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ICMP Echo

Overview

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) is used for diagnostic or control purposes or generated in response to errors in IP operations. The common network util ping is implemented based on the ICMP packets with the type field value of 0, also called Echo Reply.

During a ping session, the source host firstly sends out an ICMP echo request packet and wait for an ICMP echo reply with specific times. In this way, it also measures the round-trip time for the messages. After receiving a valid ICMP echo reply, the source host will generate statistics about the IP link layer (e.g., packet loss, elapsed time, etc).

It is common that IoT device needs to check whether a remote server is alive or not. The device should show the warnings to users when it got offline. It can be achieved by creating a ping session and sending or parsing ICMP echo packets periodically.

To make this internal procedure much easier for users, ESP-IDF provides some out-of-box APIs.

Create a New Ping Session

To create a ping session, you need to fill in the esp_ping_config_t configuration structure firstly, specifying target IP address, interval times, and etc. Optionally, you can also register some callback functions with the esp_ping_callbacks_t structure.

Example method to create a new ping session and register callbacks:

static void test_on_ping_success(esp_ping_handle_t hdl, void *args)
{
    // optionally, get callback arguments
    // const char* str = (const char*) args;
    // printf("%s\r\n", str); // "foo"
    uint8_t ttl;
    uint16_t seqno;
    uint32_t elapsed_time, recv_len;
    ip_addr_t target_addr;
    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_SEQNO, &seqno, sizeof(seqno));
    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_TTL, &ttl, sizeof(ttl));
    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_IPADDR, &target_addr, sizeof(target_addr));
    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_SIZE, &recv_len, sizeof(recv_len));
    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_TIMEGAP, &elapsed_time, sizeof(elapsed_time));
    printf("%d bytes from %s icmp_seq=%d ttl=%d time=%d ms\n",
           recv_len, inet_ntoa(target_addr.u_addr.ip4), seqno, ttl, elapsed_time);
}

static void test_on_ping_timeout(esp_ping_handle_t hdl, void *args)
{
    uint16_t seqno;
    ip_addr_t target_addr;
    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_SEQNO, &seqno, sizeof(seqno));
    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_IPADDR, &target_addr, sizeof(target_addr));
    printf("From %s icmp_seq=%d timeout\n", inet_ntoa(target_addr.u_addr.ip4), seqno);
}

static void test_on_ping_end(esp_ping_handle_t hdl, void *args)
{
    uint32_t transmitted;
    uint32_t received;
    uint32_t total_time_ms;

    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_REQUEST, &transmitted, sizeof(transmitted));
    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_REPLY, &received, sizeof(received));
    esp_ping_get_profile(hdl, ESP_PING_PROF_DURATION, &total_time_ms, sizeof(total_time_ms));
    printf("%d packets transmitted, %d received, time %dms\n", transmitted, received, total_time_ms);
}

void initialize_ping()
{
    /* convert URL to IP address */
    ip_addr_t target_addr;
    struct addrinfo hint;
    struct addrinfo *res = NULL;
    memset(&hint, 0, sizeof(hint));
    memset(&target_addr, 0, sizeof(target_addr));
    getaddrinfo("www.espressif.com", NULL, &hint, &res);
    struct in_addr addr4 = ((struct sockaddr_in *) (res->ai_addr))->sin_addr;
    inet_addr_to_ip4addr(ip_2_ip4(&target_addr), &addr4);
    freeaddrinfo(res);

    esp_ping_config_t ping_config = ESP_PING_DEFAULT_CONFIG();
    ping_config.target_addr = target_addr;          // target IP address
    ping_config.count = ESP_PING_COUNT_INFINITE;    // ping in infinite mode, esp_ping_stop can stop it

    /* set callback functions */
    esp_ping_callbacks_t cbs;
    cbs.on_ping_success = test_on_ping_success;
    cbs.on_ping_timeout = test_on_ping_timeout;
    cbs.on_ping_end = test_on_ping_end;
    cbs.cb_args = "foo";  // arguments that feeds to all callback functions, can be NULL
    cbs.cb_args = eth_event_group;

    esp_ping_handle_t ping;
    esp_ping_new_session(&ping_config, &cbs, &ping);
}

Start and Stop Ping Session

You can start and stop ping session with the handle returned by esp_ping_new_session. Note that, the ping session does not start automatically after creation. If the ping session is stopped, and restart again, the sequence number in ICMP packets will recount from zero again.

Delete a Ping Session

If a ping session will not be used any more, you can delete it with esp_ping_delete_session. Please make sure the ping session is in stop state (i.e., you have called esp_ping_stop before or the ping session has finished all the procedures) when you call this function.

