FreeRTOS with TCP/IP

[StarryNight]

Hello,

Noob here with a potentially really obvious question. If I am using FreeRTOS with TCP/IP, do I need an Ethernet connection for it to work? Or can I connect between the device and my computer no problem? As an extension of that, I mainly understand cellular WiFi and a reasonable understanding of routers. What does the TCP/IP extension make the device function as? What are its usecases?

Many thanks in advance.

[TheSemaphoreNoob]

Hey there !

If I am using FreeRTOS with TCP/IP, do I need an Ethernet connection for it to work?

Definitions time !!! TCP stands stands for “Transmission Control Protocol.” Long story short, it’s a protocol imposing how packets are transmitted.
Ethernet, It’s a technology for wired networking.
Take a look at this image (article source.) It presents the chain of transmission/reception of data. It’s named OSI. In this, TCP takes place in the “Transport Layer”, while Ethernet is on “Data Link Layer” and “Physical Layer”. What we can understand is that using TCP do not impose to use Ethernet. The implementation of these two technologies are not dependent. Ethernet can be replaced by Wi-Fi in this chain (not in a finger snap of course.) To go further, TCP can be replaced by another protocol as UDP (not in a finger snap, they don’t present the same pros and cons nor the same interfaces, but it’s not the subject.)
So First ! You do not need an Ethernet connection for it to work.

What does the TCP/IP extension make the device function as? What are its usecases?
I’m not sure of my answer, so I’ll preserve myself of spreading misinformation. Can I suggest you to take a look at the following resources ?

A post explaining the role of the device depends more on its funder API than on FreeRTOS :

Wireless FreeRTOS IP stack

Hi @EduardoGoncalves1966 Thanks for reaching out to the FreeRTOS Forum community! FreeRTOS, by design, uses the vendor specific WiFi APIs directly with a TCP/IP and network transport layer in between. FreeRTOS+TCP has a network interface implemented for ESP32 board here You can use it to replace the default Lwip , ESP IDF currently implements. The best place to look at for these will be the ESP IDF at GitHub - espressif/esp-aws-iot: AWS IoT SDK for ESP32 based chipsets. This has some good e…

A topic about using an ST MCU as a Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) :

A Wi-Fi hotspot + cellular device

Hi, We have a project to implement a small device on ST MCU mainly containing two interfaces (LTE cellular and Wi-Fi), it will be a Wi-Fi AP to provide the Wi-Fi hotspot feature. Several Wi-Fi clients will utilize the Wi-Fi connections to communicate with the server on the Internet via this device. Since we are new to FreeRTOS, we’d like to know if there is any existing module or components we can utilize to quickly achieve this? Or we need to implement it from the scratch? Thanks Best regar…

FreeRTOS+TCP Example Projects and TCP networking tutorial from FreeRTOS website.

Happy TCP-ing !!

[ActoryOu]

Hi @StarryNight,
Welcome to FreeRTOS community!

@StarryNight

If I am using FreeRTOS with TCP/IP, do I need an Ethernet connection for it to work? Or can I connect between the device and my computer no problem?

I’m not 100% sure if I understand completely. If you’re asking if a router is mandatory, I’ll say no. It’s still usable to create network connection only between these two hosts (PC ↔ device).

For example, assuming that there is no DHCP server or router functionalties on your computer. You can configure a static IP address 192.168.1.2 for your device and set another IP address 192.168.1.3 on your computer. Then they can connect to each other with this link.

Note that I skip gateway and subnet mask to simplify. Besides that, in this example, the device is only able to connect with your computer and no external internet available.

Thank you.

[htibosch (Hein Tibosch)]

And don’t forget 3 special network interfaces:

• The loopback interface
• The WinPCap interface
• The Linux interface

You can create an application using the loopback interface and use protocols like TPC, UDP, and mDNS.

The two PCAP interfaces (WinPCAP, Linux) “borrow” the Ethernet adapter of your PC or laptop. It allows you to create a new interface with you own IP- and MAC-address and communicate on the LAN and Ethernet.

It is not fast, and it is not perfect, but it is very useful for educational purposes.

Here some demo projects:

• FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP_Minimal_Windows_Simulator
• FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP_Echo_Posix
• FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP_IPv6_Demo

I hope that you will enjoy exploring “TCP/IP”.