Adding the TCP/IP Source Files to an RTOS Project
Part of the FreeRTOS+TCP Networking Tutorial

FreeRTOS+TCP is an open source TCP/IP stack and as such is supplied as source files that are intended to be built as part of your RTOS application.

It is best to start with a standard FreeRTOS application (without the TCP/IP stack) that is known to be working correctly, then add in the TCP/IP source files. The application must be using the heap_4 or heap_5 memory allocator. When you are sure the standard RTOS application is configured and executing correctly:

  1. Add the following core FreeRTOS+TCP source files into your project:
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP/FreeRTOS_IP.c
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP/FreeRTOS_ARP.c
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP/FreeRTOS_DHCP.c
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/FreeRTOS_DNS.c
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/FreeRTOS_Sockets.c
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/FreeRTOS_TCP_IP.c
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/FreeRTOS_UDP_IP.c
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/FreeRTOS_TCP_WIN.c
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/FreeRTOS_Stream_Buffer.c

  2. Add the driver for your network interface (the MAC or Ethernet driver) into your project. Source files that implement network drivers are called NetworkInterface.c and are located in:
    FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/portable/NetworkInterface/[microcontroller]/ , where [microcontroller] is the family of microcontroller on which FreeRTOS+TCP will run. Instructions are provided for creating network drivers for other chips.

  3. Add your chosen network buffer allocation scheme to your project. The source files that implement buffer allocation schemes are located in: FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/portable/BufferManagement/.
    At this time BufferAllocation_2.c is recommended for simplicity because it obtains its RAM from the FreeRTOS heap. BufferAllocation_2.c can only be used with the heap_4 and heap_5 memory allocators.

  4. Ensure the following core TCP/IP and chip specific include paths are in your compiler’s include path to enable the compiler can locate the necessary header files:
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/
    • FreeRTOS-Plus/FreeRTOS_Plus_TCP/portable/Compiler/[compiler]
    where [compiler] is the compiler being used. Instructions are provided for porting to new compilers, which is very straight forward.

  5. Add a FreeRTOSIPConfig.h header file to your project, and ensure the constants it contains are configured appropriately for your application. You can use a configuration file provided in an example project as a starting point.

    FreeRTOSIPConfig.h tailors the core TCP/IP stack for your application. It is application specific, not TCP/IP stack specific, and should therefore be located in an application directory rather than a FreeRTOS+TCP directory.


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