CAN-Raw refers to the direct use of the Controller Area Network (CAN) at the level of raw CAN telegrams, without additional communication protocols from higher application layers. Only the basic CAN data frames are transmitted and evaluated. Protocols such as CANopen, J1939, or DeviceNet—which are based on the CAN bus and define additional rules for data structures, addressing, or device communication—are not used in CAN-Raw.
In measurement, testing, and automation technology, CAN-Raw enables direct access to the communication on a CAN network. Users can capture, analyze, store, or selectively send individual CAN messages along with their identifiers and payload data. This makes CAN-Raw particularly well-suited for diagnostic tasks, development projects, troubleshooting, and the integration of customer-specific CAN protocols.
A key advantage of CAN-Raw is its high flexibility. Since there are no fixed specifications imposed by a higher-level communication protocol, measurement systems can be individually adapted to specific applications. This is particularly important, for example, in the development of control units, the analysis of vehicle bus systems, test bench applications, or in industrial automation environments.
Modern measurement data acquisition systems and data loggers often support the acquisition of raw CAN data to record bus communication alongside analog and digital measured variables. This allows process data, control commands, and status information to be acquired and evaluated synchronously. When combined with powerful measurement and software solutions, CAN messages can be decoded, visualized, and used for further analysis.
CAN-Raw thus forms the basis for vendor-neutral and flexible communication on the CAN bus and is particularly advantageous in situations where maximum control over the transmitted data is required.