How can Zephyr networking be implemented on boards that have Ethernet capability? #17694

bikeNomad · 2025-07-16T22:04:11Z

bikeNomad
Jul 16, 2025

I see that the default prj.conf has CONFIG_NETWORKING=y, and that the mpconfigport.h has MICROPY_PY_SOCKET defined.

I understand that the qemu_x86 port is useful for running the tests (and it has CONFIG_NET_SLIP_TAP=y). But other than this kind of serial network connection, is there any way that we could get networking on some other Zephyr board (like the nucleo_f429zi board that I have) that has Ethernet hardware (on the SOC and on the board)?

What purpose does MICROPY_PY_SOCKET have for those many boards/SOCs that don't have networking hardware (assuming that they're not running SLIP)?

Since Zephyr has its own network stack, we shouldn't use LWIP.

But the alternative seems to require MICROPY_PORT_NETWORK_INTERFACES to be defined, and defines network.country (what use is this for an Ethernet connection?).

This requires these methods to be implemented:

typedef struct _mod_network_nic_protocol_t {
    // API for non-socket operations
    int (*gethostbyname)(mp_obj_t nic, const char *name, mp_uint_t len, uint8_t *ip_out);
    void (*deinit)(void);

    // API for socket operations; return -1 on error
    int (*socket)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, int *_errno);
    void (*close)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket);
    int (*bind)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, byte *ip, mp_uint_t port, int *_errno);
    int (*listen)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, mp_int_t backlog, int *_errno);
    int (*accept)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket2, byte *ip, mp_uint_t *port, int *_errno);
    int (*connect)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, byte *ip, mp_uint_t port, int *_errno);
    mp_uint_t (*send)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, const byte *buf, mp_uint_t len, int *_errno);
    mp_uint_t (*recv)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, byte *buf, mp_uint_t len, int *_errno);
    mp_uint_t (*sendto)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, const byte *buf, mp_uint_t len, byte *ip, mp_uint_t port, int *_errno);
    mp_uint_t (*recvfrom)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, byte *buf, mp_uint_t len, byte *ip, mp_uint_t *port, int *_errno);
    int (*setsockopt)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, mp_uint_t level, mp_uint_t opt, const void *optval, mp_uint_t optlen, int *_errno);
    int (*settimeout)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, mp_uint_t timeout_ms, int *_errno);
    int (*ioctl)(struct _mod_network_socket_obj_t *socket, mp_uint_t request, mp_uint_t arg, int *_errno);
} mod_network_nic_protocol_t;

And it requires calling mod_network_register_nic() on any network interfaces you want to use.

I think networking also requires MICROPY_PY_NETWORK_LAN to be defined.

The only support I can see for non-LWIP network interfaces seems to be for the NINAW10, ESP_HOSTED, MIMXRT, and the WIZNET5K.

The mimxrt port looks to be a good example (see ports/mimxrt/network_lan.c). This allows an mimxrt board to have networking using one of five PHY types.

I am also puzzled by the Micropython Zephyr port for the beagleconnect_freedom board that is configured like this (apparently for 802.15.4 over 900MHz radio):

# Networking
CONFIG_BT=n
CONFIG_NET_IPV4=n
CONFIG_NET_CONFIG_NEED_IPV6=y
CONFIG_NET_CONFIG_NEED_IPV4=n
CONFIG_NET_CONFIG_MY_IPV4_ADDR=""
CONFIG_NET_L2_IEEE802154=y
CONFIG_NET_DHCPV4=n
CONFIG_NET_CONFIG_IEEE802154_CHANNEL=1

How would this be used in practice?

bikeNomad · 2025-07-18T18:18:04Z

bikeNomad
Jul 18, 2025
Author

Well, I'm working on it with the help of Gemini CLI. I've got the network module almost finished but still can't get an outbound socket connection to work.

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How can Zephyr networking be implemented on boards that have Ethernet capability? #17694

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