1 Introduction

In many automotive and some industrial applications, the need for a robust module for communication, power, and protection is paramount to most, if not all, applications. TI’s SBCs, especially from the TCAN28xx-Q1 and TCAN24xx-Q1 device families, meet many of these goals by providing power through integrated LDOs and a BUCK (available on TCAN24xx-Q1 devices), integrating a CAN bus and/or a LIN bus (CAN + LIN available on TCAN28x7-Q1 devices) for communication needs, integrating multiple safety features including items such as watchdog timer, voltage supervision, and an optional fail-safe mode. These SBC devices provide a solid base towards a communication node design – while not all applications use only one CAN or LIN channel some applications can require additional CAN or LIN transceivers. This complicates the control system and the designer need a new transceiver to pair with the SBC while integrating that new transceiver device into the application control system. This is the motivation behind adding the GFO channel expansion pin on SBC devices. This application note discusses: what does channel expansion look like, how does the GFO pin functions and how it applies to channel expansion, and finally some examples of how this connection looks for a CAN transceiver, LIN transceiver, and even another SBC.