2013/9/4 HONDA S-2000 <s2000@sounds.wa.com>:
If we're going to consider ARM, then I suggest that someone take the time to find out what chips (or circuits) are good candidates for the voltage translation. My hunch is that I/O pins on the ARM do not directly connect to the 12V CAN bus, especially considering that transients of more than 40V might appear. That said, perhaps an ARM solution can be accomplished with the same low chip count as the proposed PIC32 solution.
What are you talking about? No mcu connects directly to these voltages, they all need a transceiver. Also, there is no way we can effectively replace the 2551 with passives.. On the other hand, there are a bunch of equivalents out there from major companies like TI, that may or may not cost less. I'd say that the usb connector+MCU+mcp2551+a bunch of passives and a crystal is all we need, now it's just a matter of choosing the right mcu. MG