Configuration of the ZigBee interface

One of the applications of Meshlium is to act as a Gateway of the Waspmote Sensor Networks. Waspmote is a sensor device specially oriented to developers. It works with different protocols (ZigBee, Bluetooth, GPRS) and frequencies (2.4GHz, 868MHz, 900MHz) being capable of getting links up to 12km. It counts with an hibernate mode of 0.7uA which allows to save battery when it is not transmitting. More than 50 sensors already available and a complete open source IDE (API libraries + compiler) made really easy to start working with the platform.

For more information about the sensor motes go to: http://www.libelium.com/waspmote

There are 5 different XBee models can can be configured:

  • XBee 802.15.4
  • XBee ZigBee (ZB)
  • XBee 868MHz
  • XBee 900MHz
  • XBee XSC

Depending the kind of XBee model the parameters to be configured may vary.

Complete list:

  • Network ID: Also known as PAN ID (Personal Arena Network ID)
  • Channel: frequency channel used
  • Network Address: 16b address (hex field)
  • Node ID: maximum 20 characters (by default "Meshlium")
  • Power level: [0..4] (by default 4)
  • Encrypted mode: true/false (by default false)
  • Encryption Key: 16 characters maximum
  • MAC: 64b hardware address. It is a read only value divided in two parts
    • MAC-high: 32b (hex field)
    • MAC-low: 32b (hex field)

These parameters must be also configured in the Waspmote sensor nodes. Access to all the information related to Waspmote at: http://www.libelium.com/waspmote

To discover the MAC address of the XBee module just press the "Load MAC" button.

The "Check status" option allows to see if the ZigBee radio is working properly and if the configuration stored on it matches the values set in the Manager System.

Both process ("Load MAC" and "Check status") require the ZigBee capturer daemon to be stopped. This means no frames will be received while executing this actions. Be patient this can take up to 1 minute to finish.

NOTE: When you buy a Waspmote Developer kit with Meshlium and with the XBee ZB as ZigBee radio both the Waspmote GW and Meshlium come configured as Coordinator of the network. Take into account that only one of them can be working at the same time.

NOTE: If the check of the encryption mode fails but the rest of parameters are OK, it means the ZigBee radio has an old version of the firmware but it is working perfectly.


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