Can microcontroller that employs reconfigurable message buffers

Abstract

A CAN microcontroller that supports a plurality of message objects, the CAN microcontroller including a processor core that runs CAN applications, a CAN/CAL module that processes incoming messages, and a plurality of message buffers associated with respective ones of the message objects, each message buffer having a size and a location that are programmable. The CAN microcontroller also includes a data memory space. Preferably, the plurality of message buffers are located in the data memory space, which may include both an on-chip portion and an off-chip portion. The plurality of individual message object registers associated with each of the message objects contain fields of command/control information that facilitate configuration and setup of that message object. Preferably, the plurality of individual message object registers associated with each message object include at least one buffer size register that contains a message buffer size field that enables the size of the message buffer associated with that message object to be programmed, and at least one buffer location register that contains a message buffer location field that enables the location of the message buffer associated with that message object to be programmed.