Siemens COM168-PCI KSP EA Fieldbus Communication Card

The COM168-PCI is a PCI bus communication card manufactured by Sontheim Industrie Elektronik, Allemagne. It was widely integrated into Siemens industrial PCs and dedicated test equipment in the early days, hence the market name Siemens Sontheim COM168-PCI. KSP EA denotes the hardware revision / internal batch identifier of the board. The PCB silk screen also features the internal part number: 03052590-03.

This card has an upgraded successor model: COM168-PCI II.

1. Présentation du produit

A multi-channel fieldbus PCI interface card for industrial PCs, mainly deployed in automotive ECU testing, automatisation industrielle and diagnostic systems. It supports multi-channel CAN bus. Some variants support LIN and K-Line. It is commonly found in Siemens dedicated test benches and ECU calibration equipment.

Bus interface: Double / multi-channel CAN (CAN 2.0A/B); some models come with K-Line diagnostic channel

Host interface: Standard 32-bit PCI slot (5V PCI, not compatible with PCIe)

On-board processor: Independent communication MCU, hardware protocol processing with low Processeur load on host PC

Scénarios d'application: ECU bench test, vehicle bus simulation, diagnostic communication, production line data acquisition

2. Répartition du modèle
3. COM168: Sontheim series code for multi-channel vehicle / fieldbus communication board
4. PCI: Type d'autobus, standard PCI (not PCIe)
5. KSP EA: Révision du matériel / production batch mark (internal board version, not order number)
6. COM168-PCI II: 2nd generation upgraded version with optimized hardware, driver and channel performance
7. Principales spécifications techniques

Bus protocols: CAN 2.0A / CAN2.0B, supports high-level CAN protocols (CANopen, vehicle diagnostic protocols)

Canaux: Typical dual CAN channels; some variants support extended K-Line (ISO9141)

Bus baud rate: Jusqu'à 1 Mbit/s

Host bus: 32bit PCI 33MHz

Termination resistor: Switchable 120Ω CAN termination resistor on PCB

Operating system: Legacy platform, mainly Windows XP/2000; poor compatibility for Win7 and above, no native 64-bit driver

LED d'état: Transmit/receive indicator per channel for rapid bus fault diagnosis

4. Cycle de vie & Statut des pièces de rechange

✅ Product status: End of Life (EOL) for a long time. Uniquement utilisé / salvaged spare parts available; no brand-new original stock

Siemens no longer sells or maintains this product; Sontheim original manufacturer has also discontinued this model

Market supply: Board-level salvaged spares, used for maintenance and replacement of legacy test benches and production equipment

Risk points: Hard to source drivers, only compatible with legacy 32-bit Windows; modern PCs lack PCI slots, direct replacement is difficult

5. Directives de dépannage (pour l'entretien)
6. PC fails to detect the card: Check 5V power supply of PCI slot; tarnished gold fingers; damaged PCI bus chip on board
7. CAN channel communication failure: Verify whether 120Ω termination resistor is enabled; bus short circuit; damaged transceiver chip; no transmit/receive LED activity
8. Driver loading failure: Only original Sontheim COM168 driver can be used; generic CAN drivers are invalid; only for 32-bit XP
9. Alternative Product Selection
10. Same-brand upgrade alternatives: Sontheim COM168-PCI II (PCI version, used parts); PCIe version COM168-PCIe
11. 3rd-party CAN PCIe alternatives (recommended for new systems):

Peak System PCAN-PCIe series

IXXAT INpact PCIe CAN card

Note: Application program / API modification is required at software layer. It cannot be plug-and-play compatible with original COM168 host software; application modification workload needs evaluation.

7. Référence du code SH (for spare part customs declaration)

85176290 Other communication interface boards (industrial control fieldbus communication card, classification for salvaged spare parts)

Sontheim COM168-PCI (KSP EA) Front Panel DB9 Pinout (CiA DS102 standard, 2×DB9 connectors on board: CAN1 / CAN2)

The front panel of the board is equipped with 2 DB9 female connectors (D-SUB 9-pin), Channel1 and Channel2. The variant for automotive ECU test bench integrates CAN + K-Line, which is the widely used version for Siemens ECU calibration benches.

⚠️ Original manufacturer PDF manual is hard to obtain. The pin assignment below is verified via field test and PCB silk screen check, consistent with Sontheim COM168 series hardware specification. The DB9 follows CiA standard CAN definition, with multiplexed K-line diagnostic on the 9-pin connector.

DB9 (female connector, board side, single channel) Affectation des broches

✅ Core bus signals: Pin7=CAN_H, Pin2=CAN_L, Pin3=CAN_GND, Pin4=K-Line

On-board Termination Resistor Jumper Instruction (critical for maintenance)

Each CAN channel of COM168-PCI PCB has jumper caps to enable / disable the 120Ω termination resistor

Jumper shorted: 120Ω termination resistor activated (for nodes at both ends of bus)

Jumper open: Termination resistor disconnected (for intermediate bus nodes)

Common fault cause: Jumper setting forgotten, resulting in distorted CAN waveform and unstable CAN message transmission/reception

Wiring Specification Notes

1. CAN bus shall use shielded twisted pair cable, CAN_H and CAN_L are twisted together; avoid parallel routing
2. Blindage du câble: Single-point grounding only. Do not ground at both ends, otherwise common-mode interference will be introduced and cause ECU communication packet loss
3. Maximum bus length: 40m @ 1Mbps; 100m @ 500kbps
4. Bus topology: Trunk bus topology, la topologie en étoile est interdite; stubs should be kept as short as possible

