MSP430 Internet Connectivity (Rev. A)

Computer communication systems and especially the Internet are playing a rapidly, increasingly important role in our everyday environment. But today, this is not only a domain of personal computers or workstations. More and more, it makes its way to smaller network nodes, too. Imagine applications that are able to control hardware via a standard Internet browser, to transmit and visualize the state of sensors or automatically generate and send E-mails on the occurrence of special events (for example, for security purposes). This application report describes in detail the implementation of an embedded Web server based on the MSP430 ultralow-power microcontroller series from Texas Instruments. The solution consists of both hardware (schematic, parts list) and software (C source). An ethernet LAN controller offers the physical connection to the Internet. A downsized TCP/IP protocol stack is used. Its functionality is encapsulated by an easy-to-use application programming interface (API). By using this API, creating new applications or modifying existing ones becomes an easy task. As an application example, a dynamic HTTP server is implemented.