Get Runtime Statistics

As the example code above, you can call esp_ping_get_profile to get different runtime statistics of ping session in the callback function.

Application Example

ICMP echo example: protocols/icmp_echo

API Reference

Header File

components/lwip/include/apps/ping/ping_sock.h
This header file can be included with:
#include "ping/ping_sock.h"
This header file is a part of the API provided by the lwip component. To declare that your component depends on lwip, add the following to your CMakeLists.txt:
REQUIRES lwip
or
PRIV_REQUIRES lwip

Functions

esp_err_t esp_ping_new_session(const esp_ping_config_t *config, const esp_ping_callbacks_t *cbs, esp_ping_handle_t *hdl_out)

Create a ping session.

Parameters

config -- ping configuration
cbs -- a bunch of callback functions invoked by internal ping task
hdl_out -- handle of ping session

Returns

ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG: invalid parameters (e.g. configuration is null, etc)
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM: out of memory
ESP_FAIL: other internal error (e.g. socket error)
ESP_OK: create ping session successfully, user can take the ping handle to do follow-on jobs

esp_err_t esp_ping_delete_session(esp_ping_handle_t hdl)

Delete a ping session.

Parameters

hdl -- handle of ping session

Returns

ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG: invalid parameters (e.g. ping handle is null, etc)
ESP_OK: delete ping session successfully

esp_err_t esp_ping_start(esp_ping_handle_t hdl)

Start the ping session.

Parameters

hdl -- handle of ping session

Returns

ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG: invalid parameters (e.g. ping handle is null, etc)
ESP_OK: start ping session successfully

esp_err_t esp_ping_stop(esp_ping_handle_t hdl)

Stop the ping session.

Parameters

hdl -- handle of ping session

Returns

ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG: invalid parameters (e.g. ping handle is null, etc)
ESP_OK: stop ping session successfully

esp_err_t esp_ping_get_profile(esp_ping_handle_t hdl, esp_ping_profile_t profile, void *data, uint32_t size)

Get runtime profile of ping session.

Parameters

hdl -- handle of ping session
profile -- type of profile
data -- profile data
size -- profile data size

Returns

ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG: invalid parameters (e.g. ping handle is null, etc)
ESP_ERR_INVALID_SIZE: the actual profile data size doesn't match the "size" parameter
ESP_OK: get profile successfully

Structures

struct esp_ping_callbacks_t

Type of "ping" callback functions.

Public Members

void *cb_args: arguments for callback functions

void (*on_ping_success)(esp_ping_handle_t hdl, void *args): Invoked by internal ping thread when received ICMP echo reply packet.

void (*on_ping_timeout)(esp_ping_handle_t hdl, void *args): Invoked by internal ping thread when receive ICMP echo reply packet timeout.

void (*on_ping_end)(esp_ping_handle_t hdl, void *args): Invoked by internal ping thread when a ping session is finished.

struct esp_ping_config_t

Type of "ping" configuration.

Public Members

uint32_t count: A "ping" session contains count procedures

uint32_t interval_ms: Milliseconds between each ping procedure

uint32_t timeout_ms: Timeout value (in milliseconds) of each ping procedure

uint32_t data_size: Size of the data next to ICMP packet header

int tos: Type of Service, a field specified in the IP header

int ttl: Time to Live,a field specified in the IP header

ip_addr_t target_addr: Target IP address, either IPv4 or IPv6

uint32_t task_stack_size: Stack size of internal ping task

uint32_t task_prio: Priority of internal ping task

uint32_t interface: Netif index, interface=0 means NETIF_NO_INDEX

Macros

ESP_PING_DEFAULT_CONFIG(): Default ping configuration.

ESP_PING_COUNT_INFINITE: Set ping count to zero will ping target infinitely

Type Definitions

typedef void *esp_ping_handle_t: Type of "ping" session handle.

Enumerations

enum esp_ping_profile_t

Profile of ping session.

Values:

enumerator ESP_PING_PROF_SEQNO: Sequence number of a ping procedure

enumerator ESP_PING_PROF_TOS: Type of service of a ping procedure

enumerator ESP_PING_PROF_TTL: Time to live of a ping procedure

enumerator ESP_PING_PROF_REQUEST: Number of request packets sent out

enumerator ESP_PING_PROF_REPLY: Number of reply packets received

enumerator ESP_PING_PROF_IPADDR: IP address of replied target

enumerator ESP_PING_PROF_SIZE: Size of received packet

enumerator ESP_PING_PROF_TIMEGAP: Elapsed time between request and reply packet

enumerator ESP_PING_PROF_DURATION: Elapsed time of the whole ping session

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