A network driving system and method for IgH

Abstract

The present invention discloses a network drive system and method for IgH, comprising a network card hardware layer, a driver layer, and an IgH EtherCAT protocol layer. The network card hardware layer comprises two GMAC network cards. The driver layer obtains data message descriptors from skb corresponding to different network card hardware via a receiving loop, and places message descriptors for sending data into skb corresponding to different network card hardware via a sending loop. When sending a message, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer directly calls a sending driver function to send the EtherCAT message from the dedicated network card hardware. When receiving a message, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer uses a polling method to receive message data corresponding to the dedicated network card hardware. The present invention not only enables the original local network card driver to match the IgH, but also has high stability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a network driving system and method for IgH, belonging to the technical field of IgH network driving. Background Art

[0002] EtherCAT (Ethernet for Control Automation Technology, or real-time industrial Ethernet) is a fieldbus communication protocol based on industrial Ethernet. Due to its wide applicability, high real-time performance and good synchronization performance, it has been widely recognized and applied in various control systems. In recent years, the research on EtherCAT master stations at home and abroad has gradually shifted from TwinCAT and KPA EtherCAT commercial master stations to open source master stations based on IgH (EtherLab release) and SOEM (simple opensource ethercat IgH EtherCAT Master is an open-source EtherCAT master protocol based on the Linux operating system. IgH-based secondary development allows for tailoring, improvement, and optimization of the EtherCAT master, making it more suitable for specific industrial environments.

[0003] In our application scenario, the multi-core ARM64 CPU has a dual-channel GMAC. The corresponding network driver, Stmmac, only supports Ethernet messages, and these messages must use the general protocol stack. Furthermore, the IgH EtherCAT Master is designed for general PC platforms and, by default, supports X86 architecture processors and PC network cards. It does not support other specific network card drivers. Therefore, the existing local network card driver is incompatible with the IgH and requires a redesign. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Purpose of the Invention: In specific usage scenarios, downstream traffic uses EtherCAT, while upstream traffic uses Ethernet. Therefore, a network card driver compatible with the IgH EtherCAT Master is required on top of the native Stmmac driver, without disrupting the Ethernet driver process. This invention provides a network driver system and method for IgH, enabling native network card drivers to be compatible with IgH.

[0005] Technical solution: To achieve the above purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0006] A network-driven method for IgH, comprising the following steps:

[0007] During network card initialization, the network card registration function stmmac_igh_dvr_probe() registers different driver destinations based on the network card device name and MAC address. EtherCAT-specific network cards register the driver to the EtherCAT network card device. Non-EtherCAT network card devices and MAC addresses register the driver to the general protocol stack and follow the normal network message process.

[0008] In the message sending process, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer directly calls the sending driver function and drives sk_buff to send data stream.

[0009] In the message receiving process, the polling method is used to receive data, all interrupt requests are cancelled, and the received message data is directly provided to the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer for processing, and is no longer sent to the general protocol stack.

[0010] Optimally, during network card initialization, call the ecdev_open() function to initialize the physical layer (PHY) of the port, attach the PHY driver, and enable the PHY layer so that the MAC and PHY devices are bound in a one-to-one correspondence in the device tree configuration. Allocate receive and transmit DMA resources and packet descriptor ring resources. Enable the MAC to work: initialize the MAC core and enable receive and transmit at the MAC layer.

[0011] Optimally, during the message transmission process, the IgH Master module directly calls the stmmac_xmit() function to obtain an available transmit message descriptor, places the mapped skb in the transmit queue of the transmit ring, and enables the hardware to send a single or first packet. It then determines whether there are remaining fragments and, if so, enables the hardware to send the remaining data fragments. The first data fragment message descriptor is passed to the GMAC, the current transmit index is recorded, and the dirty recycled transmit message descriptor index is calculated.

[0012] Preferred: In the message receiving process, the IgH Master module checks the function stmmac_rx() of the receiving ring through the ec_poll() function loop. Query the receiving status to determine whether there is a message coming. Get the next frame message descriptor. Get the received data frame status, length, and specific data. Determine the data validity. If it is invalid message data, follow the EtherNet process. If it is valid message data, set the receive skb data length and release the streaming DMA mapping, and upload the skb to the upper-level IgH Master module for processing through the ec_receive() interface. Refill the receive queue of the receive ring, record the current receive index, and calculate the dirty received message descriptor index that has been recycled.

