HTTP Web Server Toolkits for Embedded Devices

Summary

The web browser has become the standard interface for configuration of embedded devices that are network enabled. Device developers are using Web technology to create excellent graphically oriented interfaces that enhance product configuration and management without requiring excessive implementation overhead or expensive and inflexible user interfaces.

HTTP Web Server toolkits are available from Embedded Access that are designed specifically for use with the MQX RTOS and RTCS Embedded Internet stack. They use a small amount of resources and are highly portable. HTTP Web Server toolkits include the web server source code and tools for web page creation. The web server allows storage of embedded web pages in RAM, flash, or on disk. It also has capabilities for changing pages dynamically and maintaining dynamic objects. Pages can be protected with password security to restrict both read and write access. The HTTP Web Server toolkits work with RTCS Embedded Internet Stack, MFS FAT file system and MQX RTOS. The toolkits are provided as ANSI-C source code and come in 3 versions: HTTP Basic, HTTP Standard, and HTTP Pro, to suit your web server design and cost requirements. Web security is also available with the IPShield-SSL (Secure Socket Layer) add-on.

The HTTP Web Server toolkits have been tightly integrated with the latest ColdFire and PowerPC processors from Freescale and the MQX RTOS, RTCS Embedded Internet stack and MFS file system.  They are developed and supported with the CodeWarrior development tools and additional profiling and debugging capability is provided by the powerful MQX Host Tools. 

Key Features

Designed for Embedded| Small Footprint | HTTP Basic | HTTP Standard | HTTP Pro | Advanced Features | SSL Support | Optimized for ColdFire and PowerPC | MQX, RTCS & MFS Integration | Licensing | Compatible Products

Designed for Embedded Applications

HTTP Basic

HTTP Standard

Building upon the the HTTP Basic Web Server toolkit, the standard toolkit adds the ability to serve web objects (HTML, GIF, JPEG, Applets, etc.) from multiple sources: an optional file system, CGI-style User Exit functions and ROM. Delivered as part of the toolkit, the PageLoader Web-to-C compiler gives your engineering team a powerful tool that simplifies the process of converting Web objects to ANSI-C structures. The generated source is compiled and later linked with the HTTP Standard modules along with your application allowing the Web server to present Web objects directly from ROM. Additionally, The HTTP Standard Web Server toolkit provides the ability to dynamically insert variables into HTML pages served from any source.

HTTP Pro

The HTTP Pro Web Server toolkit is Allegro’s premier web server product offering the widest range of design flexibility. With support for all functionality built into the HTTP Standard Web server, the HTTP Pro toolkit further expands the product feature set giving you unprecedented design flexibility. As part of the Advanced toolkit, the PageBuilder compiler includes all capabilities of the PageLoader Web-to-C compiler with the addition of significant features for compression, integrated variable data access, integrated dynamic content and much more. Additionally, the Web server engine itself offers HTTP Streaming and HTTP 1.1 PUT, OPTION and TRACE support. Advanced Security features are also included with support for Digest Authentication, external password validation and support for an internal security database with dynamic realm and security level configuration. Additional support is provided for state management (URL and HTTP Cookies) in addition to compliance with IETF standards (RFC 2069, RFC 2616, RFC 2617) along with Browser-based file upload support (RFC 1867).

Advanced Web Server Features

Softpages
The SoftPages option provides for storage of HTML pages outside of the program image such as in a file system. This option allows for dynamic changes to the HTML pages in a device without recompilation of the program image.

Remote Host
The Remote Host option provides an integrated HTTP proxy for automatic remote object retrieval from other networked servers. Useful for remote access of Java applets which are too large to store in the embedded device.

Java Graphlets
The Java Graphlets option is a series of Java applets that provide graphic control indicators for the embedded device. The applets include line charts, bar charts, progress bars and dial indicators.

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Support

For embedded devices that are connected to the Internet security is always a concern. All of the HTTP Web Server toolkits can support secure HTTP operation with the addtion of the optional SSL component. Advanced security is made possible with integrated TLS 1.0 and SSL 3.0 support that provides a variety of cypher technologies including:RCA, DHE, RC4, DES, 3DES, AES, SHA, CBC and MD5. Because a wide number of cypher suites are provided compatibility with standard secure web browsers is ensured. The SSL plug-in also offers a built-in certificate authority, certificate import support and Basic and Digest Authentication under TLS/SSL. Compliant with IETF standards (RFC 2246 and RFC 3268).

Integrated with MQX RTOS, RTCS and MFS

The HTTP Web Server toolkits were designed to work with the MQX RTOS, RTCS Embedded Internet Stack and MFS FAT file system so there are no integration issue to deal with when using these products together. The HTTP Web Server tookits use the Ethernet or serial drivers from the MQX board support package and RTCS TCP sockets without any modification or additional work. Adding web-based networking to a MQX-based embeddedd device often takes less than a day.

Optimized for ColdFire and PowerPC Processors

Embedded Access specializes in solutions for ColdFire and PowerPC processors.  Our engineers have been working with ColdFire and PowerPC architectures for many years.  This results in the HTTP Web Server toolkits being specifically optimized for these platforms.  The web server has been deployed in hundreds of ColdFire and PowerPC devices with millions of units shipped. The Web Server Toolkits come ready to run on the latest ColdFire and PowerPC devices, using the Ethernet drivers that are included with the MQX RTOS BSPs for ColdFire and PowerPC development boards.

Business-Friendly, Royalty-Free, Source Licensing Model

The HTTP Web Server toolkits are licensed and delivered with full source code, so there are no mysteries about how the web server operates. The simple HTTP Web Server toolkit licensing terms ensures there are no legal ambiguities. The product provides excellent source code without leaving you wondering about potential exposure to the open-source legal issues. Whatever our customers develop is theirs; their proprietary features and code can remain as private as they decide. What's more, the HTTP Web Server toolkits are licensed without royalties, so it offers a blend of the best of both the professional software world and the open-source world.

Compatible Products from Embedded Access

The following products are compatible with HTTP Web Server Toolkits:

• MQX RTOS
• RTCS Embedded Internet Stack
• MFS FAT File System
• SFFS Flash File System
• EUSB Host Embedded USB Host Stack
• EUSB Device Embedded USB Device Stack
• PEG+ Graphics Library for MQX