Kvaser U100 User manual

Kvaser U100 User’s Guide
Copyright 2020-2021 Kvaser AB, Mölndal, Sweden
https://www.kvaser.com
Printed Tuesday 16th February, 2021
We believe that the information contained herein was accurate in all respects at the time of printing.
Kvaser AB cannot, however, assume any responsibility for errors or omissions in this text. Also note
that the information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed
as a commitment by Kvaser AB.

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Contents
1 About this manual 4
2 Introduction 5
2.1 Welcome to Kvaser U100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Major features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Additional software and documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3 Kvaser U100 hardware 7
3.1 Hardware installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 USB connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3 CAN channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.4 Power supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.5 LED Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.6 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4 Appendices 9
4.1 Definitions of LED states and colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2 Definitions of Information types and States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.3 Interface mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.4 Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.5 USB connector options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.6 CAN connector options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.7 CAN bus termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.8 Updating the firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5 Safety Instructions 16
5.1 Intended Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.2 Usage Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6 Disposal and Recycling Information 17
7 Legal Acknowledgements 19
7.1 EU Regulatory Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
7.2 FCC Regulatory Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
7.3 Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
8 Document Revision History 22
Kvaser AB, Mölndal, Sweden — www.kvaser.com

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1 About this manual
This manual is intended for Kvaser U100 users. This document contains a
description of the hardware’s properties and general instructions for connecting the
device to a computer.
Kvaser AB, Mölndal, Sweden — www.kvaser.com

