USBizi network stack and g2100 WiFi driver

Ordered a Domino because it looks interesting (and I need to dive into C#/VS for work); I am pretty involved with AsyncLabs WiFi shield and would like to see it working on the Domino. So, a few questions…

  1. Some of your products can utilize WiFi via your ZeroG 2100 add on module; AsyncLabs uses the same ZeroG “chipset”. Do you have a C# ZeroG 2100 driver available? This would provide a great starting point.

  2. Reading through your product docs I see that .Net sockets are not part of the USBizi firmware; I have seen that “they are coming” and reference to “USBizi sockets”. Can someone explain to me, or point me to docs, what the current state of network sockets is on the USBizi (and what is planned for the future)?

  3. Has anyone tried the AsyncLabs shield on a Domino; any success?

Thanks!
Greg

ZeroG will not work with FEZ Domino but you can use the wifly shield.

Why is that? Do your ZeroG drivers utilize portions of the .Net network stack that are not present on the USBizi?

Where can I find your ZeroG driver for reference?

The AsyncLabs shield driver code contains the uIP “micro” netoworking stack; which could be ported to C# I suppose. So seeing your ZeroG driver would be helpful in porting portions of the AsyncLabs code…

Also, different bits of your docs give different impressions of network stack support in the USBizi; is there something definitive that I can use when playing with the Domino? Are .Net sockets coming or will the USBizi have its own micro stack (like uIP), etc.

Thanks
Greg

I agree it is not clear how network is supported in USBizi and we are clearing this up in our free ebook.

Unlike EMX and ChipworkX, USBizi (FEZ) doesn’t have a TCP/IP stack. This is not a simple uIP stack but a full blown TCP/IP stack with SSL support.
For using network with USBizi, you will need to use a module/chip with built in TCP/IP stack. You can write TCP/IP in C# but it will be too much work is and I highly do not recommend it. You will waste your system resources. Instead, keep the resources for you to do useful stuff and let the TCP/IP stack run inside an external module/chipset, like wired W5100 or wireless WiFly.

The book will explain this in details

Thanks! Been through the ebook and will keep an eye out for updates. Will be interesting to see what kind of networking stack support shows up!

I’m still thinking that getting Domino + AsyncLab’s WiShield working together would be a fun project. We’ll see what happens - just looking forward to getting my Domino and playing with it. Debugging!!!

Greg

The book is online updated with more info about networking on USBizi…still needs more info but it has some explanation.

If you want to port uIP to C# for fun then sure it will be a fun project, I would do it myself :smiley: but like I said, if you run uIP in C# then you will just eat through your system resources and there will be no room left to do anything useful.

Just use the WiFly shield and you will be doing a lot of fun projects.

Grabbed both the updated SDK and ebook today; thanks! The new ebook makes the subject of networking on the USBizi much more understandable.

Having the VS IDE and emulator is great! Don’t have my Domino yet but have threading and timers working in the emulator! Awesome!

Greg

Domino arrived today and it only took about 15 minutes to get drivers setup, install latest SDK’s firmware and get my timer/event sample running on the board. From emulator to hardware in seconds - with debugging capabilities! Love it!

Glad to hear you like it. We look forward to see your inventions

Hi,
I purchased one of these very cool FEZ Domino board and expected being able to use my Wishield Wifi board, but as I can see you don’t provide any driver for it …
I would be very interested in a port into C# of the Wishield Library (or any driver for this affordable Wifi board) and I don’t understand when you state that there would be no free resources left on the FEZ Domino because of the uIP stack of the library… it run’s fine on my Arduino 328 so I’m wondering why it would’nt on a FEZ Domino which seems faster and has more memory… ?

[quote]I’m wondering why it would’nt on a FEZ Domino which seems faster and has more memory… ?
[/quote]
It is not about what can be done. It is about doing it right. uIP is not made to run in manged code. If you are doing for fun then go for it but this is not the right way to do it. On FEZ or any other system, uIP will require some system resources, so would you rather use those resources to run uIP or use them to run something more useful?

If you need wifi then use the WiFly shield. Will make things much easier for you. Instead of porting uIP, invest your time in making a web server from an SD card :slight_smile:
We already have a simple example fro the WiFly shield.

The book explains the difference between using an internal TCP/IP stack vs using a module/chipset that has a built in TCP/IP stack.