Industrial LIN Solutions

LIN Glossary
active	The nodes of the cluster communicate with each other as a cluster.
bus interface	The logic (transceiver, UART, etc.) of a node that is connected to the physical bus wire in a cluster.
byte field	Each byte on the LIN bus is sent in a byte field; the bytefield includes the start bit and stop bit transmitted.
checksum model	Two checksum models are defined; classic checksum and enhanced checksum, enhanced includes the protected identifier in the checksum, classic does not.
classic checksum	The checksum used in earlier LIN versions and for diagnosticframes: It is summed over the data bytes only.
cluster	A cluster is the LIN bus wire plus all the nodes.
data	The response of a LIN frame carries one to eight bytes of data, collectively called data.
data byte	One of the bytes in the data.
diagnostic frame	The master request frame and slave response frame are called diagnostic frames
enhanced checksum	A new checksum with slightly better performance: It includes the protected identifier in the sum, not only data bytes. The enhanced checksum is used for communication with LIN 2.0 slave nodes.
event triggered frame	An event triggered frame is used as a “placeholder” to allow multiple slave nodes to provide its response. This is useful when the signals involved are changed infrequently.
frame	All information is sent packed as frames; a frame consist of the header and a response.
frame slot	The time period reserved for the transfer of a specific frame on the LIN bus. Corresponds to one entry in the schedule table.
go-to-sleep-command	A special diagnostic frame issued to force slave nodes to sleep mode.
byte field	Each byte on the LIN bus is sent in a byte field; the byte field includes the start bit and stop bit transmitted.
header	A header is the first part of a frame; it is always sent by the master task.
identifier	The identity of a frame in the range 0 to 63.
LIN Description File	The LDF file is created in the system definition and parsed in the system generation or by debugging tools.
LIN Product Identification	A unique number for each LIN node.
master node	The master node not only contains a slave task, but alsothe master task that is responsible for sending all frame headers on the bus, i.e. it controls the timing and schedule table for the bus.
master request frame	The master request frame has identifier 60 and is used for diagnostic frames issued by the master node.
master task	The master task is responsible for sending all frame headers on the bus, i.e. it controls the timing and schedule table for the bus.
message identifier	Each frame in a slave node has a unique 16 bit messagenumber. During node configuration this number is associated with a protected identifier, which is then used in the normal communication with the node.
NAD	Node Address for Diagnostic. Diagnostic frames are broadcastedand the NAD specifies the addressed slave node. The NAD is both the physical address and the logical address.
Node	Loosely speaking, a node is an ECU (electronic control unit). However, a single ECU may be connected to multiple LIN clusters; in the latter case the term node should be replaced with bus interface.
Node Capability File	A NCF file describes a slave node as seen from the LIN bus. It is used in the system definition.
protected identifier	The identifier (6 bit) together with its two parity bits.
Publish	A signal (or an unconditional frame) have exactly one publisher; the node that is the source of the information, compare with subscribe.
Request	The master node puts request on the slave nodes in node configuration and in the diagnostic transport layer.
reserved frame	Reserved frames have an identifier that shall not be used: 63 (0x3f).
response	(1) A LIN frame consists of a header and a response. Also called a Frame response. (2) The reply message for an ISO request is a response. Also called a Diagnostic response.
schedule table	The schedule table determines the traffic on the LIN bus.
slave node	A node that contains a slave task only, i.e. it does not contain a master task.
slave response frame	The slave response frame has identifier 61 and is used for diagnostic frames issued by one of the slave nodes.
slave task	The slave task is responsible for listening to all frame headers on the bus and react accordingly, i.e. either publish a frame response or subscribe to it (or ignore it).
sleep mode	No communication occurs in the cluster.
signal	A signal is a value transported in the LIN cluster using a signal-carrying frame.
signal-carrying frame	A frame that carries signals shall have an identifier in the range 0 to 59 (0x3b). unconditional frames, sporadic frames and event triggered frames are signal-carrying frames.
sporadic frame	A sporadic frame is a signal-carrying frame similar to unconditional frames, but only transferred in its frame slot if one of its signals is updated by the publisher.
subscribe	Subscribe is the opposite of publish, i.e. to receive a signal (or a signal-carrying frame).
system definition	The process of creating the LIN Description File.
system generation	The process of targeting one (or multiple) of the nodes in the cluster to the LIN Description File
unconditional frame	A signal-carrying frame that is always sent in its allocated frame slot.
user-defined frame	A frame with identifier 62. Its purpose or usage is not part of the LIN specification