Unit 7

TCP Programming Techniques

References:
1. https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/connectivity/wifi-ieee-802-11/what-is-wifi.php
2. https://medium.com/swlh/understanding-socket-connections-in-computer-networking-bac304812b5c
3. https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/user-datagram-protocol-udp/
4. https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/tcp-ip/

Updated: 1 May 2023

Introduction
• Up to now we have discussed relatively uncomplicated connectivity within
embedded systems in terms of:
• Serial UART communication
• Bluetooth UART communication
• Another important connectivity method is WiFi
• In this unit we are going to discuss how to implement WiFi connectivity on a
NUCLEO board.
• We will then learn how to implement TCP sockets to communicate with a device
connected to the WiFi network.
• An in-depth explanation of the terms WiFi and TCP was covered in the subject
Communication Systems IIB (ECCV202) – in this unit we will discuss only the
most important aspects of each.
• The in-depth knowledge is not absolutely required to apply the work practically
– which will be the focus of this unit.

2
 READ: https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/connectivity/wifi-ieee-802-11/what-is-wifi.php

WiFi
• One of the major forms of communication – especially in homes with
broadband connections
• The standard for Wi-Fi is IEEE 802.11
• 802.11n or 802.11ac are variants within the overall series – allows to keep pace
with requirements for more data and higher speeds
• Uses the 2.4 and 5 GHz ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical bands) – do not
require a licence
• Core component is the Access Point (AP) – essentially the base station that
communicates with the WiFi enabled devices
• APs can then route data onto a local area network (LAN) via Ethernet and
typically links onto the Internet.
• Most broadband routers have an AP built in

3
ESP8266/ESP-01 Serial WiFi Transceiver Module
• By default, our NUCLEO board does not have WiFi connectivity.
• The ESP8266 is a highly integrated chip designed for the needs of a new
connected world.
• It offers a complete and self-contained Wi-Fi networking solution, supports IEEE
802.11 b/g/n, and has a built-in antenna. Can be used in two ways:
1. Operate as a stand-alone unit which host the application program
2. Operate as an additional module to be connected to a microcontroller
board – uses UART for communication between the module and
microcontroller. The application program is written for the
microcontroller and uses special API’s (functions) to communicate using
the ESP8266.
• In this module we will use option 2.
• There are different modules using the ESP8266 chipset, but the ESP-01 is the
most common and cheapest version:

ESP-01 Modules 4
The pinouts and connection of the ESP-01 is as follows (top view):
ESP-01 Module
2 Microcontroller connection
1 Pin # Description
1 RX TX Pin to transmit to ESP-01
2 VCC +3V
3 GPIO 0 Not connected
4 RESET Output pin to Reset ESP-01
5 GPIO 2 Not connected
6 CH_PD +3V
7 GND GND
7 8 8 TX RX Pin to receive from ESP-01

We have allowed to plug the ESP-01 module directly into the SwLed Shield to
minimize any wiring.

+ + =

5
 READ: https://medium.com/swlh/understanding-socket-connections-in-computer-networking-bac304812b5c

Network Protocols to use with WiFi

• To communicate over WiFi, we can use either the UDP or TCP network protocol
• The important step is to create a socket connection between the devices for
whichever protocol we choose.
• A socket is “one endpoint of a two-way communication link between two
programs running on the network” – basically a combination of an IP address
and a port number
• The port number identifies the application that data is destined to be sent to
• The socket connection between the devices follow the Client-Server model:

• Summary: a socket is the combination of an IP address and a port, and it acts as

an endpoint for receiving or sending information over the internet, which is kept
organized by the UDP or TCP protocol.
6
 READ: https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/user-datagram-protocol-udp/

UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

• A communication protocol used for especially time-sensitive transmissions
• No “hand shaking” required – allows the protocol to operate very quickly
• UDP doesn’t have error checking and ordering functionality of packets – best
utilized when error checking is not needed and speed is important.
• Not reliable – could lose some messages (packets)
• Useful in embedded systems as the overhead on the microcontroller is much
lower than for TCP.

