I am no expert on CAN, but would like to know whether it is possible to have (say) 200 to 300 device nodes on a single CAN bus. I have seen on data sheet of eg SN65HVD231 that 120 nodes can be supported. Is there some way to extend the number of nodes by using a repeater of sorts?
Any sugegstions most welcome.
This is a longer answer which our CAN specialist Scott Monroe answered numerous times in the forum and on ESP.
it basically depends on a lot of factors, one of them being the loop time during arbitration during which a bit (sent by as driver) has to travel to the farest receiver and back to the driver. The prop-delay of the link is then dependent on the number of nodes and their capacitances, the type of cable, etc.
So yes it is possible to extend the number of nodes by drastically dropping the data rate and using transceivers with small input capacitance. I believe the most nodes we accomplished so far were 162.
unfortunately Scott is on vacation and back next week. - Thomas