[0013] Preferred method for determining data validity: At the entry point of the function Stmmac_rx(), obtain the 12th and 13th byte addresses of the message data offset and determine whether the content stored at this address is 0x88a4. If the content is 0x88a4, it is determined to be an EtherCAT message type and the EtherCAT driver process is executed. If it is not 0x88a4, it is another type of message and the local network driver process is executed.

[0014] Preferably, both the receiving ring and the sending ring use a single queue.

[0015] A network driving system for IgH, comprising:

[0016] The network card hardware layer includes two GMAC network cards, and the network card device name and MAC address are set on the network card.

[0017] The driver layer obtains data message descriptors from the skb corresponding to different network card hardware through the receiving ring, and puts the message descriptors of the sent data into the skb corresponding to different network card hardware through the sending ring.

[0018] When sending messages, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer directly calls the send driver function, driving the send ring to send data to different network cards. In the message receiving process, polling is used to receive message data from the receive ring and initially parse the received message data.

[0019] Optimized: Network card device names are divided into EtherCAT network card devices and non-EtherCAT network card devices. Network card device names and MAC addresses are used to register different driver destinations. EtherCAT-specific network cards register drivers to EtherCAT network card devices, while non-EtherCAT network card devices and MAC addresses register drivers to the general protocol stack, following the normal network message process.

[0020] Optimally, when sending messages, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer drives the send loop to send data to the EtherCAT network card device. When receiving messages, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer determines the data validity of the received message data. Valid messages follow the EtherCAT driver process, while invalid messages follow the standard network message process. The network card registration function stmmac_igh_dvr_probe() is used to register the network card. This function registers different driver destinations based on the network card device name and MAC address. EtherCAT-specific network cards will register the driver with the EtherCAT network card device and follow the EtherCAT driver process. Non-EtherCAT network card devices and MAC addresses will register the driver with the general protocol stack and follow the standard network message process.

[0021] Preferably, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer includes an IgH Master module. During the message transmission process, the IgH Master module directly calls back the stmmac_xmit() function to obtain an available transmit message descriptor, places the mapped skb into the transmit queue of the transmit ring, and enables the hardware to send a single or first data packet. It then determines whether there are any remaining fragment messages and, if so, enables the hardware to send the remaining data fragments. The first data fragment message descriptor is passed to the GMAC, the current transmit index is recorded, and the index of the dirty, recycled transmit message descriptor is calculated. During the message reception process, the IgH Master module loops through the ec_poll() function to check the receive ring function stmmac_rx(). It queries the reception status to determine whether any messages have arrived. It obtains the next frame message descriptor. It obtains the status, length, and specific data of the received data frame. It then determines the data validity; if the message data is invalid, it proceeds to the EtherNet process. If the message is valid, the receive skb data length is set, the streaming DMA mapping is released, and the skb is uploaded to the upper-layer IgH Master module for processing through the ec_receive() interface. The receive queue of the receive ring is refilled, the current receive index is recorded, and the index of the dirty received message descriptor that has been recycled is calculated.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0023] First, the improved Stmmac can be applied to the Igh Ethercat protocol to meet the application of EtherCAT master station business.

[0024] Second, depending on the business type, the Stmmac driver is applied to Ethernet and EtherCAT processes respectively.

[0025] Third, EtherCAT offers superior real-time performance. First, data packets bypass the traditional protocol stack and require no layer-by-layer parsing. The EtherCAT master protocol layer interacts directly with the network card's receive and transmit rings, minimizing the time spent on upper-layer system calls and packet processing. Second, memory allocation for data packets is eliminated, allowing for resource recycling and reducing resource allocation and release time. Third, both the IgH EtherCAT protocol and the Stmmac driver use skb descriptors, passing data between them. This eliminates memory copies and reduces packet processing time.

[0026] Fourth, high stability. The IgH EherCAT protocol and Stmmac driver are both in the kernel module, so users do not need to directly operate registers, which will not cause kernel crashes.

[0027] Finally, CPU affinity is also adopted to separate the CPU and bind it to the EtherCAT dedicated network card, which further improves performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 Comparison of the new and old drive models.

[0029] Figure 2 The following is a diagram of the network card driver data flow before and after modification.

[0030] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of network-driven data flow according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 4 This is a diagram of packet capture on the EtherCAT dedicated network port.

[0032] Figure 5 This is a diagram of EtherCAT real-time test data. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The present invention is further illustrated below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that these examples are only used to illustrate the present invention and are not used to limit the scope of the present invention. After reading the present invention, modifications of various equivalent forms of the present invention made by those skilled in the art all fall within the scope defined by the claims attached to this application.

