What the title says. I’ve been trying to watch YouTube videos to understand what a CAN bus system does and how it differs from a ECU or PCM and I’m not getting anywhere.
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ECU and PCM are control units. Small computers with a very specific job to do. Modern cars have a lot of those spread out.
A CAN bus is, as the name suggests, a bus system. A bus is a communication system. In this instance, the CAN bus does not control anything specific in the car, but is the “data highway” that connects all the control units and periphery so they can talk together.
There is a physical component and a communication component. The communication can be thought of writing a message on a piece of paper and handing it to someone around you. They can read it, ignore it and/or pass it on to another person.
The physical portion is what type of wiring or devices can exist and how they transmit electrical information. For example is the device and network using a single wire or two wire transmission, what baud rate, error protocol and so on. Think of this part as the low level communications methods which is only useful if you are building devices.
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