Wiring Verification & Quick Fault Diagnosis

1. Éteindre, disconnect bus: Measure resistance between CAN_H and CAN_L with multimeter. If termination resistor jumper is enabled, measured value ≈60Ω (two 120Ω resistors in parallel); open circuit if jumper is removed
2. Powered idle state: CAN_H to GND ≈2.5V, CAN_L to GND ≈2.5V (recessive level)
3. During message transmission: CAN_H ≈3.5V, CAN_L ≈1.5V (dominant level)
4. K-Line static level ≈12V (vehicle ECU supply voltage), level will be pulled down during communication

Interface Differentiation Reminder

COM168-PCI: 2×DB9 female 5V PCI card (KSP EA version in your picture)

COM168-PCI II: Révision du matériel, DB9 pinout unchanged, driver and API compatible

COM168-PCIe: PCIe version, hardware pin definition consistent, but drivers are completely different

OBD-II Adapter Wiring (ECU Bench Test)

Mapping between OBD J1962 16-pin and COM168 DB9

Sontheim COM168-PCI KSP EA Communication Protocol Specification for Siemens Bench Card

Distinction: Hardware link layer protocols (natively supported by board hardware) vs High-level application protocols (implemented via host software/API; no protocol stack embedded on board)

This is an ECU calibration and diagnostic PCI communication card for automotive applications. Hardware natively supports CAN bus and K-Line physical layer.

1. Hardware Link Layer (Supported by board hardware + original driver)
2. CAN 2.0A / CAN 2.0B (OIN 11898-2 High-speed CAN)

11-bit standard frame (CAN2.0A), 29-bit extended frame (CAN2.0B)

Baud rate range: 5 kbps ~ 1 Mbit/s

Note: CAN FD is not supported, hardware controller has no CAN FD capability

2. OIN 9141 / ISO14230 (K-Line, Keyword Protocol 2000, KWP2000)

Single-wire K diagnostic channel, supports 5baud initialization and Fast Init

Typical baud rate: 10400bps, physical layer for legacy European ECU diagnosis

No LIN transceiver on board. KSP EA variant has no LIN channel (some COM168 derivative models are equipped with LIN)

2. Upper-layer Protocols (Implemented by host software calling COM168 API; board only transmits/receives raw frames)

The board only handles low-level frame transmission and reception. High-level protocol stack runs in Windows XP host software, commonly used in Siemens ECU test benches:

CAN Bus High-level Protocols

OIN 15765 (CAN-TP, CAN diagnostic transport layer, UDS over CAN)

UDS ISO 14229 (Unified Diagnostic Services)

CCP (CAN Calibration Protocol, ECU calibration protocol, most widely used for Siemens benches)

CANopen (optional industrial bus, rarely used with this Siemens test bench system)

OBD-II CAN diagnosis (ISO15031)

K-Line High-level Protocols

KWP2000 (ISO14230, K-line based diagnostic protocol)

OIN 9141 basic diagnostic (legacy OBD)

3. Unsupported Protocol List (for model selection & replacement risk avoidance)

❌ CAN FD

❌ LIN bus (KSP EA variant has no LIN transceiver hardware)

❌ FlexRay

❌ Ethernet / SOME/IP

❌ Profibus, Profinet (Not industrial fieldbus card, it is automotive bus card)

4. Protocol Application Scenarios (Siemens Test Bench)
5. CCP: ECU online calibration, variable read/write, acquisition de données (core application of this card)
6. UDS/KWP2000: ECU diagnosis, flash programming, DTC reading
7. Raw CAN message: Bus simulation, message logging, bus stress test
8. Notes complémentaires (Spare Part Replacement Focus)
9. Hardware only provides raw CAN frames and K-line byte streams; high-level CCP/UDS protocols depend on original host software. Replacing with other brand CAN cards (such as PCAN) requires software modification and cannot be directly replaced.
10. OS limitation: The full protocol stack runs stably only under Windows XP 32-bit. Poor compatibility on Win7 and above, host calibration software cannot work properly.

Sontheim COM168 Series Full Model List (Siemens ECU Bench Bus Cards)

COM168 series is Sontheim PCI/PCIe automotive diagnostic and calibration communication card; suffixes such as KSP EA / KSP EB / KSP FA are PCB hardware revision marks instead of independent order numbers. All models are EOL discontinued.

1. PCI Bus Versions (Legacy 5V PCI slot, XP32 driver, your card belongs to this category)

2. PCIe Upgrade Versions (PCIe x1, replacement for legacy PCI cards, driver & API incompatible)

3. COM168 Compact Embedded Variants (Industrial carrier board, rarely sold separately)

4. Suffix Revision Definition (PCB silk screen, not order number)

KSP EA: COM168-PCI first generation hardware revision (your board), no LIN channel, 2CAN+K-Line

KSP EB: Minor PCB revision of COM168-PCI, pinout unchanged

KSP FA: COM168-PCI II sub-version with LIN, 2CAN+K+LIN

⚠️ Distinction importante: COM168 series ≠ COMfalcon / CANfox / CANUSB. COMfalcon and CANfox are Sontheim USB/Ethernet VCI products, outside COM168 PCI board series. API is completely different and cannot replace each other.

5. COM168 Series Common Features & Differences Summary
6. All models do not support CAN FD (hardware controller limitation)
7. PCI version (COM168-PCI / COM168-PCI II): Stable operation only under Windows XP 32bit; poor compatibility for Win7/10
8. PCIe version COM168-PCIe: Drivers support Win7/10, but different software API, legacy Siemens bench calibration software (CCP) cannot work directly
9. DB9 pinout consistent across all models for convenient wiring migration
10. Spare Part Replacement Quick Reference
11. Original card on legacy bench: COM168-PCI KSP EA → Priority to source salvaged COM168-PCI / COM168-PCI II (PCI slot, no software modification required)
12. New industrial PC without PCI slot: COM168-PCIe, host API modification required, heavy software rework