[0034] If only the IgH EtherCAT function is implemented and real-time performance is not a concern, a generic network card driver can be considered. However, this mode is implemented through the socket interface provided by the general TCPIP protocol stack to the upper layer. In this mode, the real-time performance of network transmission and reception depends on the processing efficiency of the TCPIP protocol stack. Generally, the real-time performance is poor and cannot meet the requirements of high-performance industrial use scenarios. Therefore, this embodiment provides a network driver method for IgH, such as Figure 3 As shown, the following steps are included:

[0035] During network card initialization, the network card registration function stmmac_igh_dvr_probe() registers different driver destinations based on the network card device name and MAC address. EtherCAT-specific network cards register the driver to the EtherCAT network card device. Non-EtherCAT network card devices and MAC addresses register the driver to the general protocol stack and follow the normal network message process.

[0036] During network card initialization, the ecdev_open() function is called to initialize the physical layer (PHY) of the port, attach the PHY driver, and enable the physical layer, ensuring that the MAC and PHY devices are bound in a one-to-one correspondence in the device tree configuration. Receive and transmit DMA resources and packet descriptor ring resources are allocated. The MAC is then enabled to operate: the MAC core is initialized, and transmit and receive functions at the MAC layer are enabled.

[0037] In the message sending process, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer directly calls the sending driver function and drives sk_buff to send data stream.

[0038] During the message transmission process, the IgH Master module directly calls the stmmac_xmit() function to obtain an available transmit message descriptor, places the mapped skb into the transmit queue of the transmit ring, and enables the hardware to send a single or first packet. It then determines whether there are remaining fragments and, if so, enables the hardware to send the remaining data fragments. The first data fragment message descriptor is passed to the GMAC, which records the current transmit index and calculates the index of the dirty, recycled transmit message descriptor.

[0039] like Figure 1 As shown in the figure, when sending messages, EtherCAT messages will be directly sent to the dedicated network port. The network device name and MAC address of this network port have been bound through the registration process; other messages will go through the "non-EtherCAT dedicated" network port.

[0040] In the message receiving process, the polling method is used to receive data, all interrupt requests are cancelled, and the received message data is directly provided to the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer for processing, and is no longer sent to the general protocol stack.

[0041] During the message reception process, the IgH Master module uses the ec_poll() function to loop through the stmmac_rx() function of the receive loop. It queries the receive status to determine if any messages have arrived. It then obtains the next frame's message descriptor. It then obtains the received data frame's status, length, and specific data. It then determines the data's validity. If the message is invalid, it proceeds with the Ethernet process. If it is valid, it sets the receive skb data length, releases the streaming DMA mapping, and uploads the skb to the upper-layer IgH Master module for processing via the ec_receive() interface. It then refills the receive queue of the receive loop, records the current receive index, and calculates the index of the dirty, recycled receive message descriptor.

[0042] like Figure 1 As shown in the figure, the method for determining data validity is as follows: When receiving a message, the underlying layer distributes the received message according to the message type. At the entry point of the function Stmmac_rx(), the 12th and 13th byte offsets of the message data are retrieved and the content stored at these addresses is determined to be 0x88a4. If the content is 0x88a4, it is determined to be an EtherCAT message type and the EtherCAT driver process is executed. If it is not 0x88a4, it is another message type and the local network driver process is executed.

[0043] In terms of resource utilization efficiency, in the sending and receiving processes, both the receiving ring and the sending ring use a single queue instead of multiple queues.

[0044] 1: The sending process is dominated by the IgH protocol layer or the application layer; during initialization, a sending sk_buff is created and recycled during sending to reduce the time of applying for and releasing skb resources; if the sending recovery queue does not exceed the total length of the sending queue and the skb can be recycled, the skb will be added to the recycling queue.

[0045] 2: The receiving process is queried by poll at the IgH protocol layer or application layer; the received skb buff is also recycled, and skb resources are no longer re-applied and released; if the receiving recycling queue does not exceed the total length of the receiving queue and the skb can be recycled, the skb is added to the recycling queue.

[0046] like Figure 2As shown in the figure, the dotted arrows represent the native EtherNet data flow, which has been abolished in the IgH EtherCAT network card driver. The dashed arrows represent the improved data flow for IgH, which is the route added this time.

[0047] 1: In the network card registration function stmmac_igh_dvr_probe(), different driver destinations are registered based on the network card device name and MAC address. The EtherCAT-specific network card will register the driver to the EtherCAT device, so that the EtherCATMaster can take over this network device. Other network device names and MAC addresses will register the driver to the general protocol stack and follow the normal network message process.

