Zigbee

Background

My Zigbee Configuration

Here is a picture of the configuration I'm using for my Zigbee: the radio chip itself is attached to a breakout board, which has a mini usb plug on it. I've got two Zigbees and two breakout boards.

I'm currently working through how to control the Zigbee directly from the computer via the mini usb cable.

How Zigbee Works

From this page: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/xbee-shield-hookup-guide

They explained it pretty clearly. What makes Zigbee such a popular format is that it is simple. There is no extensive coding that needs to be done, no IDE, no microcontroller instructions. It is a serial interface. This means you can think of it like a wireless serial terminal.

That means this page, on using the screen command in Linux to communicate with serial devices, is gonna come in handy: www.cyberciti.biz/faq/unix-linux-apple-osx-bsd-screen-set-baud-rate/

On your computer, when you plug in a Zigbee device (e.g., with a mini USB cable like the one pictured above), it will be added as a device in /dev/*. Using that device file, you can interact with the serial device using the screen command.

Getting Zigbee Working

Here's the rundown of the steps:

• find the device
• figure out how to connect to the device
• determine parameters necessary
• ...
• profit?

To get the Zigbee working on the Mac, I'm looking for a device file that's added to /dev/* when I plug in the Zigbee. Here's how I did that:

Before I plug in the Zigbee, I list all the devices in /dev. Then, I plug in the Zigbee. Then I list all the devices in /dev/ again. I compare the two lists, and I have my Zigbee.

Bingo: I can see two new devices corresponding to the Zigbee,

/dev/cu.usbserial-A601FA3K
/dev/tty.usbserial-A601FA3K

Projects

HackRF and Zigbee

Main page: HackRF/Zigbee

As of June 2016, I am working on a project to transmit information with a Zigbee, receive the signal with a HackRF, and demodulate the signal with Gnuradio.

References

tutorial on arduino + zigbee: http://cs.smith.edu/dftwiki/index.php/Tutorial:_Arduino_and_XBee_Communication

more on the 802.15 protocol used by zigbee, and how to set up a demodulator in gnuradio: http://wiesel.ece.utah.edu/media/documents/pdf/2010/03/25/thomas_project_report.pdf

download X-CTU, the software used to control and interact with the Zigbee devices: http://www.digi.com/products/xbee-rf-solutions/xctu-software/xctu#productsupport-utilities