Bus length

The maximum length of a CAN bus is primarily limited by the signal propagation delay. The multi-master bus access procedure (arbitration) requires signals to reach all the nodes at effectively the same time (before the sampling within a bit period). Since the signal propagation delays in the CAN connecting equipment (transceivers, opto-couplers, CAN controllers) are almost constant, the line length must be chosen in accordance with the baud rate: