FPGA-based real-time monitoring support for CAN applications

Abstract

This technical contribution deals with monitoring support for CAN, a popular protocol in automotive and robotics applications with various levels of criticality, therefore requiring strict reliability and performance guarantees. While software implementations for CAN-based monitoring applications are very flexible, they may face prohibitive overheads in terms of latency and responsiveness. We present a customizable hardware-based CAN filter designed to enable real-time monitoring and anomaly detection, which can be employed in critical systems with stringent response time requirements. As shown in the paper, an advanced CAN monitor relying on the customizable FPGA-based filter can bridge the limitations of software solutions by drastically reducing latency –around 10X compared to software– showing that the adoption of FPGA technologies in a critical industrial environment can bring key benefits in terms of real-time features and flexibility.