LIN Topology and Behavior

The LIN bus connects a single master device (node) and one or more slave devices (nodes) together in a LIN cluster. A node capability file describes the behavior of each node. The node capability files are inputs to a system defining tool, which generates a LIN description file (LDF) that describes the behavior of the entire cluster. You can parse the LDF to generate the specified behavior in the desired nodes. At this point, the master device's master task starts transmitting headers on the bus, and all the slave tasks in the cluster (including the master device's own slave task) respond, as specified in the LDF.

In general terms, you use the LDF to configure and create the LIN cluster's scheduling behavior. For example, it defines the cluster's baud rate, the ordering and time delays for the master task's transmission of headers, and the behavior of each slave task in response.