[0048] 2: In the message sending process, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer directly calls the sending driver function and drives sk_buff (the socket buffer in Linux) to send the data stream. The general protocol stack no longer calls the sending driver function.

[0049] 3: In the message receiving process, use the polling method to receive data and cancel all interrupt requests; and provide the received message data directly to the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer for processing, and no longer send it to the general protocol stack.

[0050] A network driven system for IgH, such as Figure 3 As shown, including:

[0051] The network card hardware layer includes two GMAC network cards, i.e., two GMACs integrated into the CPU chip. Each network card is configured with a network card device name and MAC address. The network card device names are categorized as EtherCAT network card devices and non-EtherCAT network card devices. The network card device name and MAC address are used to register different driver destinations. EtherCAT-specific network cards register their drivers with the EtherCAT network card device, while non-EtherCAT network card devices and MAC addresses register their drivers with the general protocol stack, following the normal network message flow.

[0052] The driver layer obtains data packet descriptors from the skb files corresponding to different network card hardware through the receive ring and places the packet descriptors of the transmitted data into the skb files corresponding to different network card hardware through the send ring. The network card hardware receives the data and places the packet descriptors into their respective skb files, which are then distributed according to different protocols.

[0053] When sending messages, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer directly calls the send driver function, driving the send ring to send data to different network cards, allowing EtherCAT messages to be sent from the dedicated network card hardware. During the message reception process, polling is used to receive message data from the receive ring. In other words, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer uses polling to receive message data corresponding to the dedicated network card hardware and performs preliminary parsing of the received message data.

[0054] When sending messages, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer drives the send ring to send skb data to the EtherCAT network card device. When receiving messages, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer verifies the data validity of the received message. Valid messages follow the EtherCAT driver process, while invalid messages follow the standard network message process. The network card registration function stmmac_igh_dvr_probe() is used to register the network card. This function registers different driver destinations based on the network card device name and MAC address. EtherCAT-specific network cards will register the driver with the EtherCAT network card device and follow the EtherCAT driver process. Non-EtherCAT network card devices and MAC addresses will register the driver with the general protocol stack and follow the standard network message process.

[0055] The IgH EtherCAT protocol layer includes the IgH Master module. During the message transmission process, the IgH Master module directly calls the stmmac_xmit() function to obtain available transmit message descriptors, places the mapped skb into the transmit queue of the transmit ring, and enables the hardware to send a single or first data packet. It then determines whether there are remaining message fragments and, if so, enables the hardware to send the remaining data fragments. It then passes the first data fragment message descriptor to the GMAC, records the current transmit index, and calculates the index of the dirty, recycled transmit message descriptor. During the message reception process, the IgH Master module uses the ec_poll() function to loop through the stmmac_rx() function of the receive ring. It queries the receive status to determine if there are incoming messages. It then obtains the next frame message descriptor and obtains the status, length, and specific data of the received data frame. It then determines the data validity. If the message data is invalid, it proceeds to the EtherNet process. If the message data is valid, it sets the received skb data length, removes the streaming DMA mapping, and uploads the skb to the upper-layer IgH Master module for processing via the ec_receive() interface. Refill the receive queue of the receive ring, record the current receive index, and calculate the index of the dirty received message descriptor that has been recycled

[0056] like Figure 4 As shown in the packet capture of this embodiment, Figure 5 For its real-time data, the fastest can reach 21875ns.

[0057] When registering a driver in this embodiment, driver branches are distinguished based on the network device name and MAC address (the MAC address bound to the EtherCAT message configuration in the upper-layer program). The driver layer automatically distributes messages based on the message type identification field. This enables the device to process both incoming EtherCAT and EtherNet messages. In the EtherCAT-specific driver, a single queue ring is used for both receiving and sending, and resources are recycled without re-releasing or re-applying for them, improving real-time performance.

[0058] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A network driving method for IgH, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: When the network card is initialized, in the network card registration function stmmac_igh_dvr_probe(), different driver destinations are registered according to the network card device name and MAC address. The EtherCAT dedicated network card will register the driver to the EtherCAT network card device; the non-EtherCAT network card device and MAC address will register the driver to the general protocol stack and follow the normal network message process; In the message sending process, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer directly calls the sending driver function and drives sk_buff to send data stream; In the message receiving process, polling is used to receive data, and all interrupt requests are canceled. The received message data is directly provided to the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer for processing, and is no longer sent to the general protocol stack. In the message receiving process, the IgH Master module checks the receiving loop function stmmac_rx() through the ec_poll() function; queries the receiving status to determine whether there is an incoming message; obtains the next frame message descriptor; obtains the received data frame status, length, and specific data; determines the data validity; if the message data is invalid, follows the Ethernet process; If it is valid message data, the receiving skb data length is set and the streaming DMA mapping is released, and the skb is uploaded to the upper-layer IgH Master module for processing through the ec_receive() interface; the receiving queue of the receiving ring is refilled, the current receiving index is recorded, and the dirty received message descriptor index that has been recycled is calculated.

