International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)

Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org, editorijettcs@gmail.com Volume 1, Issue 2, July August 2012 ISSN 2278-6856

Performance Evaluation of USB WiFi Bridge Based On Embedded System

1

Deepali Javale, 2Neelam Joshi, 3Supriya Pansare

University of Pune, Computer Department, MITCOE, Pune
1,2,3

Abstract: Data transfer between two devices, one with USB

port but no WiFi connectivity and another device with WiFi connectivity but no USB port, is not possible as two devices cannot be connected directly. Our aim is to transfer data from the USB device to the WiFi device or vice-versa. To overcome this shortcoming, we program an embedded system using S3C2440A ARM9 processor acts as a bridge between the two devices enabling the transmission of data between the two. Results were generated for after the analysis was done to check the factors that would affect the speed of transmission of files. Four factors were considered File Size, File Format, Network Strength and Distance

Keywords: Real Time System, Wireless networking, ARM9 processor, S3C2440

1. INTRODUCTION
Many times we feel a need to transfer data from one device to another which have different connection mechanisms, making them incompatible. It seems to be impossible to transfer data between two non-compatible devices. Like a device has a WiFi interface but not the USB interface, and another device has USB but not WiFi. So how will you transmit data between these two devices? The data could be transmitted through a third device (like laptop) which has both WiFi as well as USB connectivity. But the task becomes lengthy, as you first have to copy data from USB to your laptop and then transfer if to the other device through WiFi. For latest development in the direction of embedded system and wireless network, this technology proposes a new idea in which data can be transferred from a USB device to a WiFi enabled device through an embedded kit. Hence a 3-step process is optimized to a 1-step process. Due to the USB device having no WiFi connectivity and WiFi device having no USB port, the embedded system is used to bridge the devices and transfer the data between the two. The Linux operating system can load the drivers of WiFi and USB. Based on this model, we can implement this USB WiFi Bridge. 1.1 Product Overview This USB-to-wireless bridge transfers USB data wirelessly back and forth, and it can enable the wireless communication of the WiFi device and the embedded kit. This application is based on ARM9 processor, a product that provides a full/low-speed USB OTG module. Volume 1, Issue 2 July-August 2012

The basic idea of the product is to transfer the data between a USB device and a WiFi device (the devices are not compatible) through the embedded kit. This will reduce a 3 step process in 1 step process. Thereby, reducing the efforts for data transfer and making the transmission between two non-compatible devices possible. 1.2 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT 1.2.1 User Interfaces GUI is designed using java and installed on both the devices or at least on the device at the receiving end. The role of the interface is to display the list of files of the sending device on to the device at receiving end. The user is required to select the files to be transferred.The interface provides additional options to select the type of file to be transmitted, the listing of file is provided and filtered on the basis of the size, extension, etc. 1.2.2 Hardware Interfaces Hardware interfaces included in the project are the usb interface, wifi interface, the embedded kit to be used as the bridge. 1.2.3 Software Interfaces The software interfaces included in the project are the USB and WiFi drivers installed on the kit as well as the devices. The operating system on the kit, that is, Linux. 1.2.4 Communications Protocols The wireless transmission protocols are used for the transfer of data between the bridge and the WiFi device. TCP/IP is used for the transmission of data over the USB interface. 1.3 Product Features 1.3.1 Product perspective The software being developed is an independent and selfcontained one. It is not a stand-alone application. The presence of two terminal devices is mandatory for the execution. In this process, it will make use of several modules, such as the terminal devices with WiFi and USB interfaces, the embedded kit with required interfaces and a reliable buffer used for data storage. 1.3.2 User characteristics User is not required to have much knowledge about how the data is being transmitted. He is required to have knowledge of computer system at a very basic level. He should be able to attach the USB to the kit and establish WiFi connection. He should be aware of what he has to transmit as he has to select the file from the given list. Page 62

International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)

Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org, editorijettcs@gmail.com Volume 1, Issue 2, July August 2012 ISSN 2278-6856
wireless card and USB camera through the USB Hub. USB camera captures images and USB wireless card sends images. The other side is the PC which is responsible for receiving images under the Redhat9.0 operating system. As they have used UDP, it abolishes the rechecking and re-sending process. Hence, there will be some dropped frames. And the use of TCP will slow down the transmission. Ni and Liu have proposed a system for Image acquirement in embedded Linux. The file is transmitted between embedded Linux platform and Bluetooth mobile phone by Bluetooth OBEX protocol and Object PUSH service [2]. They have made use of the Bluetooth. The Bluetooth has its limitations like, range of transmission, speed of transmission, etc. Thus, all the above techniques were based on different approaches of transfer of images on Embedded System. But they all have their own limitations. In this proposed work the main focus is on transfer of any type of file on an embedded system and the technology used here is WiFi as it has an upper hand over the other technologies.

1.3.3 Constraints The proper execution of the product depends on various constraints like: transmission speed, size of file to be transmitted, range of transmission. 1.3.4 Assumptions & dependencies We are assuming that the user has adequate understanding of the connection establishment. It is assumed the proper bandwidth is available for the transmission of data over the wireless media. The noise interference is negligible. It is fully dependent on the kit. The kit has to perform efficiently throughout the transmission process. 1.4 System Attributes 1.4.1 Reliability The system has to be very reliable due to the importance of data and the damages incorrect or incomplete data can do. 1.4.2 Availability The system has to be available throughout the transmission process. As the data is to be transmitted through 3 phases USB buffer WiFi, the transmission is time consuming. Therefore, the device should be available throughout the transmission. 1.4.3 Security The data is required to be transmitted securely. As the data is transmitted over the wireless connection, the possibility of connection with an unauthorized device is more. Hence, the devices should be connected by the proper identification of the node. 1.4.4 Maintainability The system is easily maintainable as there is no database to be maintained or modified frequently. The only maintenance required to check the buffer at the time of transmission. Proper functioning of the buffer is necessary. 1.4.5 Portability The system is portable since the size of the bridge is small. Hence it can be carried or installed on mobile locations. 1.4.6 Performance Performance depends on following factors: - Size of data to be transmitted - Noise in the wireless connection - Speed of transmission

3. EMBEDDED BRIDGE

SYSTEM

FOR

USB

WI-FI

3.1 IEEE 802.11g 2003 IEEE 802.11g is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that extended throughput to up to 54 Mbit/s using the same 2.4 GHz band as 802.11b. This specification under the marketing name of Wi-Fi has been implemented all over the world. The 802.11g protocol is now Clause 19 of the published IEEE 802.11-2007 standard 3.2 Proposed System - USB Device : It is the device on one end with the USB interface and without WiFi interface. -USB Connector : It is the hardware port in the kit through which the USB device is attached to the embedded kit. Embedded System: USB Driver: It is the USB driver installed on the device which passes the data to the buffer. Buffer: It is the data storage area which collects the data from one end and transfers to the other end. WiFi Driver: It is the WiFi driver which establishes the wireless connection with the WiFi device and transfers data.

2. LITERATURE SURVEY
Huo and Liu have proposed the system for wireless image transmission based on the embedded system in [1]. The system is using the wireless network card with the transmission rate of 54Mbps that will greatly increase the access capacity of the embedded system and make the system more competitive. system is divided into the embedded system and the PC connected wireless card. Hardware development board connects external USB Volume 1, Issue 2 July-August 2012

Page 63

International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)

Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org, editorijettcs@gmail.com Volume 1, Issue 2, July August 2012 ISSN 2278-6856
WiFi Device: It is the device on the other end with the WiFi connectivity. It doesnt have the USB connectivity. the Wi-Fi end, the driver will take the data from buffer and will send it to the destination device after verifying the Wi-Fi device is present and connection is established. On the receiving end device, a User Interface is present which will actually initialize the connection and prompt user to select the files to be transmitted. This transmission is from USB to Wi-Fi end. Similarly transmission in opposite direction will take place, each entity playing its role in reverse order. After the transmission of a file, an acknowledgement will be sent prompting the driver to empty the buffer for next transmission.