7
 READ: https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/tcp-ip/

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

• TCP is a connection-oriented reliable transport protocol that provides end-to-
end service.
• TCP maintains a connection between the sender and the target
• Implements error checking, flow control, and ensures packet order – reliable
protocol
• A TCP connection is established with a 3-way handshake
• Also used in embedded systems, but overhead is more and is slightly slower
than UDP

• For both UDP and TCP the ESP8266 chip takes care of all the overheads and
processing – we simply write and read message to the ESP-01 module and it
will take care of the transmission.
• For support reasons, we will only cover TCP connections in ECSV311
8
Mbed Network APIs
• All the functions to connect to a network via WiFi, Ethernet, Cellular etc., and to
create UDP and TCP sockets are built into Mbed OS 6.
• The documentation to these can be found at:
https://os.mbed.com/docs/mbed-os/v6.10/apis/index.html

9
• From Mbed OS 6, the ESP8266 driver is part of the Mbed development
environment.
• The API information shown on the previous slide is for noting and future
reference when you start working on more complicated projects.

• To simplify the process of understanding how to use the mentioned Mbed

network APIs, I will explain the following in the next few slides:
• Create a WiFi connection (interface) with the ESP-01
• Create a TCP socket (Client)
• Send a TCP message
• Receive a TCP message

10
Create a WiFi Connection (Interface) – F446RE
• In this case I plugged my ESP-01 module directly into the SwLed Shield, and
added two jumper wires:

+ +

The pin connections are then as follows:

ESP-01 Module
NUCLEO connection
Pin # Description

=
1 RX PC11 (Purple wire)
2 VCC +3V
3 GPIO 0 Not connected
4 RESET PA5
5 GPIO 2 Not connected
6 CH_PD +3V
7 GND GND
8 TX PC10 (Green wire)

11
Create a WiFi Connection (Interface) – F411RE
• In this case I plugged my ESP-01 module directly into the SwLed Shield, and
added two jumper wires:

+ +

The pin connections are then as follows:

ESP-01 Module
NUCLEO connection
Pin # Description

=
1 RX PA12 (Purple wire)
2 VCC +3V
3 GPIO 0 Not connected
4 RESET PA5
5 GPIO 2 Not connected
6 CH_PD +3V
7 GND GND
8 TX PA11 (Green wire)

12
Steps to follow:
1. Include the ESP8266Interface.h library

2. Create the ESP8266Interface object

13
3. Connect WiFi

14
3. Get IP address for NUCLEO

Example 1:
Create a Mbed program, that uses the ESP-01 WiFi module, to connect to an
Access Point. The AP info:
ID: Tenda_EDF640
Password: 0123456789
Once the connection is made, the IP address given by the AP to the NUCLEO board
must be displayed. If no connection was established, the program must stop.
15
 Solution:
#include "mbed.h"
#include "ESP8266Interface.h"

ESP8266Interface wifi(PA_11, PA_12, false, NC, NC, PA_5);

int main() {
int ret; //general integer variable to use for return values from TCP functions
SocketAddress localAddress; //class object for local (client) socket address (IP address AND Port)

printf("\n\nUnit 7 - Example 1:\n\n");

// ===== Connect WiFi =====

ret = wifi.connect("Tenda_EDF640", "0123456789", NSAPI_SECURITY_WPA2); //connect to wifi access point (AP) (wifi router)
if(ret != 0) { //could not connect to AP, exit program
printf("ESP8266 could not connect. Error %d\n", ret);
exit(1); //stop the program
}

// ===== Get IP address =====

wifi.get_ip_address(&localAddress); //get IP address assigned by AP and store in object
printf("NUCLEO IP Address = %s\n", localAddress.get_ip_address()); //convert address from object to string and display

while (1) {
//do nothing
}
}

Result:

16
Create a TCP Socket (Client)
• At this stage, Mbed OS 6 only supports Client mode for TCP – Server should be
supported in future.
• In this section we will assume the WiFi connection code has already been done
(object “wifi” in Example 1)
• Keep in mind that TCP is a reliable connection and delivery is guaranteed.

Steps to follow:
1. Create the TCPSocket object

17
2. Create the TCP Client socket

3. Set non-blocking mode

18
4. Connect to the TCP Server
Format:
bool set_ip_address(addr)

Set the IP address.

Parameters:
addr Null-terminated representation of the IP address (string)
Returns:
True if address is a valid representation of an IP address, otherwise False and SocketAddress is
set to null

Format:
set_port(port)

Set the port.

