CiA® 303 series: CANopen-related documents

CiA 303 is a set of documents, having various topics in the scope such as CANopen physical layer network and device design. This includes the CANopen device status indicated by means of LEDs (light-emitting diodes). CiA 303 comprises the following parts:

  • Part 1: CANopen physical layer
  • Part 3: Indicator specification

Part 1 provides some physical network design recommendations. It specifies also the naming conventions for the bus lines, ground lines, and shield connections. Formerly, this document additionally recommended the pin assignment for various types of connectors. These recommendations have been moved to the CiA 106 technical report and are not more limited to CANopen.

Part 3 recommends blinking-patterns for LEDs mounted on CANopen devices, to indicate the status of the device. Such indicators can help service personnel to identify communication problems without using a comprehensive diagnostic tool.

The content of Part 2 defining the representation of the SI units (international system of units) and pre-fixes has been moved to the CiA 890 technical report. This document is not more limited to CANopen specifications.