The Network Component contains services, protocol sockets, and physical communication interfaces for creating networking applications. It is part of MDK-Professional.

Network Overview

The various services provide program templates for common networking tasks.

There are basically two types of HTTP Web Server available: the Compact Web Server stores web pages in ROM whereas the Full Web Server uses the file system for page data storage. Both servers support dynamic page content using scripting, AJAX and SOAP technologies.
FTP and TFTP are used for file transfer. TFTP supports only file upload and download and is typically used for boot-loading remote devices in a closed LAN. It has very low memory requirements. FTP provides full file access including sub-directories, log-in and a set of manipulation commands. Both protocols are supported for client and server.
The Telnet Server realizes a Command Line Interface over an IP network.
Devices are often monitored using the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). The SNMP Agent helps to report vital information of a device to the network manager.
The DNS Client resolves domain names like www.arm.com to the respective IP address. It makes use of a freely configurable name server.
The SNTP Client synchronizes clocks and enables a device to get an accurate time signal over the data network.
The SMTP Client helps you to send out for example status updates or alerts via e-mail to freely configurable e-mail addresses.

All services rely on a network socket for communication. The Network Component supports these sockets:

TCP is a connection-oriented, reliable full-duplex protocol. This means that packets delivered using TCP are error-checked and delivered in the right order.
UDP is a transaction-oriented and stateless protocol. Data streaming or time-critical applications commonly use UDP. With UDP you can multicast a datagram to a group of devices.
The BSD Socket API is a programming interface, which implements a standard Berkeley Socket communication interface (using TCP and UDP sockets for communication).

The physical interface can be either Ethernet or a serial connection.

Ethernet is widely used for connecting local area networks (LAN). It can utilize different media as means of transmission.
The serial connection supports two different protocols:
- The Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) implements the Internet Protocol over a serial connection.
- The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connects two network devices directly and provides authentication.

A driver provides provides the interface to the microcontroller peripherals or external components (for example an external PHY chip).

For Ethernet an Ethernet MAC and an Ethernet PHY is required.
PPP or SLIP interfaces use either a UART or a Modem.

The Network CORE is available in a Debug variant with extensive diagnostic messages. The Release variant omits this diagnostic information.

Documentation

This user's guide contains the following chapters:

Creating a Network Application explains the necessary steps to develop a network project from scratch.
Using Network Components provides an overview over the usage of the various network components.
Network Examples are a good starting point for implementing your own networking device.