Parameters:
port 16-bit port number (int)
Returns:
Nothing

19
How to determine the Server’s IP Address:
You will need the Server’s IP address to know where to send the UDP message
from the NUCLEO board.
• If the server is another device, you will generally be able to set that device’s IP
address – this will not be covered in this chapter

20
• If the server is a local PC on the network, you can follow these instructions to
determine the IP address for that PC:
1. Click Start , type “cmd”, and click on Command Prompt
2. Type “ipconfig” in the Command Prompt window and press Enter.
3. The window should now look similar to this:

The IP address for this PC is: 192.168.0.105

Example 2:
Create a Mbed program that creates a TCP socket to be used for communication.

21
 Solution:
#include "mbed.h"
#include "ESP8266Interface.h"

ESP8266Interface wifi(PA_11, PA_12, false, NC, NC, PA_5, NC); //create ESP8266Interface object

// ***** Main program *****

int main() {
int ret; //general integer variable to use for return values from network APIs

SocketAddress localAddress; //class object for local NUCLEO (client) socket address (IP address AND Port)
TCPSocket client; //object for the TCP Client (NUCLEO) socket
SocketAddress remoteAddress; //class object for remote (server) socket address

printf("\n\nUnit 7 - Example 2:\n\n");

// ===== Connect WiFi =====

ret = wifi.connect("Tenda_EDF640", "0123456789", NSAPI_SECURITY_WPA2); //connect to wifi access point (AP) (wifi router)
if(ret != 0) { //could not connect to AP, exit program
printf("ESP8266 could not connect. Error %d\n", ret);
exit(1); //stop the program
}
wifi.get_ip_address(&localAddress); //get IP address assigned by AP and store in object
printf("NUCLEO IP Address = %s\n", localAddress.get_ip_address()); //convert address from object to string and display

// ===== Create a TCP socket =====

client.open(&wifi); //create the TCP Client socket using the ESP8266 interface
client.set_blocking(false); //prevent the recv method from blocking code in while(1)

// ===== Connect to TCP server =====

remoteAddress.set_ip_address("192.168.0.110"); //set IP adress of remote (server) adress socket object
remoteAddress.set_port(3000); //set port of remote (server) adress socket object
client.connect(remoteAddress); //make TCP socket connection with server

while (1) {
//do nothing
}
}

22
Send a TCP Message
• In this section we will assume the WiFi connection code has already been done
(object “wifi” in Example 1) and that the TCP socket has already been created
(object “client” in Example 2).

Steps to follow:
1. Send TCP message

Example 3:
Create a Mbed program that sends the value of a counter variable every second as
an TCP message to a local PC. 23
 Solution:
#include "mbed.h"
#include "ESP8266Interface.h"

ESP8266Interface wifi(PA_11, PA_12, false, NC, NC, PA_5, NC); //create ESP8266Interface object

// ***** Main program *****

int main() {
int ret; //general integer variable to use for return values from network APIs
char tmp[40]; //temporary string for storing output TCP message
int count = 0; //the counter variable to be increased every second

SocketAddress localAddress; //class object for local NUCLEO (client) socket address (IP address AND Port)
TCPSocket client; //object for the TCP Client (NUCLEO) socket
SocketAddress remoteAddress; //class object for remote (server) socket address

printf("\n\nUnit 7 - Example 3:\n\n");

// ===== Connect WiFi =====

ret = wifi.connect("Tenda_EDF640", "0123456789", NSAPI_SECURITY_WPA2); //connect to wifi access point (AP) (wifi router)
if(ret != 0) { //could not connect to AP, exit program
printf("ESP8266 could not connect. Error %d\n", ret);
exit(1); //stop the program
}
wifi.get_ip_address(&localAddress); //get IP address assigned by AP and store in object
printf("NUCLEO IP Address = %s\n", localAddress.get_ip_address()); //convert address from object to string and display

// ===== Create a TCP socket =====

client.open(&wifi); //create the TCP Client socket using the ESP8266 interface
client.set_blocking(false); //prevent the recv method from blocking code in while(1)

