Electronic description for CANopen FD devices

The nonprofit CiA (CAN in Automation) association has released the CiA 1311-1 specification. The document provides the XML schema Definition for CANopen FD profiles. Technically, an XML schema is an abstract collection of metadata, consisting of a set of schema components: mainly element and attribute declarations and complex and simple type definitions.

CiA 1311-1 is a subset of the CiA 311 XML schema components and rules limited to the mandatory components and extended with the CANopen FD specific components. It is based on the definitions given in ISO 15745-1:2003/Amd 1:2007. The annex of part 1 provides XML schema files for generation of the generic device description in XDD file format and configuration description in XDC file format. A web resource for the XML scheme namespace and location of scheme files is a work in progress.

Configuration and design tools can use XDD files compliant to CiA 1311 to read electronically the functionality of a CANopen FD device. Such XDD files are also necessary for the mandatory conformance test by CiA.

CiA is the international users’ and manufacturers’ group for Controller Area Network (CAN) internationally standardized in the ISO 11898 series. CiA has developed the CiA 1301 CANopen FD application layer and communication profile. This approach is the successor of the CiA 301 CANopen application layer and communication profile. CiA has about 730 members worldwide.