Zigbee : Which hardware to choose to create big mesh networks ?

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Jerepain

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Hello,

It's my first post !

I bought 4 Microchip's Picdem Z, but I can create only a tree network with the Miwi stack provided. If I use the Zigbee 2006 Stack I have to spend 3500$ O_O

So is there a constructor that provide a stack which works with big mesh topology ?

Sorry for the language, I'm french.

Thank you.
 
It's not hardware that you need to worry about it's software, thought about writing your own stack? How many device are you going to need to connect?
 
First thank you for your reply.

I can't develop my own stack, it represents too much work. That's why I'd want to know if a constructor proposes a free stack which support big mesh networks design.

I don't have a nodes limitation, so I'm opened to any suggestion.
 
The zigbee 2006 stack can be downloaded for free from the microchip web site.
**broken link removed**

With it you can create a very large mesh network.

You need to read the stack documentation prior to using it.
It seems to have a problem with lost nodes rejoing the network automaticaly.
 
If we want to sell a Zigbee 2006 based product we have to join the Zigbee alliance... It is the problem.

Thank you for your help anyway

I'm still looking for a constructor who releases a free Zigbee stack for big networks. And support beacon, too !
 
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The Zigbee stack is a major software undertaking.

If you intent to sell the product $3500 for the software is a bargain. You could not hire one decent software developer for a month for that and there are months if not years of work here.

There is an open source Zigbee stack effort at
open-ZB.net - OpenSource Toolset for IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee but they seem to be in research mode. I do not know if they have a working stack.

I can understand why people want and think all software should be free. Open source software can only happen when there are enough interested and talented people to make it happen. (or some company willing to underwrite the developent cost)

$3500 is a bargain.
 
Not that it will ever really come up but it is illegal and worse morally reprehensible to use an opensource code project like that for a commercial product without observing the terms of the GPL it's likely placed under.
I think it was Cisco, or maybe some Linksys routers that a lawsuit was going on about because it used busybox but violated the GPL licenses doing it.
 
Is there a stack which supports beacon ?

Currently the Microchip stacks only supports non-beacon... And I want to put my routers in sleep mode.
 
ZigBee Beacon and Mesh ?

It looks like you will not easily (if at all) find a Beacon Mesh network. If you do it may not be free.


But it looks like Beacon Scheduling was a subject for research in 2008. Where there is research there is some hope.

Slotted Beacon Scheduling Using ZigBee Cskip Mechanism
In fact, the current IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee specifications restrict the synchronization in the beacon-enabled mode to star-based networks, while it supports multi-hop networking using the peer-to-peer mesh topology, but with no synchronization.
Click to expand...
Elsewhere others have suggested TIMAC IEEE802.15.4 Medium Access control (MAC) software stack - TIMAC - TI Tool Folder
 
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