Skip to main content

Reference Notes

These notes summarize what was learned from the reference projects.

devourer​

devourer is the native Realtek USB WiFi implementation. It owns the hardware bring-up that matters for OpenIPC receive:

  • firmware download,
  • EFUSE/EEPROM and power sequencing,
  • BB/RF tables,
  • monitor mode,
  • channel and bandwidth selection,
  • TX descriptors,
  • RX descriptor parsing.

The USB model is vendor-control register access plus bulk endpoints:

  • request 0x05 for register reads and writes,
  • interface 0 claim,
  • descriptor-driven bulk IN and bulk OUT endpoint discovery,
  • 32 KiB RX transfer buffers to avoid splitting full chip-side aggregates.

The Realtek RX aggregate format is shared Rust logic in openipc-core.

aviateur​

aviateur is the native OpenIPC ground station. It uses devourer for adapter access, then handles WFB, RTP, adaptive-link feedback, and video playback.

Packet flow:

  1. devourer emits parsed 802.11 frames.
  2. OpenIPC/WFB frame checks validate 57:42:<channel_id> MAC fields.
  3. WFB session packets decrypt a session key.
  4. WFB data packets decrypt into FEC fragments.
  5. Primary fragments emit RTP packets.
  6. RTP packets go to playback or optional UDP output.

openipc-rs mirrors the protocol behavior in shared Rust, while keeping UI, USB permissions, and rendering at platform edges.

openipc-zig​

openipc-zig proves that browser/WebUSB OpenIPC receive is possible, even if its implementation is not the desired long-term shape. It is useful for:

  • browser permission flow,
  • WebUSB constraints,
  • WebCodecs playback reference,
  • understanding how much hardware setup must still happen in browser builds.

openipc-rs keeps WebUSB as a transport adapter and puts the actual receiver pipeline in Rust/WASM.

PixelPilot​

PixelPilot is useful as an Android reference for packaging a full ground-station experience around an H.264/H.265 WFB feed. It helps validate expectations for codec handling, latency, and UI-level receiver metrics, but it is not the source of the Realtek USB driver path used here.