Connectivity and networking with PIC MCUs - Part 1: Protocols, IR and RF

Despite all that has been covered in the past 19 chapters, there are still important areas in embedded systems which have been little mentioned. One area is so important that this chapter is dedicated to it.

If you implemented the hand controller board on the Derbot AGV, and maybe another I²C device, then you created a little network. This approach is being replicated in every sort of situation, where different systems or subsystems are communicating with each other. In the home, workplace, motor vehicle, factory and across the world, thinking things are organising themselves into networks. Their means of communication are becoming increasingly diverse: not just electrical, but also optical fibre, infrared or radio.

This chapter deals with issues of connectivity and networking – the medium of connection used to create data links and the means by which data is actually formatted, moved and interpreted over those links. Essentially, the chapter is a survey of certain communication techniques and technologies. Like the diverse life-forms which inhabit the earth, we will find that network mechanisms are incredibly varied, each adapting itself to the needs of its very particular environment.

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• Some underlying concepts of setting up a network.

• Alternatives for connectivity, including the wireless options of infrared and radio.

• A range of network protocols.

• How PIC microcontrollers can be applied in these areas.

As each topic is a major field in itself, the chapter does not aim to provide complete solutions.

It just gives overviews and ideas for further exploration. There are no design examples.

20.1 The main idea – networking and connectivity
There are many situations in which we need to provide connection between different systems or subsystems. In the domestic environment, the automated household is in the process of becoming a reality. Here different household appliances and gadgets may all be connected together, for example through the Internet. Elsewhere, there are other needs for networking.

The modern motor vehicle may contain dozens of embedded systems, all engaged in very specific activity, but all interconnected. In the home or car situation, connections may be longterm and stable. However, other networks or connections are transitory, for example when data is downloaded from a personal organiser to a laptop over a wireless link. All of these are of interest to the embedded designer and they pose very diverse challenges.

The traditional means of providing network connectivity has been through cabling, allowing electrical signals to flow from one subsystem to another. The computer I am currently writing at, no longer one of the newest, is festooned with cables, linking mouse, printer, scanner, Internet connection, speakers and all my PIC development tools! This need not be the only way.

It is, of course, possible to make a data connection without any physical link. The most common alternatives to a cable connection are light or radio. There are many variations on each. We have long had TV remote controls, communicating by infrared. We have also had radio communication for many years; this has been adapted most effectively for data links within the computer environment.

Providing a network is about much more than just providing connectivity, important though this is. In a complex system it is also essential to deal in depth with how data is formatted and interpreted, how addressing is achieved, and how error correction can be implemented. All of this is pretty much independent of the physical interconnection itself.

In order for different nodes to communicate on a network, there must therefore be very clear rules about how they create and interpret messages. We have already seen aspects of this with definitions of standards like I²C. This set of rules is called a ‘protocol’, taking the word from its diplomatic and legal origins. Let us explore the concept of the protocol.