// ===== Connect to server =====

remoteAddress.set_ip_address("192.168.0.110"); //set IP adress of remote (server) adress socket object
remoteAddress.set_port(3000); //set port of remote (server) adress socket object
client.connect(remoteAddress); //make TCP socket connection with server

client.sendto(remoteAddress, "Hallo server\n", 12); //send string to TCP server

while (1) {
ThisThread::sleep_for(1s); //wait for 1 second
sprintf(tmp, "Count = %d\n\r", count); //print count value to string tmp
client.sendto(remoteAddress, tmp, strlen(tmp)); //send string tmp to TCP server
count++; //increment the count variable
}
}
24
How to test the results for Example 3:
• In order for this example to work, there needs to be a Server application on the
PC that “listens” for incoming messages (on port 3000 in our case – just a
random port number that we selected).
• Generally we will create these applications for a specific project using Visual
Basic, C#, etc. – we will discuss how to do this in Visual Basic in a few slides from
now.
• To do quick testing of TCP embedded code, it is often advised to first use a
Terminal application on the PC to test the correctness of the code and protocol
structures.
• This will save a lot of time before starting the coding of the PC application itself.
• We have done exactly the same the past with Termite for UART communications
• For TCP communications we will use the YAT (Yet Another Terminal )
application
• Download the free installation file (± 8MB) from
https://sourceforge.net/projects/y-a-terminal
• Install YAT on the PC and follow the instructions to create a TCP server using YAT
to test the communications from Example 3:

25
How to test the results for Example 3 with YAT
1. Open YAT
2. Click File → New Terminal

3. Select TCP/IP Server for Port Type, and 3000 (or the port number you used in
Mbed) as the Local TCP port
4. Under Local Interface, you must select the option that includes you IP address
at the end:

26
Results:
If you now run the code for Example 3 on the NUCLEO board, you should see the
following in YAT:

These messages in purple are the TCP messages that you are sending from the
NUCLEO board via the ESP-01 WiFi module.
The output from the Mbed Studio Serial Monitor (for the printf statements) would
be similar to this (you could also use Termite for this if you prefer to do so):

27
Receive a TCP Message
• In this section we will assume the WiFi connection code has already been done
(object “wifi” in Example 1) and that the TCP socket has already been created
(object “client” in Example 2).
Steps to follow:
1. Receive TCP message

28
 Example 4:
Create a Mbed program that connects to a TCP server and constantly monitors if a
TCP message is received from the server. If a message is received, the IP address
and port number of the server must be displayed in the Serial Monitor (or Termite)
along with the message.
Solution:
#include "mbed.h"
#include "ESP8266Interface.h"

ESP8266Interface wifi(PA_11, PA_12, false, NC, NC, PA_5, NC); //create ESP8266Interface object

// ***** Main program *****

int main() {
int ret; //general integer variable to use for return values from network APIs
char msg[40]; //string variable for storing received TCP message

SocketAddress localAddress; //class object for local NUCLEO (client) socket address (IP address AND Port)
TCPSocket client; //object for the TCP Client (NUCLEO) socket
SocketAddress remoteAddress; //class object for remote (server) socket address
SocketAddress incomingAddress; //class object to store the socket address (IP address AND Port) for the received message

printf("\n\nUnit 7 - Example 4:\n\n");

// ===== Connect WiFi =====

ret = wifi.connect("Tenda_EDF640", "0123456789", NSAPI_SECURITY_WPA2); //connect to wifi access point (AP) (wifi router)
if(ret != 0) { //could not connect to AP, exit program
printf("ESP8266 could not connect. Error %d\n", ret);
exit(1); //stop the program
}
wifi.get_ip_address(&localAddress); //get IP address assigned by AP and store in object
printf("NUCLEO IP Address = %s\n", localAddress.get_ip_address()); //convert address from object to string and display

// ===== Create a TCP socket =====

client.open(&wifi); //create the TCP Client socket using the ESP8266 interface
client.set_blocking(false); //prevent the recv method from blocking code in while(1)

29
 // ===== Connect to server =====
remoteAddress.set_ip_address("192.168.0.110"); //set IP adress of remote (server) adress socket object
remoteAddress.set_port(3000); //set port of remote (server) adress socket object
client.connect(remoteAddress); //make TCP socket connection with server

client.sendto(remoteAddress, "Hallo server\n", 12); //send string to TCP server

while (1) {
//read data from server if available and store in msg (msg string size = 40)
//incomingAddress contains sender's IP address and Port from which sent
ret = client.recvfrom(&incomingAddress, msg, 40);
if(ret == 0) { //ret = 0 means client is disconnected from server
printf("Disconnected from Server. Reset TCP Server and NUCLEO board\n");
ThisThread::sleep_for(1s); //wait for 1 second
}
if(ret > 0) { //message received; ret = string length
msg[ret] = '\0'; //add NULL to terminate the RAW data string
printf("Received from %s (%d): %s\n", incomingAddress.get_ip_address(), incomingAddress.get_port(), msg);
}
}
}

