NetHubVirtualChannel

NetHub USER Virtual Channel

This document describes the current NetHub USER virtual-channel support.

1. Concept

USER virtual channel is a logical message channel carried on the active host link.

It is not a separate physical interface. The public API is designed to be transport-neutral, while the current in-tree implementation is still centered on the SDIO reference path.

Common logical types:

Type	Meaning
USER	private customer or application data
AT	control payloads
SYSTEM	internal coordination messages

2. Current Support Status

Area	Current status
Device API surface	transport-neutral by design
Device in-tree implementation	currently in backend/host/sdio/virtualchan.c
Host userspace library	currently aligned with mr_sdio.ko + netlink
Default interface for the current in-tree USER vchan path	SDIO
USB	device-side ACM transport exists, but in-tree host nethub_vchan alignment is not finished
SPI	not supported

3. Prerequisites

Before using the current in-tree USER virtual-channel path, confirm:

• device side is built with CONFIG_NETHUB=y
• device side enables CONFIG_MR_VIRTUALCHAN=y
• the selected bring-up path is the current SDIO reference flow
• host side has loaded mr_sdio.ko
• the host-device link is already working

Notes:

• USER and AT are parallel logical channels
• customer private data should stay on the USER type
• documentation should not claim that USB and SPI already share the same finished end-to-end virtual-channel stack

4. Device-Side API

Header:

• components/net/nethub/include/nethub_vchan.h

Common APIs:

int nethub_vchan_user_send(const void *data, uint16_t len);
int nethub_vchan_user_recv_register(nethub_vchan_recv_cb_t recv_cb, void *cb_arg);

5. Host-Side API

Header:

• bsp/common/msg_router/linux_host/userspace/nethub/virtualchan/nethub_vchan.h

Initialization and cleanup:

int nethub_vchan_init(void);
int nethub_vchan_deinit(void);

USER channel:

typedef void (*nethub_vchan_recv_callback_t)(const void *data, size_t len);

int nethub_vchan_user_send(const void *data, size_t len);
int nethub_vchan_user_register_callback(nethub_vchan_recv_callback_t callback);

Optional state query:

typedef struct {
    nethub_vchan_link_state_t link_state;
    nethub_vchan_host_state_t host_state;
} nethub_vchan_state_snapshot_t;

int nethub_vchan_get_state_snapshot(nethub_vchan_state_snapshot_t *snapshot);

Optional link event callback:

int nethub_vchan_register_link_event_callback(
    nethub_vchan_link_event_callback_t callback,
    void *user_data);

6. Typical Usage Order

1. nethub_vchan_init()
2. nethub_vchan_user_register_callback()
3. nethub_vchan_user_send()
4. nethub_vchan_deinit() when finished

Example:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

#include "nethub_vchan.h"

static void user_rx_cb(const void *data, size_t len)
{
    printf("recv USER data: %.*s\n", (int)len, (const char *)data);
}

int main(void)
{
    const char *msg = "hello from host";

    if (nethub_vchan_init() != 0) {
        return -1;
    }

    nethub_vchan_user_register_callback(user_rx_cb);
    nethub_vchan_user_send(msg, strlen(msg));

    nethub_vchan_deinit();
    return 0;
}

7. Limits and Notes

• maximum payload length per message is 1500 bytes
• USER virtual channel is packet-oriented, not a byte stream
• the current in-tree end-to-end path is SDIO-based
• if the device side does not enable CONFIG_MR_VIRTUALCHAN, the current in-tree USER virtual-channel path will not work
• if control traffic and USER traffic coexist, keep private application traffic on USER and do not reuse the AT type

8. Related Pages

• NetHub.md
• NetHubQuickBringup.md
• NetHubArchitecture.md