4. RESULT
An analysis was done to check the factors that would affect the speed of transmission of files. The following Four factors were considered: 1. File Size 2. File Format 3. Network Strength 4. Distance The following graphs give a detailed analysis based on the above factors. 1. Here, we have considered different files with different sizes.

Figure 1: Block Diagram of the Proposed System 3.3 Hardware Description The proposed system is to be implemented on a Single Board Computer (SBC) having the features like WiFi adapter and USB ports like Technologic systems TS7553board. Along with it, we will need a ARM9 CPU for embedding the drivers which we are coding, on the SBC. The TS-7553 features a 250MHz Cavium ARM9 CPU and a 5000 LUT Lattice FPGA. With 64MB RAM and a bootable 256MB on-board flash drive with our new XNAND technology, the TS-7553 is a powerful and extremely reliable embedded solution. External devices can connect to the TS-7553 via Ethernet, 802.11g WiFi, XBee radio socket (point to point), USB host, USB device, or I2C ports, as well as DIO, UARTs, CAN Bus, DMX, and SPI which are implemented in the standard FPGA load. ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by ARM Holdings. It was known as the Advanced RISC Machine. ARM9 is an ARM architecture 32-bit RISC CPU family. With this design generation, ARM moved from a von Neumann architecture (Princeton architecture) to a Harvard architecture with separate instruction and data buses (and caches), significantly increasing its potential speed. Most silicon chips integrating these cores will package them as modified Harvard architecture chips, combining the two address buses on the other side of separated CPU caches and tightly coupled memories. 3.4 Software Description The entire system is composed in three parts. First is, we will need a software to extract data from the USB device at the USB end. This will mount the USB device onto the board, get the files and pass the reference to the next software. When the connection establishment and files to be transmitted has completed, the same software will transfer the files to the buffer memory for the Wi-Fi driver to pick up the data. Secondly, inside the bridge, at Volume 1, Issue 2 July-August 2012

.jpg files
Speed (kbps)

500 0 53.1 kb 111.5 kb34.1 kb 3 1463.9 kb Size (kb)

Figure2: Speed Graph for jpg files Table 1: Speed in kbps for jpg files
SIZE [kb] 53.1 111.5 334.1 1463.9 TIME [ms] 396 598 1936 5996 SPEED [kbps] 134.11 186.53 204.22 244.15

AVERAGE SPEED: 192.25 kbps

.jpg files
Speed (kbps)

500 0 53.1 kb 111.5 kb34.1 kb 3 1463.9 kb Size (kb)

Figure 3: Speed Graph for png files Page 64

International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)

Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org, editorijettcs@gmail.com Volume 1, Issue 2, July August 2012 ISSN 2278-6856
Table 2: Speed in kbps for png files
SIZE [kb] 50.4 403.7 947.8 1471.9 TIME [ms] 336 2548 4281 6489 SPEED [kbps] 150 158.46 221.40 226.83
SIZE [kb] WITH PACKET LOSS [30-50%] TIME 53.1 111.5 1060 2161 5711 18508 SPEED 50.1 51.61 58.51 79.16 WITHOUT PACKET LOSS TIME 396 598 1636 5996 SPEED 134.11 186.53 204.22 244.15

Table 5: Speed and time for different file sizes with and without packet loss

AVERAGE SPEED: 189.17 kbps 2. Here, we have considered files of different format but with approximately same size.

334.1 1463.9

Comparison based on diff. file formats

Speed (kbps)

AVERAGE SPEED [WITH PACKET LOSS] : 59.84 kbps AVERAGE SPEED[WITHOUT PACKET LOSS] : 192 kbps

4. Here, we have considered the transmission of same

500 0 Type and Size (kb)

file and varying the distances between the terminal devices.

