Development and implementation of real-time distributed network with the CAN protocol.

One of the most interesting applications of a new field of mathematics called dynamic equations on time scales is the modeling, analysis and design of distributed control networks. This thesis documents the development of a scalable, real-time test bed on which to test new time scale-based theories. The Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol is used as the communication backbone. A general description of CAN and reasons for its selection are included. A general purpose computational node is implemented on a desktop computer running the QNX real-time operating system. QNX development entailed writing a driver for an SJA1000-based CAN controller. Charmed Labs’ Xport and the Gameboy Advance (GBA) are used for the network of embedded nodes. Development for the GBA-Xport combination involved interfacing an OpenCores.org CAN core to the Xport’s bus on an FPGA in Verilog and writing a driver class. Appendices include the code and code documentation.