Nios II Classic Software Developer’s Handbook

ID 683282
Date 5/14/2015
Public
Document Table of Contents

11. Ethernet and the NicheStack TCP/IP Stack

For the Nios II processor, the NicheStack™ TCP/IP Stack is a small footprint implementation of the TCP/IP suite. The focus of the NicheStack TCP/IP Stack implementation is to reduce resource usage while providing a full-featured TCP/IP stack. The NicheStack TCP/IP Stack is designed for use in embedded systems with small memory footprints, making it suitable for Nios II processor systems.

The NicheStack™ TCP/IP Stack is a software package that you can add to your board support package (BSP), available through the Nios II Software Build Tools (SBT). The NicheStack TCP/IP Stack includes these features:
  • Internet Protocol (IP) including packet forwarding over multiple network interfaces
  • Internet control message protocol (ICMP) for network maintenance and debugging
  • User datagram protocol (UDP)
  • Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) with congestion control, round trip time (RTT) estimation, and fast recovery and retransmit
  • Dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP)
  • Address resolution protocol (ARP) for Ethernet
  • Standard sockets application program interface (API)