Results:
If you use YAT to send a few messages, you should get the following results:

30
The result on the Mbed Serial Monitor would be:

Notice that for every TCP message that was received, it seems that a blank
message also arrives. This is because YAT automatically sends the <CR><LF>
characters after each message. This can be disabled as follows:
1. Click Terminal → Settings
2. Click Text Settings
3. Change EOL sequence to None

Running the code again:

31
Creating a TCP Server Application in Visual Basic
Instead of using a terminal program (such as YAT) to communicate with the
NUCLEO board using TCP, we can create an Visual Basic application with a neat GUI
to control and monitor peripherals on the NUCLEO board.

Steps to follow:
1. Create a Visual Basic program and immediately save it.
2. Copy the “WinSock.vb” file (under resources on Moodle site) to the VB project
folder

32
3. In the Solution Explorer, right-click on the project, select Add → Existing Item

4. Select the WinSock.vb file, click Add.

33
5. In the Form Load event, add a Timer object to check for incoming TCP
messages, set the TCP port to use for communication, and start the TCP server.

6. Create the ConnectionRequest event code that will accept TCP connections
from other devices.

7. To send text via TCP:

34
8. Program the Timer Tick event which checks for new incoming TCP messages

35
Creating a TCP Server Application in Node-RED
We can also create a Node-RED GUI (dashboard) to control and monitor
peripherals on the NUCLEO board. The GUI will be set up as a TCP server.

Required nodes:
1. Tcp in
Provides a choice of TCP inputs. Can either connect to a remote TCP port, or
accept incoming connections.

This setup will:

• Listen of port 3000 (or your
choice) for any incoming TCP
connect request from a client
• Accept the request and create
the TCP socket with the client
• Once connected, will pass the
text message from a client as a
string to the next node

36
2. Tcp out
Provides a choice of TCP outputs. Can either:
• connect to a remote TCP port
• accept incoming connections
• reply to messages received from a TCP In node
Only the msg.payload is sent.
This setup will:
• Send the string (payload) from
a previous node to all
connected TCP sockets.
• If the TCP socket is not created
yet by the tcp in node, this
node will be ignored.
• We can use the msg._session
property to only send the
string to a specific TCP socket
(if multiple TCP sockets were
created)

37
Creating a TCP Server Application in B4A

38
Example 5: TCP Summary – Peer-to-peer
The purpose of the example is to summarize the TCP programming principles.
Create a Mbed system (using a NUCLEO board) whereby a user can control the
output of a LED and monitor the value of an analog input from a PC (or Mobile
phone).
The communications link between the NUCLEO board and the PC is WiFi and a TCP
socket should be used.
Make use of peer-to-peer mode communication between the two devices,
meaning that any of the two nodes (NUCLEO or PC) can initiate a command at any
time. The protocol to be used is as follows:
Command Parameter Direction Description
LED ON or OFF PC → NUCLEO Turn LED on or off
POT 0.0 to 1.0 NUCLEO → PC Report the analog input
(potentiometer) value

The analog value must be reported on by the NUCLEO board every 1 second.

First test the system using YAT, and then develop a Visual Basic application and a
Node-RED flow for the PC (or a B4A application for the Mobile phone). 39
 Solution:
#include "mbed.h"
#include "ESP8266Interface.h"

ESP8266Interface wifi(PA_11, PA_12, false, NC, NC, PA_5, NC); //create ESP8266Interface object

// ***** Object definitions *****

DigitalOut led(PA_10); //digital output for a LED (LED0)
AnalogIn pot(PC_0); //analog input (POT)

// ***** Main program *****

int main() {
int ret; //general integer variable to use for return values from network APIs
char msg[40]; //string variable for storing received UDP message
char tmp[40]; //temporary string for storing output UDP message

SocketAddress localAddress; //class object for local NUCLEO (client) socket address (IP address AND Port)
TCPSocket client; //object for the TCP Client (NUCLEO) socket
SocketAddress remoteAddress; //class object for remote (server) socket address
SocketAddress incomingAddress; //class object to store the socket address (IP address AND Port) for the received message

printf("\n\nUnit 7 - Example 5:\n\n");

