CAN - Controller Area Network
CAN is a multicast shared serial bus standard. CAN was specifically designed to be robust in electromagnetically noisy environments and can utilize a differential balanced line like RS-485.
The CAN protocol is an international standard defined by ISO 11898. Beside the CAN protocol itself, the conformance test for the CAN protocol is defined by ISO 16845, which guarantees the interchangeability of the CAN chips.
The CAN bus interface is an ideal choice for the use of multiple sensors in a noisy electrical environment such as in motor vehicles or in industrial equipment. The bus is designed so that the failure of one or more sensors is not fatal to the operation of the bus as a whole.