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xbeecontiki

Contiki to XBee

I am trying to get a CC2650 module to talk to an XBee S2c RF board. I have updated the XBee with the 802.15.4 driver. On the CC2650 end, I am using Contiki. Even as I was considering implementing the Rime stack, I am suspecting if the idea would even take off because XBee may not understand Rime. After all, the CC2650 is bei9ng flashed with a Contiki-based code, while XBee has its own internal firmware, which may not have been programmed to respond. Can somebody please correct me if I am wrong?

Also, kindly help me with answers to the Q's below:

  1. Does the XBee use the Proprietary 802.15.4 protocol, which the CC2650RF layer is set to by Contiki?

  2. I was looking at Contiki so that I need not have to change my code much if I migrated to another MuC. Contiki'platform layers take care of converting the common Contiki mechanisms to the underlying API. Is this assumption about Contiki being a generic layer correct?

  3. Is there any communication method (runicast,broadcast et al supported by Contiki out of the box), to directly talk to the XBee?

  4. Is there a single place where all protocolsof Contiki have been clearly explained? Iam having a hard timegoing thru the code alone and trying to make out the exact nature of each of these methods. I already went thru the Contiki wiki and a couple of other resources

Please help.

Can somebody kindly also tag this question with CC2650. It appears I am under-qualified to do that.

Thank you in advance, Rahul

Solution

  • Ok. I should have done this before I posted the question. The answers lay in slightly more experimentation that I did after stumbling across this link:

    http://knowledge.digi.com/articles/Knowledge_Base_Article/XBee-802-15-4-Addressing

    Answer to Q1: Yes. It appears they both are talking of the same protocol

    Answer to Q2: Yet to prove myself right. Opinions on this one are welcome.

    Answer to Q3: This is slightly long.

    Adam Dunkel's research paper on the Rime protocol presents the RIme as a way to minimize Code. Not as a new way of fiddling with the PHY or MAC layers of the 802.15.4. Therefore, my fears that the Rime protocol changes the way messages are transmitted is misplaced. Now for the actual paper, it can be easily found with some googling. But here is the easier click. So regardless of what part of the stack is used, an XBee would be able to receive it as long as it is configured following the first of the above two links.

    Q4: The Adam Dunkels' Rime link is the one I was referring to in my initial question. It possibly takes some very detailed code inspection to interpret the Figure 1 of the RIme paper itself.