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Direct Connected Devices SDK

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Find the Direct Connected Devices SDK in the SmartThings GitHub repository.

Easily integrate your Direct Connected Device using the Direct Connected Devices SDK. The SDK manages all MQTT topics and onboarding requirements, freeing you to focus on the Capabilities of your device.

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To facilitate development of device applications in an original chipset SDK, the IoT core device library and supporting examples are separated into two git repositories: the IoT core device library and the Direct Connected Devices SDK repository.

If you want to use the IoT core device library in your original chipset SDK that you previously installed, link the core device library to develop a device application in your existing development environment.

The Direct Connected Devices SDK is distributed in source form and written in C99 for the purpose of portability to most platforms. For a complete overview of the development process and workflow, please refer to the Direct Connected Devices documentation.

Directory Structure and Overview​

  • apps: Contains sample device applications for various chipsets.
  • bsp: Contains the original chipset vendors' SDKs. If you use a chipset that has already been ported, this vendor's SDK can easily be downloaded as a submodule in this directory through the predefined script setup.py.
  • doc: Documentation.
  • iot-core: Contains the IoT core device library. It can also be downloaded as a submodule in this directory through the predefined script setup.py.
  • output: Where build outputs will be placed.
  • patches : Patches to be applied to the original chipset vendors' SDKs for resolving various problems.
  • tools: Various scripts to be applied for each chipset.

Build a Sample Device Application​

The Direct Connected Devices SDK builds on the environments of each chipset vendor's SDK, providing an all-in-one development package.

Prerequisites​

Install the toolchain defined in the chipset SDK you use according to the directions below. If no development environment is described for your chipset, it is assumed to only be applicable for 64-bit Ubuntu-based environments.

For ESP8266 (Ubuntu/Debian Quickstart):​

  1. Set up the ESP8266 Toolchain for Linux according to the Espressif documentation.
  2. In order to use the pre-supplied SDK build script build.py, extract the toolchain into the ~/esp/xtensa-lx106-elf/ directory as directed in the Expressif documentation linked above.
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The Espressif documentation linked above directs you to add the toochain path to your PATH environment variable in your ~/.profile. This step not necessary if you use the pre-supplied build script build.py - the path is automatically exported when using the build script.

For ESP32:​

  1. Install Prerequisites for your build system OS.
  2. Set up the ESP32 toolchain with setup.py

For ESP32_v3.3 (Legacy - Ubuntu/Debian Quickstart):​

  1. Set up the ESP32 Toolchain for Linux according to the Espressif documentation.
  2. In order to use the pre-supplied build script build.py, extract the toolchain to ~/esp/xtensa-esp32-elf/ as directed in the original Expressif documentation.
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The Espressif documentation linked above directs you to add the toochain path to your PATH environment variable in your ~/.profile. This step not necessary if you use the pre-supplied build script build.py - the path is automatically exported when using the build script.

For RTL8195:​

For Windows systems:

  1. Install the mbed Microcontroller to use the USB serial port on Windows.
  2. Upgrade DAP firmware. The recommended DAP firmware is DAP_FW_Ameba_V12_1_3-2M.bin.
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The above steps are applicable for a Windows PC for downloading a binary. You must build the source code on Cygwin or linux for this chipset.

For EMW3166:​

  1. Set up the MiCoder Toolchain for Linux according to the MXCHIP documentation.
  2. Install MiCO Cube. In order to use the pre-supplied build script build.py, set mico config --global MICODER /path_of_the_toolchain

Build​

  1. Download the Direct Connected Device SDK source code as shown in the example below and run setup.py.
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setup.py will automatically download the ported original chipset vendor's SDKs as submodules in the bsp directory through the setup.py script. If a chipset vendor's SDK does not exist in git format, you can manually copy it to the bsp directory. At this time, the IoT Core Device Library will also be downloaded to the iot-core directory.

$ cd ~
$ git clone https://github.com/SmartThingsCommunity/st-device-sdk-c-ref.git
$ cd st-device-sdk-c-ref
$ python setup.py
Usage: python setup.py [BSP_NAME]
--------------------------------------------------
ex) python setup.py rtl8721c
ex) python setup.py rtl8720c
ex) python setup.py rtl8195
ex) python setup.py esp32_v3.3
ex) python setup.py emw3080
ex) python setup.py emw3166
ex) python setup.py esp8266
ex) python setup.py esp32
ex) python setup.py esp32s2
ex) python setup.py esp32c3
  1. Check the build configuration of a sample device application (apps folder). If you want to use specific build options, you can directly modify the build configuration file (e.g. sdkconfig, sdkconfig.h) at the root directory of a sample device application. On the Espressif chipset, you can additionally use the menuconfig option for configuration.
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If you want to use the default build configuration, you can skip this step.

  • ESP8266 Example:

    Note that the menuconfig option is only supported on the Espressif chipset.

    # python build.py {app_path} {option}
    $ cd ~/st-device-sdk-c-ref
    $ python build.py apps/esp32/switch_example menuconfig

  1. Run build.py in the SDK's root directory. This builds the sample executables and places them in output/{chip_name}/.

    $ python build.py apps/esp32/switch_example          # python build.py {app_path}

Flash and Monitor​

The serial port of your device must to be matched to the computer environment for serial port flashing and monitoring. This data is described in the build configuration file (sdkconfig)

ChipsetBuad Rate for FlashingBaud Rate for MonitoringData BitParityStop Bits
ESP8266/ESP32115200748808None1
RTL81951152001152008None1
EMW31669600 (user UART)115200 (USB UART)8None1

Flashing​

Flashing can be done according to the method outlined by the applicable chipset SDK.

ESP8266/ESP32 Example:​

You can flash the executables into a target device via build.py with additional options.

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You do not need to run python build.py esp8266 st_switch before running python build.py esp8266 st_switch flash; this will automatically rebuild anything which needs it.

Available Options:

  • clean: clean previous build outputs 
    # python build.py {app_path} {options}
    $ python build.py apps/esp32/switch_example clean
  • flash: download executable binaries to the device
  • monitor: monitor the serial output of device. this option can be used with flash option. 
    # python build.py {app_path} {options}
    $ python build.py apps/esp32/switch_example flash monitor
RTL8195 Example:​
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In order to flash the RTL chipset binary, the steps below must be performed on a Windows PC, even if you build the source code on a Linux environment.

  1. Connect Ameba RTL8195 to a Windows PC; a removable disk MBED will appear.
  2. Copy ram_all.bin from output/rtl8195/iotcore_xxx/ram_all.bin to MBED.
  3. After successfully copying, reset Ameba RTL8195 target and monitor.
EMW3166 Example​
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In order to flash the MXCHIP emw3166 chipset binary, the steps below must be performed on a Windows PC with a terminal that supports Ymodem transmission.

  1. Connect user UART (PB7-tx, PB6-rx) of emw3166 to a Windows PC with a USB-TTL convertor. Then connect USB UART power.
  2. Create a serial session with flashing config (Baud rate 9600) to connect the user UART port, then hold 'BOOT' and press 'RESET' to enable flashing.
  3. Transfer the binary file located in output/emw3166/iotcore_xxx/xxx@MK3166.bin using Ymodem on your terminal.
  4. After transfer is successful, press 'RESET' on MiCOKit-3166 target and monitor with USB UART.