Texas Instruments has introduced the TCAN6062, which it describes as the industry’s first commercially available CAN XL transceiver. Designed for industrial systems, the device supports payloads of up to 2,048 bytes per frame and data rates of up to 20 Mbps.
The transceiver is aimed at applications such as humanoid robots, industrial robots and human-machine interface (HMI) systems, where growing volumes of sensor, control and diagnostic data require fast and deterministic communication.
CAN XL enables priority messages to be delivered first and on time, helping industrial systems coordinate motion control, process sensor feedback and manage diagnostic information without compromising the reliability associated with CAN networks.
The TCAN6062 is backward-compatible with CAN flexible data rate (CAN FD) and CAN signal improvement capability (SIC) operations. This allows engineering teams to migrate existing designs to CAN XL incrementally, without having to undertake a complete system redesign.
The device also supports mixed-network architectures in which Ethernet is used with CAN through Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) tunnelling. This enables diagnostics, sensor data, control traffic and over-the-air updates to share a single network.
Addressing industrial data demands
Industrial systems are generating more data than ever, creating new networking requirements for applications that depend on high-speed, reliable communication. Until now, bandwidth constraints have often forced engineers to make system-level compromises.
TI says the TCAN6062 addresses that gap by providing a path to higher-bandwidth networks while retaining CAN’s established reliability and deterministic communication.
Although the CAN XL specification has been standardized for several years, the TCAN6062 brings the protocol to the mass market in commercially available hardware. This gives engineers a ready-to-use option for next-generation industrial designs.
Signal improvement and protection
The TCAN6062’s SIC technology can reduce ringing by up to 80% in complex networks, helping simplify validation in systems with a high number of nodes.
The transceiver also supports a wide input/output voltage range and protection of up to ±58 V, providing design flexibility across a broad range of industrial applications.
TI engineers participated in the CAN in Automation (CiA) technical group that helped develop ISO 11898-2:2024. Their involvement contributed to the physical-layer specification for CAN XL and helped align the protocol with the requirements of real-world industrial systems.
The TCAN6062 expands TI’s CAN transceiver portfolio, which now covers CAN FD, CAN SIC and CAN XL. The range is designed to help engineers move more data faster, over longer distances and with greater reliability.
Leadership and Partners Comment
“As industrial systems become more intelligent and interconnected, what we ask of our networks continues to evolve,” said Dwight Byrd, general manager, Interface Products at TI. “Engineers need more data, higher speeds and greater flexibility, all without compromising performance or reliability. TI’s TCAN6062 CAN XL transceiver puts that capability in their hands today, helping them build faster, more capable industrial systems.”
“CAN has been the backbone of industrial communications for decades,” said Holger Zeltwanger, managing director at CiA. “Texas Instruments’ long-time membership and collaboration with CiA builds on that legacy, helping shape CAN XL by contributing to a standard that will guide the entire industry. Now with the introduction of the first commercially available CAN SIC XL transceiver, CAN XL is accessible to engineers worldwide, reflecting our shared commitment to solving the engineering challenges of today and tomorrow.”
“CAN XL opens the door to a new era of applications, enabling systems to deliver higher performance at a reasonable cost. CAN XL is the better and cheaper CAN FD, but can also tunnel Ethernet,” said Arthur Mutter, Ph.D., chairman of the CAN XL Special Interest Group at CiA and senior executive, Networking Technologies at Bosch. “With TI now offering a CAN SIC XL transceiver, system designers can leverage CAN XL to exchange data rapidly (up to 20 Mbit/s) and reliably in all applications, from industrial and robotics to automotive safety.”
Availability
Production quantities of the TCAN6062 CAN XL transceiver are available for purchase now on TI.com.