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2 Introduction
This section will describe the functions and features of the Kvaser U100.
2.1 Welcome to Kvaser U100
Figure 1: Kvaser U100 with D-SUB CAN connector
Kvaser U100 is a small, yet powerful, CAN to USB interface. It provides real-time
transmission and reception of standard and extended CAN messages on the bus
with a high timestamp precision, and is compatible with applications that use
Kvaser’s CANlib.
This guide applies to Kvaser U100 devices listed in Table 1.
Device Product Number
Kvaser U100 73-30130-01173-1
Table 1: Kvaser U100 devices, with Product numbers.
2.2 Major features
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•USB CAN interface.
•Powered through the USB connector.
•Supports CAN FD, up to 8 Mbit/s (with correct physical layer implementation).
•Supports both 11-bit (CAN 2.0A) and 29-bit (CAN 2.0B active) identifiers.
•Lightweight robust housing made of glass fibre reinforced polyamide
overmolded with TPE.
•Intuitive LED UI.
•Reinforced galvanic isolation, design validated with 5000 VAC rms applied for
60 s.
•Industrial grade temperature range, −40 ◦C to +85 ◦C.
•20 000 msg/s, each timestamped with a resolution of 100 µs.
•Fully compatible with applications written for other Kvaser CAN hardware
with Kvaser CANlib.
•Support for SocketCAN.
•Fully compatible with J1939, CANopen, NMEA 2000 R
and DeviceNet.
•IP67 rating.
•A selection of different cables/connectors for the CAN connection.
2.3 Interface
Kvaser U100 provides a CAN bus interface through a standard USB interface.
2.4 Additional software and documentation
The Kvaser CANlib SDK includes everything you need in order to develop software
applications interacting with Kvaser CAN hardware. The SDK contains full
documentation and many sample programs, written in C, C++, C#, Delphi, Python
and Visual Basic. Kvaser CAN hardware is built around the same common
software API. Applications developed using one device type will run without
modification on other device types.
The latest versions of documentation, software and drivers can be downloaded for
free at www.kvaser.com/download.
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3 Kvaser U100 hardware
In this section you can read more about the CAN channels, power supply and LED
indicators.
3.1 Hardware installation
The Kvaser U100 may be inserted in any free USB socket on the host computer.
You do not need to switch the power off before inserting or removing the device.
For the Kvaser U100 to communicate with the host computer, a compatible version
of the Kvaser driver and firmware must be installed.
The driver is installed by running the file kvaser_drivers_setup.exe . For
instructions on how to update the firmware, see Section 4.8, Updating the
firmware, on Page 15. The latest version of the driver and firmware can be
downloaded from www.kvaser.com/download.
The firmware is downloaded and installed directly on the Kvaser U100 and the
driver is installed on the host computer. After the driver has been installed on the
host computer, the firmware may then be downloaded and installed on the Kvaser
U100.
Device Firmware Windows driver Linux driver
Kvaser U100 v3.22.578 v5.34 (kcany) v5.34 (mhydra)
Table 2: Kvaser U100 devices and requirements on minimal version of firmware and
drivers.
3.2 USB connection
The Kvaser U100 is connected to a PC using USB. See Section 4.5, USB
connector options, on Page 13 for more information.
Connect the device to your computer using any high quality USB 2.0 certified
cable. The maximum USB cable length is 5 m (∼16 ft). If you need a longer cable,
you can use USB hubs or USB extension cables with a built-in hub. By chaining up
to 5 hubs, you can achieve an effective cable length of up to 25 m (∼82 ft).
As USB cables become longer they are more sensitive to EMI,
because they make a longer antenna that can pick up more
noise. These issues can be mitigated by using higher quality
cables with better shielding. Thicker cables tend to be better than
thin ones, and braided shielding tends to be more reliable than
only foil. Furthermore, longer cables may introduce signal
degradation and timing issues that, if necessary, can be mitigated
using shorter cable segments combined with hubs that amplify
the signal and handle delays on a per-cable basis.
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3.3 CAN channels
The Kvaser U100 has one CAN Hi-Speed channel. See Section 4.6, CAN
connector options, on Page 14 for more information.
3.4 Power supply
The Kvaser U100 is powered through the USB connector.
3.5 LED Indicators
The Kvaser U100 has one Tx LED Bar and one Rx LED Bar as shown in Figure 2
on Page 9, Figure 3 on Page 10. Their functions are described in Section 4.2,
Definitions of Information types and States, on Page 11.
3.6 Troubleshooting
Use “Kvaser Device Guide” in the Control Panel to verify that the computer can
communicate with the Kvaser U100. If the firmware version shown is all zeros,
there are communication problems. If the LED Bar or the status indication is not
flashing or does not light up at all, check the power supply.
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4 Appendices
In this section you will find technical information about the Kvaser U100 and its
connectors.
4.1 Definitions of LED states and colors
The Kvaser U100 has one Tx LED Bar and one Rx LED Bar. Each LED Bar has a
status area, the Tx LED Bar has a status area towards the USB end of the bar, and
the Rx LED bar has a status area towards the CAN end of the bar. This is shown in
Figure 2.
Figure 2: The Tx and Rx LED bars on the Kvaser U100 includes status areas.
The Tx LED bar lit area grows from the USB end of the LED bar towards the CAN
end of the bar as CAN Tx traffic is increased. Likewise, the Rx LED bar lit area
grows from the CAN end of the LED bar towards the USB end of the bar as the
message rate of the received traffic is increased, see Figure 3 on Page 10. In this
example the unit is transmitting data, which shows a yellow Tx status area. No
CAN traffic is received and as such the Rx status area is green.
The total size of the LED bars are indicating the current bus load, e.g. Figure 3 on
Page 10 shows only receiving CAN messages at 50% bus load. Figure 4 on
Page 10 shows two different bus load conditions. The image on the left shows the
unit transmitting and receiving data corresponding to 50% bus load in each
direction for a total of 100% bus load. The image on the right shows the unit
transmitting data corresponding to 100% bus load.
Kvaser AB, Mölndal, Sweden — www.kvaser.com

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Figure 3: The Tx LED bar lights up from the USB side to the CAN side of the unit,
while the Rx LED bar lights up from the CAN side to the USB side of the unit.
Figure 4: The total size of the LED Bars is proportional to the bus load. Both
images indicate a bus load of 100%.
Kvaser AB, Mölndal, Sweden — www.kvaser.com