Network Characterization

h1. Ubus

The [[NCd|Network Characterization daemon]] (NCd) uses "Ubus":http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/techref/ubus (the "OpenWrt":http://www.openwrt.org micro bus architecture) to communicate with the [[NCui|Network Characterization user interface]] and with other daemons and applications. This page documents the ubus namespace of the NC, with the available procedures and several examples.

The NCd can provide local or remote information (i.e. data gathered from other nodes) via the Ubus interface. Some of the 

h2. NCd ubus namespace and procedures summary

h3. NC-specific local node information

The NCd, once registered to the Ubus daemon, provides the following procedures.

|_.Path                           |_.Procedure                                 |_.Signature                                      |_.Description |

|\4=. |

|ncd.local                        | [[Ubus#ncd-local-id|id]]                      | { }                                                    | Get the unique id of the local node |

|ncd.local                        | [[Ubus#ncd-local-neighbours|neighbours]]      | { }                                                    | List all the neighbours of the local node |

|ncd.local                        | [[Ubus#ncd-local-link-devices|linkdevices]]   | { "nodes": ["nodeid1", "nodeid2", ...] }               | List the devices used to link the local node to other nodes ¹|

|ncd.local.location.name          | [[Ubus|ncd-local-location-name-get]]          | { }                                                    | Get the position (name or description) where the node is located |

|ncd.local.location.name          | [[Ubus|ncd-local-location-name-set]]          | { "location" : "string" }                              | Get the position (name or description) where the node is located |

|ncd.local.location.coordinates   | [[Ubus|ncd-local-location-coordinates-get]]   | { }                                                    | Get the position (latitude and longitude coordinates) where the node is located |

|ncd.local.location.coordinates   | [[Ubus|ncd-local-location-coordinates-set]]   | { "coordinates" : [ "lat", "lon" ] }                   | Set the position (latitude and longitude coordinates) where the node is located |

¹ Two nodes can be linked via two different devices (a wired and a wireless device, two wireless devices at different frequencies, etc.)

 

h3. Local Ubus relay via NC

The NCd is able to relay Ubus calls from the NCui to other Ubus instances registered locally (like netifd, rpcd, etc.).

|_.Path                       |_.Procedure                                      |_.Signature                                      |_.Description |

|\4=. |

|ncd.local.relay.daemon.path        | [[Ubus#ncd-local-ubus-relay|procedure]]                              | { "daemon.path procedure signature" }           | Get the unique id of the local node |

See the example below to get a clear idea of how it works.

 

h3. NC-specific remote node information

The NCd can provide the following procedures regarding other nodes in the network running the NCd:

|_.Path                            |_.Procedure                                    |_.Signature                                    |_.Description |

|\4=. |

|ncd.nodeid ²                      | [[Ubus#ncd-neighbours|neighbours]]            | { }                                                    | List all the neighbours of the node defined by _nodeid_ |

|ncd.nodeid                        | [[Ubus#ncd-nodeid-link-devices|linkdevices]]  | { "nodes": ["nodeid1", "nodeid2", ...] }               | List the devices used to link the node defined by _nodeid_ to other nodes |

|ncd.nodeid.location.name          | [[Ubus|get]]                                  | { }                                                    | Get the position (name or description) where the node defined by _nodeid_ is located |

|ncd.nodeid.location.name          | [[Ubus|get]]                                  | { "location" : "Location name or description" }        | Get the position (name or description) where the node defined by _nodeid_ is located |

|ncd.nodeid.location.coordinates   | [[Ubus|get]]                                  | { }                                                    | Get the position (latitude and longitude coordinates) where the node defined by _nodeid_ is located |

|ncd.nodeid.location.coordinates   | [[Ubus|set]]                                  | { "coordinates" : [ "lat", "lon" ] }                   | Set the position (latitude and longitude coordinates) where the node defined by _nodeid_ is located |

² Replace _nodeid_ by the node's unique id

 

h3. Remote Ubus relay via NC

The NCd is able to relay Ubus calls from the NCui to other Ubus instances registered remotely (like netifd, rpcd, etc.).

|_.Path                              |_.Procedure                                      |_.Signature                                      |_.Description |

|\4=. |

|ncd.nodeid.relay.daemon.path ²      | [[Ubus#ncd-remote-ubus-relay|procedure]]                              | { "daemon.path procedure signature" }           | Get the unique id of the node defined by _nodeid_ |

² Replace _nodeid_ by the node's unique id

 

h2. Usage examples

h3. ncd local id

Request:

 @ubus call ncd.local id { }@

Response:

 @{ "id" : "node_id" }@

 

h3. ncd local neighbours

Request:

 @ubus call ncd.local neighbours { }@

Response:

 @{ "nodes" : [ "node011", "node400" ] }@

 

h3. ncd local link devices

Request:

 @ubus call ncd.local linkdevices { "nodes" : [ "node011", "node400" ] }@

Response:

<pre>

{

  "links": [

    {

      "node011": [

        "eth0.12",

        "wlan0"

      ]

    },

    {

      "node400": [

        "wlan0"

      ]

    }

  ]

}

</pre>

 

h3. ncd local location name get

Request:

 @ubus call ncd.local.location.name get { }@

Response:

 @{ "coordinates" : [ "Narrow Street 16, Faketown" ] }@

 

h3. ncd local position coordinates get

Request:

 @ubus call ncd.local.location.coordinates get { }@

Response:

 @{ "coordinates" : [ "42.34796", "3.11036" ] }@

 

h3. ncd local position name set

Request:

 @ubus call ncd.local.location.name set { "name" : [ "Narrow Street 16, Faketown (rooftop)" }@

Response:

 @{ ] }@

 

h3. ncd local position coordinates set

Request:

 @ubus call ncd.local.position.coordinates set { "coordinates" : [ "42.34796", "3.11036" ] }@

Response:

 @{ }@

 

h3. ncd local ubus relay

Request:

 @ubus call ncd.local.relay.iwinfo devices { }@

Response:

 <pre>

{

	"devices": [

		"wlan1",

		"wlan0",

		"wlan0ap"

	]

}

 </pre>

 

ubus call iwinfo devices

h2. More examples

There is an example of the communication process between the CNAd and the CNAui via ubus [[CNAui-CNAd_communication_example|here]].