Abstract: CAN (Controller Area Network) is a typical kind of serial communication protocol. To solve the problem of bus contention, CAN adopts the mechanism of non-destructive bitwise arbitration. In order to realize simulation study on this mechanism, simulation models of Medium Access Control (MAC), process models, node models and network model of CAN were built. End-to-End delay of the simulation network was obtained by simulating these models under the condition of whether there existed a bus contention. The correctness of these models was proved by extensive simulation experiments and rigorous analyses. The models can be used in simulation study and industry application.

Key words: CAN bus, bus contention, bitwise arbitration, network simulation