Communication system, master node, and slave node

1. A communication system comprising:

a bus;

a master node; and

a plurality of slave nodes communicably coupled to the master node through the bus;

wherein

information is communicated on the bus as signals, each of the signals having an electrical dominant level thereon and an electrical recessive level thereon, the electrical dominant level being asserted on the bus in priority to the electrical recessive level;

at least one of the plurality of slave nodes is constructed as at least one autonomous communicating slave node that autonomously transmits data without receiving data associated with the at least one autonomous communication slave node, the at least one slave node being configured to autonomously transmit a corresponding header indicative of data required to be autonomously transmitted via the bus;

the master node is configured to transmit a corresponding header with an identification of data selected by the master node to be transmitted; one of the plurality of slave nodes including the data selected by the master node to be transmitted is configured to receive the corresponding header from the master node and transmit the received header from the master node and the data selected by the master node to be transmitted following the received header;

each of the master node and the at least one autonomous communicating slave node is configured to:

detect that the bus is in an idle state when the electrical recessive level on the bus is continued for a predetermined period or more;

transmit the corresponding header via the bus after detection of the bus being in the idle state; and

perform arbitration on the bus based on the corresponding header.

2. The communication system according to claim 1 , wherein priorities are set on the headers respectively corresponding to the master node and the at least one autonomous communicating slave node, and one of the headers respectively corresponding to the master node and the at least one autonomous communicating slave node higher in priority than another of the headers respectively corresponding to the master node and the at least one autonomous communicating slave node is transmitted from a corresponding one of the master node and the at least one autonomous communicating slave node to be earlier than the another of the headers respectively corresponding to the master node and the at least one autonomous communicating slave node from a corresponding one of the master node and the at least one autonomous communicating slave node.

3. The communication system according to claim 1 , wherein each of the master node and the plurality of slave nodes is configured to transmit a corresponding header when a corresponding node wins the arbitration on the bus between the corresponding header and an alternative header transmitted from one of the other nodes.

4. A master node communicably coupled to a plurality of slave nodes through a bus, in which information is communicated on the bus as signals, each of the signals having an electrical dominant level thereon and an electrical recessive level thereon, the electrical dominant level being asserted on the bus in priority to the electrical recessive level, the master node comprising:

an idle state detector configured to detect the bus is in an idle state when the electrical recessive level on the bus is continued for a predetermined period or more;

a regular header transmitter configured to transmit, via the bus, a regular header with an identification of data selected by the master node to be transmitted after detection of the bus being in the idle state, one of the plurality of slave nodes including the data selected by the master node being configured to receive the regular header and transmit the received regular header and the data selected by the master node to be transmitted following the regular header; and

a stop unit configured to monitor electrical signal level on the bus and stop transmission of the regular header when the monitored electrical signal level on the bus is different from an electrical signal level of the transmitted regular header on the bus.

5. A slave node communicably coupled to a master node through a bus, in which information is communicated on the bus as signals, each of the signals having an electrical dominant level thereon and an electrical recessive level thereon, the electrical dominant level being asserted on the bus in priority to the electrical recessive level, the slave node comprising:

a first transmitter configured to, when a regular header with an identification of data selected by the master node to be transmitted is transmitted, receive a regular header and to transmit, via the bus, the received regular header and the data selected by the master node following the regular header if the data selected by the master node is included in the slave node;

an idle state detector configured to detect the bus is in an idle state when the electrical recessive level on the bus is continued for a predetermined period or more;

an event header transmitter configured to autonomously transmit, without receiving data associated with the slave node, a corresponding event header indicative of data required to be autonomously transmitted via the bus; and

a stop unit configured to monitor electrical signal level on the bus and stop transmission of at least one of the regular header and the event header when the monitored electrical signal level on the bus is different from an electrical signal level of the transmitted at least one of the regular header and the event header on the bus.