// ===== Connect WiFi =====

ret = wifi.connect("Tenda_EDF640", "0123456789", NSAPI_SECURITY_WPA2); //connect to wifi access point (AP) (wifi router)
if(ret != 0) { //could not connect to AP, exit program
printf("ESP8266 could not connect. Error %d\n", ret);
exit(1); //stop the program
}
wifi.get_ip_address(&localAddress); //get IP address assigned by AP and store in object
printf("NUCLEO IP Address = %s\n", localAddress.get_ip_address()); //convert address from object to string and display

// ===== Create a TCP socket =====

client.open(&wifi); //create the TCP Client socket using the ESP8266 interface
client.set_blocking(false); //prevent the recv method from blocking code in while(1)

// ===== Connect to server =====

remoteAddress.set_ip_address("192.168.0.110"); //set IP adress of remote (server) adress socket object
remoteAddress.set_port(3000); //set port of remote (server) adress socket object
client.connect(remoteAddress); //make TCP socket connection with server

40
 while (1) {
//send pot value to TCP server every 500 ms - will delay receiving of messages
ThisThread::sleep_for(1s); //wait for 1 second
sprintf(tmp, "POT %.3f", pot.read()); //print pot value to a string tmp
client.sendto(remoteAddress, tmp, strlen(tmp)); //send tmp string to TCP server

//read data from server if available and store in msg (msg string size = 40)
//incomingAddress contains sender's IP address and Port from which sent
ret = client.recvfrom(&incomingAddress, msg, 40);
if(ret == 0) { //ret = 0 means client is disconnected from server
printf("Disconnected from Server. Reset TCP Server and NUCLEO board\n");
ThisThread::sleep_for(1s); //wait for 1 second
}
if(ret > 0) { //message received; ret = string length
msg[ret-2] = '\0'; //add NULL to terminate the RAW data string - if CR LF ARE used
//msg[ret] = '\0'; //add NULL to terminate the RAW data string - if CR LF are NOT used
printf("Received from %s (%d): %s\n", incomingAddress.get_ip_address(), incomingAddress.get_port(), msg);

if(strcmp(msg, "LED ON") == 0) { //if received message = "LED ON"

led = 1; //turn LED on
}
else if(strcmp(msg, "LED OFF") == 0) { //if received message = "LED OFF"
led = 0; //turn LED off
}
else {
printf("Unknown message received\n");
}
}
}
}

41
Testing with a YAT TCP Server:

Mbed Serial Terminal:

42
Visual Basic Application solution:

43
44
Node-RED solution: 5

1 3
5
8

9 7

1. Tcp in (as explained in slide 36)

2. Tcp out (as explained in slide 37)
45
3. Function
To decode the incoming message and split into the COMMAND and
PARAMETER part of the text string. The PARAMETER gets passed to the next
node.
Similar to the UART decode example, but in this case we only have one output
and no ! and # characters.
var readBuffer = msg.payload;
//store CMD in splitMsg[0], next parameter in splitMsg[1], etc.
var splitMsg = readBuffer.split(" ");
if (splitMsg[0] == "POT") { //was the message POT x.xxx
msg.payload = splitMsg[1]; //splitMsg[1] = x.xxx part from original message
return msg; //send payload on
}
else { //unknown command
//do nothing
}

4. Text output
Displays the PARAMETER value (from the POT x.xxx instruction from the client)

46
5. Slider
Displays the PARAMETER value (from the POT x.xxx instruction from the client)
as a graphical object

6. Switch
Sends the LED ON or LED OFF message to the client (NUCLEO board)

7. Text output
Displays the TCP connection status.

47
8. Countdown
Install the node-red-contrib-countdown package. We use this countdown timer
to check if we are still receiving messages from the TCP client. If no messages
are received within 3 seconds, we assume the TCP socket is closed.
To do this, the countdown node counts down from 3 seconds to 0. When the
count gets to 0, the output payload message becomes “Not connected - reset
NUCLEO”. When the count is >0 the output payload message becomes
“Connected”. Each time a new TCP message is received, the countdown node
resets to 3 seconds.

9. Inject
Injects the default message
“Not connected - reset NUCLEO” at startup
48
B4A Application solution:

49