The ISO11898-2 standard specifies the interconnect to be a single twisted pair cable (shielded or unshielded) with 120Ω characteristic impedance (Z_O). Resistors equal to the characteristic impedance of the line can be used to terminate both ends of the cable to prevent signal reflections. Unterminated drop-lines (stubs) connecting nodes to the bus must be kept as short as possible to minimize signal reflections. The termination can be in a node but is generally not recommended, especially if the node can be removed from the bus. Termination must be carefully placed so that it is not removed from the bus. System level CAN implementations such as CANopen allow for different termination and cabling concepts for example to add cable length.

Figure 9-3 Typical CAN Bus Application

Termination can be a single 120Ω resistor at the ends of the bus, either on the cable or in a terminating node. If filtering and stabilization of the common mode voltage of the bus is desired then “split termination” can be used, see Figure 9-4. Split termination improves the electromagnetic emissions behavior of the network by eliminating fluctuations in the bus common mode voltage levels at the start and end of message transmissions.

Figure 9-4 CAN Bus Termination Concepts