Hello,

I just started reading on zigbee and find myself abit lost. Therefore, it would be great if someone with the knowledge can give me some pointers. First of all, I am wondering whether the PHY, MAC of 802.15.4 has to be programmed or you don't have to worry about it. Moreover, how much programming does one need to do make a simple zigbee network (i.e do you need to programming the layers). Finally, if someone know any good resource of information please post me.

Thanks

 

Hey guy,

If you're not looking to get into it on a hardware level you have a few options...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-Arduin...718?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c59c138e

DS- https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets...ss_Preliminary_Product_Specification_v1_0.pdf

These Chinese radios are pretty cheap/good, lots of hackers/makers use them, they tend to work pretty well. I can tell you from experience you will get 100ft line of sight easy. I've used Atmel ATmega8L... programmed with Atmel Studio w/ Atmel's ISP... if you're a linux guy AVRdude & AVRGCC is also an option.

If you're new to programming an Arduino UNO would be your best option... lots of libraries available for this device that take out a few abstraction layers... SPI, FIFO, etc...

If you're into spending more money...
http://www.digi.com/products/wirele...oint-multipoint-rfmodules/xbee-series1-module

These guys are highly regarded, will work fine with an Atmel 8-bit (or PIC) and then will get easier with an Arduino platform... You can even get a shield...

Good luck!