Wind River Embedded Networking Essentials

The Wind River® Embedded Networking Essentials workshop provides engineers with a fast, cost-effective way to acquire the skills necessary to deal with the challenges that are unique to networking in an embedded environment.

After this course, participants will be able to perform the following:

• Identify common challenges of developing networking applications in an embedded environment
• Analyze network system performance
• Debug typical embedded networking problems using industry standard tools
• Apply the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) seven layer model in the context of the Linux and VxWorks® IP stack and driver model
• Examine and interpret network packet traces
• Use debug and optimization techniques to build smaller and faster network stacks
• Describe networking requirements for the embedded world

• Wind River Linux 3.0
• VxWorks 6.8

• Developers who work with embedded systems but have not been involved in IP networking
• New project members who have network programming experience, but are new to embedded programming
• Experienced Linux or VxWorks programmers that want to expand their skills in embedded networking
• Experienced engineers who want to update their network skills and knowledge
• Testers who need to understand how to operate multiple network devices

Day 1

What Is Embedded Networking?

• Introduction
• Overview of transport media for IP networking

A Walk up and down the Embedded Network Stack

• OSI seven layer model and how it maps to implementation
• Resource constraints in an embedded environment
• Physical hardware MAC/PHY and Ethernet framing
• IP framing and identification
• Role of a network task in the IP stack
• Point-to-point addressing vs. multi-cast addressing
• Subnetting and classless networks
• Virtual local area network (VLAN)
• LAB: Network utilities and address resolution
• Packet tracing, routing tables, ARP resolution, ARP poisoning (man-in-the-middle attack)

Routing

• What is a route?
• Static vs. dynamic routing, routing vs. forwarding
• Organization of routing tables
• Route renewal mechanisms
• Overview of routing protocols: ARP, RIP, OSPF, NDP, BGP, MPLS
• Routing sockets
• LAB: Routing
• Setting up a network with static routes and dynamic routing protocols

Performance – Purpose-Built Networking

• Buffer resources in an embedded network stack
• Fragmentation
• Path MTU discovery (PMTUD)
• Zero-copy buffers
• SCTP
• Multi-core challenges
• Multi-core offload
• LAB: Policy-based routing
• Routing decisions based on administrative policies

Tunneling

• Introduction to bridging and tunneling
• Introduction to tunnel types: IP in IP, PPP over serial, PPPoE, IPsec, TIPC over TCP, IPv6 in IPv4
• Use cases and resource considerations in embedded devices
• LAB: IPv6 in IPv4 and GRE tunnels
• Configuring tunnels and observing with a traffic sniffer

Day 2

Real-Time Networking – Link Layer vs. Application Layer Protocols

• What is real-time networking?
• Use cases and latency considerations
• overview of industrial networking protocols
• Link layer vs. application layer protocols
• Using appropriate TCP/UDP socket options
• LAB: TIPC failover
• Comparing TCP and TIPC socket connections in a simple failover scenario

Network Booting

• Headless booting use case
• BOOTP and DHCP
• Network file systems overview: FTP, TFTP, NFS, HTTP, SFTP
• Memory overhead for file caches and network buffers
• Bootloader considerations
• LAB: DHCP client and relay
• Configuring a DHCP client and relay, multi-homed DHCP, and observing with a packet sniffer

Network Device Management and Debug

• The remote management challenge
• Options for remote management: SNMP, HTTP, SOAP, SSH
• Designing for serviceability: logging, debug agents, instrumentation, sensorpoints, network debug utilities
• Ownership and security considerations
• LAB: A deep dive into network debugging
• Solving typical network issues in a simulated network

Optional Module A: Introduction to Routing

For those new to networking, an introductory overview of routing can be added before the routing lesson.

Optional Module B: Introduction to IPv6

For those starting a design with IPv6 requirements, an introduction to IPv6 can be added.

Prerequisite Courses

• None

Prerequisite Skills

• Basic understanding of embedded OS concepts and some network programming experience (e.g., basic socket programming)

• This two-day expert-led workshop consists of lectures and lab sessions.
• Attendees use Wind River Linux 3.0 and VxWorks 6.8 to gain experience with the topics presented.
• Participants examine and exercise simulated network topologies in hands-on labs.
• Participants receive individual guidance from an expert engineer who has extensive experience with Wind River technologies.

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