Comparison based on distance [.mp3 ] 300 size = 6173.5 kb

Figure4: Comparison of Speed for different file formats Table 3: Speed in kbps for different file formats with approximate same file size
TYPE .jpg .mp3 .pdf .doc SIZE [kb] 1463.9 1713.8 1471.9 1030.8 TIME [ms] 5996 7639 6489 3693 SPEED [kbps] 244.15 224.35 226.83 279.12

Speed (kbps)

200 100 0 1-2 m 5-6 m 10-12(m) Distances m

3. Here, we have considered the transmission of the same files under two conditions :
Without packet loss With packet loss(30-50%)

Figure 6: Comparison of Speed for same file with varying distance between terminals

5. CONCLUSION
There are various methods to transfer the information between two different independent connections like USB and Wi-Fi. Because the system adopts high- powered ARM9 processor and Linux operation system, it has expansibility. The system has characteristics such as strong function, high reliability, good stability and expansibility. The device is built using embedded arm processor and single board computer for initial deployment. However for mass production the entire kit can be replaced by hardware developed solely for this purpose. The results show, that the file size, file format and the distance between the terminal devices do not play an important role in deciding the quality of transmission. Whereas, the network strength is has strong impact on the speed of transmission.

Table 4: Speed for same file with Varying distance between terminals
DISTANCE [m] 1-2 5-6 10-12 TIME [ms] 34230 21884 29298 SPEED [kbps] 180.35 282.12 210.71

500

Speed (kbps)

Comparison based on network strength

witho ut pack et loss

References
[1]

Size (kb) 53.1 kb 111.5 kb 334.1 kb1463.9 kb Figure 5: Comparison of Speed for different files with and without packet loss

Wireless image transmission based on the Embedded System by Huo Chunbao, Gao Liduo, Liu Yuwei [2] Image Acquirement with Bluetooth Technique under Embedded Linux Environment by Yuanping Page 65

Volume 1, Issue 2 July-August 2012

International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)

Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org, editorijettcs@gmail.com Volume 1, Issue 2, July August 2012 ISSN 2278-6856
Ni, Jing Liu in 3rd International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI 2010) [3] Evaluation of Wireless Home Automation Technologies by A. J. Dinusha Rathnayaka, Vidyasagar M. Potdar, Samitha J. Kuruppu in 5th IEEE International Conference on Digital Ecosystems and Technologies (IEEE DEST 2011), 31 May -3 June 2011, Daejeon, Korea. [4] Embedded USB Homecare Internet System, Circuits and Systems (APCCAS), 2010 IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on 6-9 Dec. 2010 [5] An embedded converter from RS232 to Universal Serial Bus, Integrated Circuits and Systems Design, 2001, 14th Symposium, 2001 [6] Evolutionary trends of embedded systems, Industrial Technology, 2003 IEEE International Conference on 10-12 Dec. 2003 [7] WiFi: What's Next? Communications Magazine, IEEE, Dec 2002 [8] Robust video broadcasting over 802.11a/g in timecorrelated fading channels, Consumer Electronics, 2009. ICCE'09. Digest of Technical Papers International Conference on 10-14 Jan. 2009 [9] Connection Time for Strange Devices, Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, 2006. WMCSA '06 proceedings. 7th IEEE Workshop on 1-1 Aug. 2005. Prof. Deepali Javale, Assistant Professor, MIT College of Engineering, holds Bachelors Degree in Computer Engg. and recently Pursuing Master of Information Technology from Pune University. She is having 6 years of teaching experience. Her expertise is in the field of Embedded Systems and Data Mining Mrs. Neelam Joshi, holds Bachelors Degree in Electronics Engg. and recently Pursuing Master of Electronics and Tele-communication from Pune University. She is having 4 years of Industrial experience. Her expertise is in the field of Embedded Systems and Signal Processing.

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