11 years, 5 months ago.  This question has been closed. Reason: Should've been asked in the hardware forum - apologies.

lwIP + FreeRTOS + USBHost = RTL8188?

Hi all

Reading through all the threads regarding wifi, I can't help but wonder how big a leap it would be to get the RTL8188-based wifi dongles going on mbed.

We already have the following: 1.) lwIP 2.) mbed-rtos / FreeRTOS 3.) USBHost

So it seems a little push in the right direction could mean we have dirt-cheap WiFi in a tiny footprint to our avail.

Sure the GainSpan, CC3000 and WiFly's are nice but they are:

1.) Expensive: RTL8188 $4-$8 vs $25-$40 for the various modules. 2.) Larger: PCB footprint is larger than USB required for the dongle. Plus the USB can be used for other purposes if the dongle is unplugged.

Is anybody else thinking along these lines? It's been done on an ARM11 before, in the form of the Raspberry Pi.

I am a C++ developer but have never worked on hardware drivers before. I would gladly offer my time towards an open-source collaborative effort with someone / a team who has experience with the RTL8188 and/or driver development.

Regards TJ