The cc2500 module

[arduino-novice]

I found a 2.4GHz wireless transceiver cc2500 module:

http://www.mindkits.co.nz/store/communication/low-cost-cc2500-rf-module

I guess that would not need a ham license to operate.  However, what needs to be done to get it working with arduino?

Or if I were to use the cc2500 module in a model locomotive decoder, is it possible to program the module, or my microcontroller, to make it talk to other zigbee module?

If it can't talk to zigbee modules, then it can at least talk to other robots with the cc2500 installed, right?  In this case, how much work needs to be done to get the robots installed with cc2500 talk to each other (compared with robots installed with xbee module)?


Arduino Novice

[Paul Campbell]

this one is different - it's in the 2.4Ghz wifi band - you don't need a license
- however this is a proprietary module - zigbee (and wifi) have hardware to
handle packetisation, error detection and collision detection, addressing (a
bit like mac addresses) - because this is a proprietary part it sems to do all
this stuff, but its own way, you almost certainly wont be able to get this
thing to talk to zigbee

the zigbee chips I've played with look a lot like a MAC - you throw data and
addresses at them and they appear on the right radio other end. However you
also need a zigbee protocol (or equivalent) stack to run on top of the mac
level radio - this stuff is not for beginners - which is not to say people
shouldn't play with them

Paul

[arduino-novice]

this one is different - it's in the 2.4Ghz wifi band - you don't need a license
- however this is a proprietary module - zigbee (and wifi) have hardware to
handle packetisation, error detection and collision detection, addressing (a
bit like mac addresses) - because this is a proprietary part it sems to do all
this stuff, but its own way, you almost certainly wont be able to get this
thing to talk to zigbee

the zigbee chips I've played with look a lot like a MAC - you throw data and
addresses at them and they appear on the right radio other end. However you
also need a zigbee protocol (or equivalent) stack to run on top of the mac
level radio - this stuff is not for beginners - which is not to say people
shouldn't play with them

        Paul

I see... this is why we need to spend the money to get the zigbee modules.  It is expensive, although still much cheaper than wifi.

So the zigbee chips (or the Xbee module) will handle up to the level 2, but our microcontroller needs to handle the TCP/IP layer, right?

 

[Paul Campbell]

On Sun, 03 Jun 2012 18:21:26 arduino-novice wrote:
> So the zigbee chips (or the Xbee module) will handle up to the level 2, but
> our microcontroller needs to handle the TCP/IP layer, right?

yes - but I recommend you consider using UDP (or some similar packet oriented
protocol) and deal with error recover in your code - your code footprint will
be much smaller

Paul

[arduino-novice]

get you..... so in the application, do I open an UDP socket, and use send() and recv() etc to communicate?  Then I need a library that implements the send() and recv(), and spits out the ethernet frames for the Xbee module, right?

My professor says that the Contiki OS (an OS for microcontroller-based wireless sensor network) has the full stack implemented.  Does Arduino have the library for the stack as well?

Or do I need to write code from scratch that generates  ethernet frames for the Xbee module?

Thanks!

Arduino Novice

 

[Paul Campbell]

On Sun, 03 Jun 2012 18:35:54 arduino-novice wrote:
> My professor says that the Contiki OS (an OS for microcontroller-based
> wireless sensor network) has the full stack implemented. Does Arduino have
> the library for the stack as well?
>
> Or do I need to write code from scratch that generates ethernet frames for
> the Xbee module?

you'll need to hunt down a stack for part you choose - there's often money
involved for full zigbee stacks, but really for your trains you don't need an
IP stack, nor really the full zigbee mesh thing, instead all you need is a way
to map particular trains to particular mac addresses (put a bar code under
them and read them as they travel around) - then send data to them by mac
address.

Paul

[arduino-novice]

you'll need to hunt down a stack for part you choose - there's often money
involved for full zigbee stacks, but really for your trains you don't  need an
IP stack, nor really the full zigbee mesh thing, instead all you need is a way
to map particular trains to particular mac addresses (put a bar code under
them and read them as they travel around) - then send data to them by mac
address.

        Paul

I see..... so for all intents and purposes, the programmer just need to send ethernet frames to, and receive ethernet frames from, the Xbee module via the SPI interface.

Zbee (802.15.4 or the later ZNet 2.5) handles layer 2 and below, and the client application will handle anything above.

Am I correct?

So one needs to look for existing standards (if any) on top of layer 2 for multi-agent robot communication, or model railway control.

Arduino  Novice

[Paul Campbell]

On Sun, 03 Jun 2012 19:40:36 arduino-novice wrote:
> I see..... so for all intents and purposes, the programmer just need to
> send ethernet frames to, and receive ethernet frames from, the Xbee module
> via the SPI interface.
>
> Zbee (802.15.4 or the later ZNet 2.5) handles layer 2 and below, and the
> client application will handle anything above.
>
> Am I correct?
>
> So one needs to look for existing standards (if any) on top of layer 2 for
> multi-agent robot communication, or model railway control.

I think that "ether-like frames" might be a better description - zigbee
packets are tiny (100 bytes or so) and mac addrsses are larger (64 bits)

There's probably scope for creating your own protocols (or porting existing
ones)

Paul

[Yasir Ali]

I have Written a Library for Arduino. This library will help you to configure CC2500 Module. And also will let you to send and receive data Through CC2500.

You can Download This Library From My Repo on Github...

 https://github.com/yasiralijaved/Arduino-CC2500-Library