Belcarra USB TestDrive

Belcarra supports an environment for testing USB Networking protocols. This paper, is the first in a series and will provide an overview of this environment which includes both USB Host and USB Device side software components.

Belcarra’s Overo USB TestDrive is a Linux based test system based on the Gumstix Overo board. The Overo board is a low cost hardware development system using a Texas Instruments OMAP series of System On Chip (SOC) technology. It supports USB 2.0 for both host and client implementations.

Introduction

The TestDrive system can be used to test and evaluate various USB Networking protocols and implementations:

• Gadget based network and filestorage function drivers
• Belcarra based network and mass storage function drivers
• Belcarra Windows USBLAN class driver

The USB TestDrive kit contains:

• Overo ROOTFS
• Compiled Linux kernel and modules
• script to create an SD card to boot an Overo

Network test tools included:

• wget / wput
• iperf
• apache
• ping and pingall script

Updated USB MSC Function

Belcarra’s USB Device stack includes a Mass Storage (MSC) function. This allows an embedded device using the USB Framework to emulate a Mass Storage device either as a standalone function or as part of a composite configuration.

The Belcarra MSC solution was updated to increase performance and extend its feature set:

• More efficient use of the Block IO system for higher throughput
• Support for mulitple LUN’s (storage volumes)
• Management (API) allowing things like detecting individual LUN changes
• Virtual CDROM support (map an ISO image)
• Read-only volume support -- (Management API allows dynamic change)

CDC-EEM Streaming Mode

Support for networking over USB using the Ethernet Emulation Model was originally implemented in 2006 on both the device (Composite Device Framework) and host  (USBLAN) drivers. Current versions of our drivers now include streaming mode  providing for significantly faster data transfer, "EEM throughput is about 50% higher than ECM in an optimal configuration".  For more information, contact us today.

USBLAN Driver available in Windows Update

Year end review of the Windows Update program that enabled end users to simply and silently install Belcarra USBLAN deemed it as a success.
New Belcarra USBLAN customer kits are required to pass Windows Hardware Quality Labs testing review as well as the previous regime of stress tests.
Microsoft signed USBLAN driver from Windows Update no longer requires system restart or user input during installation.
For more information a fairly comprehensive deployment guide is available here.

[UPDATE - July 20,2011 USBLAN Version 2.4 Released Download OEM Manual]

See also: Linux Gadget VID/PID Patch for USBLAN Evaluation
These patches (download here) modify the Linux Ethernet Gadget default CDC Vendor and Product ID to match the Belcarra USBLAN Evaluation kits available from Windows Update.

USB Client Support for Gumstix Verdex Pro COM's

Belcarra’s USB Composite Device Framework  for Gumstix Verdex.

The USB Device Framework supports Composite configurations using a Composite Function Driver which selects and configures various Interface Function Drivers.

•     Composite function selects the desired interface functions 
•     Selected interface functions combine into the configuration
•     External management tools to control software deployment 

NOTE: This offering compliments the Overo support that has been available since 2009-06-15

Windows CE

Belcarra, announces the availability of USBLAN-FN, a CDC-ECM client solution, which provides an essential component for WinCE based USB peripherals to network over USB with standard host platforms, such as Mac OS/X.

VANCOUVER, CANADA, – Belcarra Technologies, a leading developer of USB software and device driver solutions, announced today the availability of USBLAN-FN, an NDIS/CDC ECM USB client function for Windows Mobile and Windows CE platforms.