Main Page

Welcome to the XINU for Routers Main Page. This is for developing documentation for our development process that began in the summer of 2006. As this is a wiki, you can sign up and begin adding and editing content, uploading images, and generating the needed documentation for our efforts.

Project Outline

• Goals

1. Infect WRT54GL Routers with a XINU kernel
2. Develop XINU to a point where it can control the router's basic functions
3. Use this platform for a course in embedded systems and/or networking

• Hardware (Mod that LinkSys!)
  • Why we add serial ports
  • How we add serial ports
    • Pictures of building
    • Wiring Diagrams
    • Chip Diagrams
• Software
  • How to connect to a modified router
  • Our Project's Directory Structure
  • And then there was light: the Common Firmware Environment
    • Interacting with the CFE Command Line Interface
    • Fun freebies in the CFE API
    • How code can Interface with CFE
  • OpenWRT (When all else fails, steal it from Linux!)
    • Important OpenWRT places of interest
  • XINU (an O/S of our own)

Guides

How to...

• Install OpenWRT
• Connect a serial console
• Run your own code

More Research

• TODO: (concrete tasks)
  • XINU Tasks
    • Complete wired NIC driver.
    • Start on wireless NIC driver and "RoboSwitch".
    • Integrate XINU TCP/IP stack.
• TOTHINK: (abstract goals and wishlists)
  • Learn more about the memory structure and underlying hardware.
  • How should the loader discover hardware parameters if CFE does not implement device enumeration?
  • How do we safely access flash memory without bricking the router?

Useful Links

• http://www.openwrt.org
• http://linux.junsun.net/porting-howto/ - Linux MIPS Porting Guide
• http://www.version6.net/gallery/WRT54GL - WRT54GL Internals Pics Gallery
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G - WRT54G Wiki
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIPS_architecture - MIPS Architecture
• http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-4-Manual/gnu-linker/ - How To Write Linker Scripts
• http://www.embedded.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=0LLEHS3YT5KWUQSNDBCSKHSCJUMEIJVN?articleID=9900048 - Linux Porting Guide
• http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs2504/spring2006/MIPSDocs/MD00090-2B-MIPS32PRA-AFP-02.50.pdf - MIPS32 Architecture For Programmers