ZigBee-Ready Radios House RS-232 And USB Interfaces

Sept. 15, 2005
Pull the XBee radios out of the box and they're ready to go as ZigBee transceivers for short-range applications with low data rates. Developed by MaxStream, they conform to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard and use Freescale's MC1319x chip set. Available wi

Pull the XBee radios out of the box and they're ready to go as ZigBee transceivers for short-range applications with low data rates. Developed by MaxStream, they conform to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard and use Freescale's MC1319x chip set.

Available with USB or RS-232 interfaces, these devices operate in the 2.4-GHz band at up to 250 kbits/s. They use 16 channels of direct-sequence spread spectrum, and over 65,000 network addresses are available. Also, they can be used anywhere a point-to-point or point-tomultipoint wireless connection is needed. OEMs and system integrators will find it easier than ever to incorporate wireless links into their designs without heavy RF experience.

The lower-cost XBee unit has a lineof-sight range of up to 300 feet at 250 kbits/s. Indoor and urban environments reduce the range to about 100 ft at the same data rate. It outputs just 1 mW, and the receive sensitivity is -92 dBm.

When powered down, the unit draws only 10 µA.

The XBee-PRO has a line-ofsight range of 4000 ft with a 250-kbit/s rate (see the figure). Indoor range is about 300 ft. The power-out is 100 mW, and the receive sensitivity is --100 dBm. Both units operate from 2.8 to 3.3 V. Antenna options include a chip antenna, a U.FL RF connector that connects to PSMA-type antennas, a wire antenna, and a 2.1-dBi dipole.

The ZigBee Alliance is developing multiple applications, including mesh networking. The XBee units can be reconfigured with a flash firmware download.

The XBee products come in a rugged aluminum package. Single units cost $99. Quantity discounts are available.

MaxStream
www.maxstream.net
ZigBee Alliance
www.zigbee.org

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Louis E. Frenzel

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