Controller Area Network (CAN) was originally developed in the 1980s by Robert Bosch GmbH. It is a broadcast, differential serial bus standard; the aim was to connect electronic control units. CAN was specifically designed to be robust in electromagnetically noisy environments and can utilize a differential balanced line. The initial development has been done for automotive purposes to be used as a vehicle bus system.

CISC provides models for the CAN physical layer, which have been developed in a very generally methodology with the VHDL-AMS language specification. Thus they have been used in the past to serve as a base for tuning activities regarding datasheets from different semiconductor vendors.