DeviceCan

DeviceCan is a standardized communications protocol designed to enable reliable, interoperable control and data exchange among networked devices across consumer, industrial, and automotive environments. It aims to provide plug-and-play discovery, secure messaging, and platform neutrality, allowing devices from different vendors to communicate using a common command and data model.

The project originated from a collaborative effort among hardware and software developers seeking to reduce vendor lock-in and simplify device integration. Initial proposals emerged in the early 2020s, culminating in a formal specification published by the DeviceCan Alliance and implemented by multiple chipmakers and software platforms.

DeviceCan defines a transport-agnostic application layer on top of pluggable transports such as USB, Ethernet, and automotive CAN lanes. It uses a compact binary encoding with a topic-based addressing system and a set of standard commands for device control, status reporting, and data streaming. Security is addressed through mutual authentication, end-to-end encryption, and device attestation.

Industry adoption centers on consumer IoT devices, industrial automation, and vehicle infrastructure. SDKs and reference implementations are provided by participating organizations to accelerate integration, testing, and conformance certification.

The specification emphasizes backwards compatibility and a modular extension mechanism, enabling new device types without breaking existing deployments. Ongoing work focuses on privacy controls, access management, and performance on constrained hardware.

See also: CAN bus, MQTT, IoT protocols.