LAN class

Overview

emUSB-Host LAN provides support for a multitude of Ethernet-over-USB adapters which can easily enable network access for any embedded system with USB host.

Key features

Allows to add USB to Ethernet adapters to your USB-Host enabled Embedded System
Support for LAN Adapters: Brings Embedded System into LAN or Internet
Compatible with various Ethernet-over-USB adapters
Seamless integration with emNet
Multiple adapters can be connected at once
Small memory footprint in RAM and ROM

Enable Ethernet on any embedded system via USB host!

emUSB-Host LAN is an add-on to emUSB-Host, which makes it possible to enumerate and use most off-the-shelf Ethernet to USB-Host adapters.

Using these adapters, the target system can access the LAN and via gateway also the Internet if desired. Products already on the market which have a USB host port can be extended by adding network capabilities with only a firmware update, there is no need to create a new hardware model with an Ethernet connector. A target running emUSB-Host LAN is able to enumerate any Ethernet-over-USB adapter and provide emNet with a network interface.

Besides the network connection the embedded system can still enumerate any number of other classes. Using a USB hub files can be saved onto a MSD stick simultaneously. Hardware costs for a new embedded system can be reduced as a separate Ethernet connector is no longer necessary.

Application Samples emUSB-Host LAN

USB to Ethernet Adapter

Click here for sample project.

Internet Stick

Click here for sample project.

USB Tethering

Revamp your products by adding network connectivity

Any embedded system running emUSB-Host can be enhanced by adding Ethernet capabilities. Imagine a printer which only has a USB host interface which is normally used to print files from a USB stick. An embedded system such as this can be easily made network-capable by using emUSB-Host LAN without any hardware changes. The end user only needs to connect an Ethernet-over-USB adapter to the printer and the printer becomes available to all other devices in the network. The printer could in turn make an internal web-server available through emUSB-Host LAN taking embedded system configuration to a new level of user friendliness.

Internet access using a phone or gateway

A smartphone connected to a host running emUSB-Host LAN can share it's Internet connection with the host embedded system. This process is called "USB tethering", the phone creates a small virtual network between the phone itself and the embedded system running emUSB-Host LAN. This allows the embedded system to access the Internet through the phone or it can allow the phone to access IP services running on the embedded system. An excellent usage example is to use the phone to access a web server running on the embedded system via the phone's web browser. The end user would only need a phone and a USB cable to comfortably configure any settings and view any logs the embedded system may have.

Plugins

emUSB-Host LAN comes with different plugins to support a wide range of Ethernet-to-USB adapters:

ASIX: Adapters using a chipset from the company ASIX Electronics Corporation. ASIX chipsets are used in a variety of Ethernet-to-USB adapters. emUSB-Host LAN supports the chipsets AX88772A, AX88772B, AX88772. A prominent example is the Apple Model A1277 adapter (chipset AX88772).

CDC-ECM: Communications Device Class (CDC) and the Ethernet Control Model (ECM) subclass are standardized USB classes defined by the USB Implementers Forum. Many adapters use CDC-ECM to provide Ethernet connectivity via USB.

RNDIS: Remote Network Driver Interface Specification is a protocol defined by Microsoft. It is often used with Android mobile phones to provide Internet connectivity to a host via USB tethering.