[Elecraft] Serial to Ethernet - TCP/IP connections

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

 >        This sort of thing requires a non-trivial amount of software --
 > especially for an embedded device -- and comes with a great many
 > complications.  TCP, UDP, SCTP?  Encrypted?  Login credentials?
 > Routing information?  Proxy support?  IPv4 vs v6?  Per-port feature
 > set restrictions?  Connection timeouts?  The list goes on.

A bigger issue that none of the "network interface" proponents seems
to consider is security.  Once a transceiver is exposed on the net,
it requires serious security to prevent access by unlicensed persons.

 >        The best way to start something like this would be to do it
 > as a separate device (an application running on a PC first) that
 > would provide networking services on top of the K3's serial protocol.

That's certainly the best approach ... build the network server as a
separate piece of hardware that communicates with the K3 using the
current/future serial interface.  The transceiver's CPU does not have
to deal with the overhead of the networks stack, routing, keeping
all of the "clients" separate, etc.  The user does not see the cost
and overhead of a network interface unless he needs it.  In addition,
the network interface can be adapted to ANY transceiver by adapting
the serial protocol.

If someone truly believed that a network interface was justified,
they should not have any trouble putting up their own time and
capital to to develop such a product.

73,

    ... Joe, W4TV

On 8/29/2010 6:54 PM, Jessie Oberreuter wrote:
>
>        This sort of thing requires a non-trivial amount of software --
> especially for an embedded device -- and comes with a great many
> complications.  TCP, UDP, SCTP?  Encrypted?  Login credentials?  Routing
> information?  Proxy support?  IPv4 vs v6?  Per-port feature set
> restrictions?  Connection timeouts?  The list goes on.
>        Even with all this, IP over ethernet is infinitely better than USB
> b/c you don't need to be a kernel engineer on the computer end to keep it
> working.  Trust me, I really loved burning a weekend hacking the driver
> for a USB MIDI cable that failed to correctly implement the public, decade
> old protocol specification.
>
>        The best way to start something like this would be to do it as a
> separate device (an application running on a PC first) that would provide
> networking services on top of the K3's serial protocol.  If you made it a
> small command-line application that runs under Linux, hams could even
> run it on an old laptop that sits on a shelf with the lid closed and the
> hard drive permanently spun down :).
>
>
> On Sun, 29 Aug 2010, Ken Nicely wrote:
>
>> Steve,
>>
>> I have tried several of these interfaces.  All that I have tried still only
>> allow one connection to the K3.  Why is this?  Because the K3 has no concept
>> of knowing what program it is talking to.  It just receives a command via
>> the serial interface and replies to it via the serial interface.  If the K3
>> supported networking, then it would know that it is talking to HRD on port
>> 3000 and the P3 on port 3001 and PowerSDR on port 3002.  When request
>> is received from any of these programs it would reply to only that program
>> in some situations and to all the programs in others.  This is simply not
>> possible so long as the K3 supports only a serial interface.
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>