io4edge Network Addressing

Notice This chapter is work-in-process, will be completed soon. Stay tuned.

io4edge devices are always connected to the host via network, either via

  • Ethernet over USB (ModuCop I/O Modules and Microcontrollers on CPU boards)
  • Ethernet (ModuSio)
  • WLAN (ModuSio)

IP Address Assignment

Io4edge devices typically receive their IP address via DHCP, so you need a DHCP server in your network to which the io4edge device is connected to.

Notice On Moducop, a DHCP is already installed and setup in the Yocto image. However, this DHCP server is only responsible to assign a IP address for io4edge devices within the ModuCop. If further devices are connected via Ethernet/Wifi, still a DHCP server must be in the network.

Some Io4edge devices, currently ModuSio devices can be configured to use static IP addresses instead of using DHCP. If static IP addresses are used, no DHCP is required.

How to Address a Specific Device from the Host

Consider the following scenario: You have five identical io4edge devices (e.g. ModuSios) connected to your network. Each one got an IP address from the DHCP server. But how do you know which device has which IP address? Even if you find it out by checking your router’s device table, the information is valid only for this particular network. If you want to duplicate the setup later for production, devices may get different IP addresses. This is bad.

To solve this issue, io4edge devices announce themselves (or better the services they provide) in the network. Each service (like an anlog input function block) is announced in the network with a specific name. For this, MDNS is used, a protocol that is widely used, e.g. by office printers. To access a io4edge device from your application, you use the service address (a string) of the specific function rather an IP address.

Addressing ModuCop I/O Modules

The base service addresses of ModuCop I/O Modules are assigned in the factory - before the assembled ModuCop is shipped - according to the following scheme: S101-<MODULE_TYPE>-USB-EXT-<SLOT_NUMBER>, with

  • MODULE_TYPE - I/O Module type, e.g. IOU01
  • SLOT_NUMBER - Slot number, starting with 1 for the slot next to the CPU module.

So when you have an IOU01 module in slot 1, the service addresses would start with S101-IOU01-USB-EXT-1.

Addressing WLAN and Ethernet Based io4edge Modules

By default, these devices use their Article Number and Serial Number as their base service address according to the following scheme: <ARTICLE_NUMBER>-<SERIAL_NUMBER>, with

  • ARTICLE_NUMBER - I/O Module group and type, e.g. S103-MIO01
  • SERIAL_NUMBER - Serial number, an UUIDV4.

For example, a MIO01 would have a default base service name like this: S103-MIO01-b4e31793-f660-4e2e-af20-c175186b95be.

However, this address is only used as long no application specific device-id is set in the module. We recommend to change the device-id to an application defined name, such as axle-sensor-left1. This can be done using the io4edge-cli tool or via the console provided through the USB service connector. See the quick start guides of the respective module for details. As soon as a device-id is set, this name is now used as the base service name.

Function Service Addresses

The service addresses for individual functions (like analog input and binary input) of an I/O module use the base service address plus a suffix, an IOU01 would have four services addresses, like:

  • S101-IOU01-USB-EXT-1 for the core block (firmware update etc.)
  • S101-IOU01-USB-EXT-1-binaryIoTypeA for the binary I/O block
  • S101-IOU01-USB-EXT-1-analogInTypeA1 for the first analog input block
  • S101-IOU01-USB-EXT-1-analogInTypeA2 for the second analog input block

Benefits of io4edge device addressing scheme

By using service addresses it is possible to hardcode these addresses in your application. It’s possible because service addresses are configured in the device

  • by you (the user) in case of WLAN/Ethernet devices
  • in the factory in case of USB-based devices

Restrictions

MDNS and therefore io4edge service addressing works only within a single IP subnet, i.e. devices and the client must be in the same subnet.

If the device and the host are in different subnets (a router is in between), then you must use IP addressing; to access a service, provide the IP address and the port.