Network Communications on the Simulator

As any other BASIC/C-programmable product offered by Tibbo, TiOS Simulator presents itself on the TCP/IP network as a two-faceted entity:

  • The Simulator supports debug communications with Tibbo IDE (IDE) software; such communications enable you to upload a compiled application binary onto the Simulator and debug this application as it is executing on the Simulator.
  • The Simulator offers net. (Ethernet) and sock. objects that facilitate the creation of network-enabled Tibbo BASIC/C applications capable of communicating with other network hosts using UDP and TCP protocols.

This topic explains the proper configuration, requirements, and limitations of TiOS Simulator with respect to its networking capabilities.

The WinPcap option

There are two choices for how the Simulator taps into the network traffic. This is defined by the Use WinPcap checkbox found in the Simulator's main menu, under Simulator > Settings.

simulator_settings
  • If the checkbox is unchecked, the Simulator opens a single Windows socket to accept debug commands on UDP port 65535. Net. and sock. objects are not able to work in this case.
  • If the checkbox is checked, the Simulator taps into your PC's Ethernet traffic using the WinPcap driver. Notice that the correct Ethernet interface must be selected for this to work. This should be the Ethernet interface through which the "Simulator's" PC is connected to the network. You MUST have this PC connected to the network via the Ethernet interface. Using other interfaces, such as Wi-Fi, will prevent the Simulator from being able to communicate on the network.

note_warning-wtIf the checkbox appears disabled, this means that the WinPcap driver is not present on your system.

In this case, run the TIDE and/or TiOS Simulator installer and, when prompted for WinPCap installation, choose to install it.

Implications of checking or un-checking the checkbox

With the checkbox unchecked:

  • You WILL be able to run TIDE and TiOS Simulator on the same PC.
  • You WILL be able run TIDE and TiOS Simulator on two different PCs, as long as both PCs are on the same LAN segment*.
  • Socket communications won't work, so you WILL NOT be able to run any Tibbo BASIC/C projects that make use of net. and sock. objects.

Note: "The same LAN segment" means that there are only hubs and switches, and no routers or bridges in between the two PCs. In this particular case it doesn't matter how your PCs are connected to the LAN. Both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections will work.

With the checkbox checked:

  • You WILL be able to run TIDE and TiOS Simulator on the same PC, but only if your PC is connected to the Ethernet LAN (and the correct Ethernet interface is selected in Simulator options).
  • You will be able to run TIDE and TiOS Simulator on two different PCs, as long as:
      • Both PCs are on the same LAN segment.
      • The PC on the Simulator side is connected to the LAN via an Ethernet cable (and the correct Ethernet interface is selected in Simulator options). The PC on the TIDE side may be connected to the LAN via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, this doesn't matter.
  • You WILL be able to use net. and sock. objects in your Tibbo BASIC/C projects, but with the following important limitation:
      • The sock. object of your Tibbo BASIC/C application will not be able to communicate with other software running on the same PC. For example, if you are testing your app using our popular terminal/sniffer software called I/O NINJA, then this software will have to be installed on a different PC.