When I talked about adding a Web server to an embedded device, I was not suggesting that the device in question actually hosted a publicly accessible website. The idea was to simply leverage Web technology. Web pages – HTML etc. – is easy enough to use to create a user interface; the HTTP protocol is straightforward to handle; Web server software is readily available for most real time operating systems, including Nucleus<\/a>, of course. The result is a powerful and readily maintainable UI solution with minimal coding.<\/p>\n We can apply the same philosophy to the use of email. I am not, of course, suggesting that a device have an email account so that it can keep in touch with its friends and relations. I am talking about the leveraging of technology. Imagine a device that needs to periodically send [and\/or perhaps receive] modest amounts of data to a remote location and it is connected [at least some of the time] to the Internet. A possible example might be a WiFi enabled vital signs monitor worn at all times by a chronically ill patient; it might send a set or readings to the hospital periodically or when there is a significant change.<\/p>\n Although there are a number email protocols in use, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol<\/a> [SMTP] is very common and widely understood, as it has been in use since the earliest days of the Internet. SMTP is normally only used for sending emails – the sender needs to have SMTP client software and the mailer server will have an SMTP server. Other email protocols in use include Post Office Protocol [POP3], which is complementary to SMTP and used to receive email, and the Internet Message Access Protocol [IMAP], which provides more sophisticated capabilities.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2013\/05\/SMTP-520x174.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n