switch
3) with a router
4) with a bridge
5) with a gateway
The device you need depends on what you really want to achieve. The simplest and most common used devices are hubs and switches.
 
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