LIN standards and specifications

LIN (Local Interconnect Network) is a serial bus system. Since 2016, it is standardized internationally by ISO. In 2025, several parts of the ISO 17987 series have been updated. The ISO 17987 document series covers the requirements of the seven OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) layers and the corresponding conformance test plans. There is also a powerline transmission standardized:

• ISO 17987-1:2025: Road vehicles – LIN – Part 1: General information and use case definition
• ISO 17987-2:2025: Road vehicles – LIN – Part 2: Transport protocol and network layer services
• ISO 17987-3:2025: Road vehicles – LIN – Part 3: Protocol specification
• ISO 17987-4:2025: Road vehicles – LIN – Part 4: Electrical physical layer (EPL) specification 12 V/24 V
• ISO TR 17987-5:2016: Road vehicles – LIN – Part 5: Application programmers interface (API)
• ISO 17987-6:2025: Road vehicles – LIN – Part 6: Protocol conformance test specification
• ISO 17987-7:2025: Road vehicles – LIN – Part 7: EPL conformance test specification
• ISO 17987-8:2019: Road vehicles – LIN – Part 8: Electrical physical layer (EPL) specification: LIN over DC powerline (DC-LIN)

The new edition complies with the ISO inclusive language rules (“commander” instead of “master” and “responder” instead of “slave”). Furthermore, there have been added some more auto-addressing methods. Editorial improvements and clarifications have been introduced, too.

Additionally, the SAE organization provides the J2602 series of recommended practices, how to implement LIN. These documents are under review and will reference the ISO 17987 series.

• SAE J2602/1: LIN Network for Vehicle Applications
• SAE J2602/2: LIN Network for Vehicle Applications Conformance Test
• SAE J2602/3: File Structures for a Node Capability File (NCF)

Brief history of LIN

The LIN Consortium developed the first LIN specification, which was published as version 1.3. Version 2.0 was released in 2003. In 2006, the LIN Consortium published the version 2.1, which can be download here.

The LIN version 2.2A from 2010 was released after the LIN consortium was closed, but it is one of the most implemented versions. You can download it here.

In parallel, the SAE organization developed the J2602 series; it was published in 2004. The in 2012 updated documents are based on LIN version 2.0.