addresscan

Addresscan is a term used to describe approaches to enabling device-level addressing within Controller Area Network (CAN) environments. It is not an official standard, but a concept encountered in discussions of scalable CAN networks.

At its core, addresscan aims to assign unique addresses to individual nodes and to route messages accordingly, either by embedding addressing information in the CAN identifier or by using a layered addressing protocol on top of standard CAN frames.

In identifier-based models, the 11-bit or 29-bit CAN ID includes the target address, function code, and payload, enabling direct or selective delivery to a specific device. In layered implementations, a bus manager or service layer handles discovery, address assignment, and routing, with conventional CAN frames carrying service requests and responses.

Benefits include improved scalability, more precise diagnostics, and the potential for targeted firmware updates and control commands. The approach can reduce unnecessary traffic and simplify fault isolation in networks with many nodes.

Challenges encompass the limited space of CAN IDs, potential conflicts with existing standards, added protocol complexity, and security considerations. Adoption requires compatible hardware support and software stacks, as well as clear governance of addressing schemes to avoid overlap.

Applications are envisioned in automotive sensor networks, industrial automation, and building or robotic systems that rely on many inexpensive CAN nodes.

Addresscan remains a concept rather than a formal standard, and related work is found in established CAN standards such as CANopen and J1939, which address node management and service-oriented communication within CAN networks.