2. The network driving method for IgH according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the network card is initialized, the ecdev_open() function is called to initialize the port physical layer phy, attach the phy driver, enable the physical layer so that the mac and phy devices are bound one-to-one in the device tree configuration; allocate receive and transmit DMA resources and message descriptor ring resources; enable the mac to the working state: initialize the MAC core, and enable the reception and transmission of the mac layer.

3. The network driving method for IgH according to claim 2, characterized in that: In the message sending process, the IgHMaster module directly calls back the stmmac_xmit() function to obtain the available send message descriptor, puts the mapped skb into the send queue of the send ring, and enables the hardware to send a single or first data packet; determines whether there are remaining fragment messages, and if so, enables the hardware to send the remaining data fragments; hands the first data fragment message descriptor to GMAC, records the current send index, and calculates the dirty recycled send message descriptor index.

4. The network driving method for IgH according to claim 3, characterized in that: Method for judging data validity: At the entry of the function Stmmac_rx(), get the 12th and 13th byte addresses of the message data offset and judge whether the storage content of this address is 0x88a4; if the content is 0x88a4, it is judged to be an EtherCAT message type and the EtherCAT driver process is followed; if it is not 0x88a4, it is another type of message and the local network driver process is followed.

5. The network driving method for IgH according to claim 4, characterized in that: Both the receiving ring and the sending ring use a single queue.

6. A network driving system for IgH, characterized in that: include: The network card hardware layer includes two GMAC network cards, each of which is provided with a network card device name and a MAC address; The driver layer obtains data packet descriptors from the skb corresponding to different network card hardware through the receiving ring, and puts the message descriptors of the sent data into the skb corresponding to different network card hardware through the sending ring; The IgH EtherCAT protocol layer directly calls the send driver function when sending messages, driving the send ring to send data to different network cards. In the message receiving process, the polling method is used to receive message data from the receive ring and preliminarily parse the received message data. The IgH EtherCAT protocol layer includes an IgH Master module. In the message sending process, the IgH Master module directly calls back the stmmac_xmit() function to obtain the available send message descriptor, puts the mapped skb into the send queue of the send ring, and enables the hardware to send a single or first data packet; determines whether there are remaining fragment messages, and if so, enables the hardware to send the remaining data fragments; hands the first data fragment message descriptor to the GMAC, records the current send index, and calculates the dirty recovered send message descriptor index; in the message receiving process, the IgH Master module checks the function stmmac_rx() of the receiving ring through the ec_poll() function; queries the receiving status to determine whether there is a message coming; obtains the next frame message descriptor; obtains the received data frame status, length and specific data; determines the data validity, and if it is invalid message data, follows the EtherNet process; If it is valid message data, the receiving skb data length is set and the streaming DMA mapping is released, and the skb is uploaded to the upper-layer IgH Master module for processing through the ec_receive() interface; the receiving queue of the receiving ring is refilled, the current receiving index is recorded, and the dirty received message descriptor index that has been recycled is calculated.

7. The network driving system for IgH according to claim 6, characterized in that: The network card device names are divided into EtherCAT network card devices and non-EtherCAT network card devices. Different driver destinations are registered through the network card device name and MAC address. The EtherCAT dedicated network card registers the driver to the EtherCAT network card device, and the non-EtherCAT network card device and MAC address register the driver to the general protocol stack, following the normal network message process.

8. The network driving system for IgH according to claim 7, characterized in that: When sending a message, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer drives the sending ring to send data to the EtherCAT network card device; when receiving a message, the IgH EtherCAT protocol layer determines the data validity of the received message data. Message data with valid data follows the EtherCAT driver process, and message data with invalid data follows the normal network message process; the network card registration function stmmac_igh_dvr_probe() is used to register the network card. The network card registration function stmmac_igh_dvr_probe() is registered as different driver destinations according to the network card device name and MAC address. The EtherCAT dedicated network card will be driven to register on the EtherCAT network card device and follow the EtherCAT driver process; non-EtherCAT network card devices and MAC addresses will be driven to register on the general protocol stack and follow the normal network message process.

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