Today, there is a multitude of proprietary CAN protocols for different devices such as drives, sensors, actuators, human machine interfaces, barcode readers, RFID readers, weighscales, and so on. The Anybus Communicator enables communication between these devices and higher-level industrial networks such as Profibus, Profinet, DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT or CANopen. This allows automation devices with slower CAN communication to be integrated into high-speed fieldbus/Ethernet networks without any restrictions to the upper network.

The configuration is done using the Anybus Configuration Manager; it lets you build a communication protocol in a graphical interface without programming. For most Ethernet versions of the Communicator CAN, HMS has included a dual-port switch, which enables daisy chaining and eliminates the need for external switches. The gateway has a fast throughput delay of no more than 5 milliseconds.