mUPnP for C

mUPnP for C is a development package for UPnP™ ¹ (Universal Plug and Play) developers. It provides a set of APIs to create UPnP™ devices and control points quickly and easily. This README provides an overview of the package and its contents, along with setup and usage instructions.

The UPnP™ architecture is designed to enable the discovery and control of networked devices and services, such as media servers and players, within a home network. UPnP™ is based on several standard protocols, including GENA, SSDP, SOAP, HTTPU, and HTTP. To create UPnP™ devices, you need to understand and implement these protocols.

mUPnP for C simplifies this process by handling these protocols automatically. It allows developers to focus on creating their devices and control points without worrying about the underlying protocol details.

mUPnP for C runs on Unix-like systems, macOS, iOS, and Windows. Since version 3.1.0, it also runs on ESP32 microcontrollers as an ESP-IDF component.

mUPnP for C is supported by IPA, INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION AGENCY, JAPAN, as part of Mitoh Program 2004.

Building the Library and Samples

The following sections describe how to build or install the library and samples on each platform.

Unix

mUPnP for C is distributed as an Automake project. For a Git checkout, install Autoconf, Automake, and the Autoconf Archive macros before building:

cd mupnp
./bootstrap
./configure
make

Run ./bootstrap for the first Git build and after changes to build definitions or source/header file lists, then rerun ./configure. Ordinary edits to existing source files only need make. Prepared make dist release tarballs can start at ./configure; GitHub-generated source archives follow the Git checkout steps.

Homebrew (macOS, Linux)

On platforms that support Homebrew, install mUPnP with the following commands:

brew tap cybergarage/homebrew
brew install mupnp

macOS

An Objective-C wrapper is available for Cocoa on macOS. The framework currently supports only basic control point functionality. Use the C library if you need the full functionality of mUPnP for C.

The bundled Xcode projects build with Xcode 27 and target macOS 12.0 or later and iOS 15.0 or later.

ESP32 (ESP-IDF)

The repository can be used directly as an ESP-IDF component with Espressif's managed Expat dependency. The port targets ESP32 with one active Wi-Fi station interface and IPv4; the build baseline is ESP-IDF v5.5.5 (>=5.5,<6.0).

To try the Wi-Fi control-point example:

cd mupnp/examples/espidf/control_point
idf.py set-target esp32
idf.py menuconfig   # mUPnP control point example -> Wi-Fi SSID/password
idf.py build
idf.py -p /dev/ttyUSB0 flash monitor

To use mUPnP in your own application, place this repository at <project>/components/mupnp (for example, as a Git submodule pinned to the 3.1.4 tag), add REQUIRES mupnp to your component, and include <mupnp/upnp.h>.

Limited hardware testing of the control point on an ESP32 DevKitC-VE has been reported. Device hosting, other ESP32-family targets, IPv6, Ethernet, and long-duration operation have not been validated yet. See the ESP-IDF guide for required sdkconfig settings, notes on lifetime and memory, and a hardware validation checklist.

Windows

mUPnP includes Visual Studio 2005 projects for Windows in the mupnp/*/win32/vs2005 directories. No platform projects are provided for Windows CE, but a contributor has verified that the source code compiles successfully.

References

mUPnP for C

For information on developing UPnP devices or control point applications with mUPnP for C, see the following developer documentation:

• Programming Guide for C
• Doxygen

mUPnP for Objective-C

mUPnP for C includes an Objective-C wrapper for iOS and macOS. For details, see the following developer documentation:

• Programming Guide for Objective-C
• Doxygen

Examples

• UPnP control point examples

  • UPnP controller for UPnP devices
    • UPnP multicast dump utility
  • UPnP controller for standard UPnP devices
    • UPnP Internet gateway utility
    • UPnP/AV media server utility
  • Embedded control point
    • ESP32 Wi-Fi control point (ESP-IDF)

• UPnP device examples

  • UPnP standard devices
    • UPnP BinaryLight:1 device
  • UPnP non-standard devices
    • UPnP clock device

Adoption and Usage

mUPnP for C (formerly CyberLink for C) has been used in the products and projects below. The ChangeLog records the name change in 2015; these entries describe one continuous project's adoption history.

Manufacturer / project	Product / project scope	Evidence
Nokia	Media Streamer app for Nokia 770	Project report and historical references
Panasonic	Blu-ray Remote app	Official app page and EULA
Toshiba / REGZA	Televisions reported by the project	Project report and user-provided photo
TCL	50CF630K, 55CF630K (UK manual)	Official manual
NEC Aterm	WG2600HP, WG2600HP2, WG2600HP3	Official manuals
iFFALCON	U75A / U85A series	Official manual
Zyxel	EX5601-T1, EX3600-T0, DX3300-T0 and related models; specified firmware	Official release notes
Audio Group Denmark	Aavik Stream app	Official licenses
llink (open source)	Media server, macOS build integration	Adopting project's README

Adoption evidence records source-reported component names and versions, verification dates, product and firmware limits, and supporting images. It distinguishes manufacturer disclosures, project reports and copyright-only notices. The list does not imply manufacturer endorsement or use throughout a manufacturer's range.

Footnotes

1. UPnP™ is a certification mark of the UPnP™ Implementers Corporation. ↩