Understanding Input/Output (I/O) in Embedded Rust

The chapter on Input/Output (I/O) in the Embedded Rust Book focuses on how to interact with hardware through reading from and writing to devices. This is essential for building embedded systems that can communicate with the outside world.

Key Concepts

What is I/O in Embedded Systems?

• I/O refers to the methods used to receive data from and send data to external devices.
• Examples of I/O devices include sensors, displays, and communication modules.

Types of I/O

• Blocking I/O: The program waits (blocks) until the I/O operation completes.
• Non-blocking I/O: The program can continue executing while the I/O operation is in progress.

The embedded-hal Trait

• The embedded-hal (Hardware Abstraction Layer) is a set of traits that provide a standard interface for various hardware components.
• It allows developers to write code that can run on different hardware platforms without modification.

Implementing I/O

• The book emphasizes using traits to define the desired behavior of I/O devices.
• Implementing these traits allows for different hardware to be used interchangeably.

Examples

Reading from a Sensor

let mut sensor = Sensor::new();
let data = sensor.read().unwrap(); // Blocking read

• Here, Sensor is a struct that represents a sensor.
• The read method retrieves data from the sensor, blocking until data is available.

Writing to a Display

let mut display = Display::new();
display.write("Hello, World!").unwrap(); // Blocking write

• In this example, the write function sends a string to be displayed on the screen.

Conclusion

• Understanding I/O is crucial for developing embedded applications.
• Utilizing the embedded-hal traits enables code reusability and flexibility across different hardware.
• Both blocking and non-blocking methods can be employed for I/O operations, depending on the application's needs.

This foundational knowledge of I/O is vital for anyone looking to develop with Embedded Rust, as it forms the basis for interacting with hardware components effectively.