Node parameters

When configuring a node, it is necessary to set some parameters which will be used lately in the network, and some parameters necessary for using the API functions.

MAC address

A 64-bit RF module's unique IEEE address. It is divided in two groups of 32 bits (High and Low).

It identifies uniquely a node inside a network due to it can not be modified and it is given by the manufacturer.

Example of use:

{
    xbee900HP.getOwnMacLow(); // Get 32 lower bits of MAC Address
    xbee900HP.getOwnMacHigh(); // Get 32 upper bits of MAC Address
}

Related variables:

xbee900HP.sourceMacHigh[0-3] → stores the 32 upper bits of MAC address

xbee900HP.sourceMacLow [0-3] → stores the 32 lower bits of MAC address

Besides, XBee modules provide a stick on the bottom side where the MAC address is indicated:

Figure: MAC address

PAN ID

The Personal Area Network Identifier (PAN ID) is the Network ID. The user network identifier. Nodes must have the same network identifier to communicate. Only modules with matching IDs can communicate with each other so all the nodes in the same network must have the same PAN ID. If using OEM network IDs, 0xFFFF will use the factory value.

Parameter range: From 0 to 0x7FFF

Default: 0x7FFF

Example of use:

{
    uint8_t panid[] = { 0x7F, 0xFF };
    xbee900HP.setPAN(panid);
    xbee900HP.getPAN();
}

Related variables:

xbee900HP.PAN_ID[0-7] → stores the 16-bit PAN ID. It is stored in the two first positions.

XBee configuration example:

https://development.libelium.com/waspmote/900hp-01-configure-xbee-parameters

Node identifier

It is an ASCII string of 20 characters at most which identifies the node in a network. It is used to identify a node in the application level. It is also used to search a node using its NI.

Example of use:

{
    xbee900HP.setNodeIdentifier("node01");
    xbee900HP.getNodeIdentifier();
}

Related variables:

xbee900HP.nodeID[0-19] → stores the 20-byte max string Node Identifier

Available frequencies

XBee 900HP defines 64 channels that are spaced 400 kHz apart:

• 902-928MHz : 64 channels

Figure: Available frequencies for XBee 900HP

This read-only command can be queried to return a bitfield of the frequencies that are available in the module's region of operation. Each bit corresponds to a physical channel. Channels are spaced 400 kHz apart:

Bitfield	Frequency (MHz)	Bitfield	Frequency (MHz)
Bit 0	902.400	Bit 32	915.200
Bit 1	902.800	Bit 33	915.600
Bit 2	903.200	Bit 34	916.000
Bit 3	903.600	Bit 35	916.400
Bit 4	904.000	Bit 36	916.800
Bit 5	904.400	Bit 37	917.200
Bit 6	904.800	Bit 38	917.600
Bit 7	905.200	Bit 39	918.000
Bit 8	905.600	Bit 40	918.400
Bit 9	906.000	Bit 41	918.800
Bit 10	906.400	Bit 42	919.200
Bit 11	906.800	Bit 43	919.600
Bit 12	907.200	Bit 44	920.000
Bit 13	907.600	Bit 45	920.400
Bit 14	908.000	Bit 46	920.800
Bit 15	908.400	Bit 47	921.200
Bit 16	908.800	Bit 48	921.600
Bit 17	909.200	Bit 49	922.000
Bit 18	909.600	Bit 50	922.400
Bit 19	910.000	Bit 51	922.800
Bit 20	910.400	Bit 52	923.200
Bit 21	910.800	Bit 53	923.600
Bit 22	911.200	Bit 54	924.000
Bit 23	911.600	Bit 55	924.400
Bit 24	912.000	Bit 56	924.800
Bit 25	912.400	Bit 57	925.200
Bit 26	912.800	Bit 58	925.600
Bit 27	913.200	Bit 59	926.000
Bit 28	913.600	Bit 60	926.400
Bit 29	914.000	Bit 61	926.800
Bit 30	914.400	Bit 62	927.200
Bit 31	914.800	Bit 63	927.600

Figure: Available frequencies on XBee 900HP

Parameter range: From 0x1FFFFFF to 0x00FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Default:

• USA/Canada version → 0x00FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (channels 0 -- 63)

• Australia version → 0x00FFFFFFFE00000000 (channels 33 -- 63)

• Brazil version → 0x00FFFFFFFE00000FFF (channels 0 -- 11, 33 -- 63)

Example of use:

{
    xbee900HP.getAvailableFreq();
}

Related variables:

xbee900HP._availableFreq[0-7] → stores the available frequencies bitfield

Channel mask

The channel mask command allows channels to be selectively enabled or disabled. This is useful to avoid using frequencies that experience unacceptable levels of RF interference. This command is a bitfield. Each bit in the bitfield corresponds to a frequency as defined in the "Available Frequencies" section. When a bit in the Channel Mask and the corresponding bit in the Available Frequencies are both set to 1 then that physical channel may be chosen by the module as an active channel for communication.

The minimum number of channels required for operation can be queried with the Minimum Frequencies (MF) command. If a Channel Mask setting would result in less than MF active channels being enabled, then an error will be returned. If there are more active channels enabled than required by MF, then the first MF frequencies will be used (higher active frequencies may be unused in favor of lower ones).

All modules in a network must use an identical set of active channels. Separate networks which are in physical range of each other should use different Preamble Patterns (HP) and/or Network ID's (ID) to avoid receiving data from the other network.

Parameter range: From 0x1FFFFFF to 0x00FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Default: 0xFFFFFFFFFFF7FFFF

Channel 19 (910.000 MHz) is disabled by default. This channel has approximately 2 dBm worse receiver sensitivity than other channels. It is suggested not to use this channel.

The user must keep in mind that depending on the region, the XBee module supports different frequency channels. Although it is possible to enable all channels in the channel mask, the XBee module will be forced to use the available channels for the corresponding region. More precisely, the available frequencies for each region are:

Region	Bitfield	Channels
USA/Canada	0x00FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF	0 – 63
Australia	0x00FFFFFFFE00000000	33 – 63
Brazil	0x00FFFFFFFE00000FFF	0 – 11, 33 – 63

Example of use:

{
    uint8_t channelMask[8] = {0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF};
    xbee900HP.setChannelMask( channelMask );
    xbee900HP.getChannelMask();
}

Related variables:

xbee900HP._channelMask[0-7] → stores the channel mask

XBee configuration example:

https://development.libelium.com/waspmote/900hp-01-configure-xbee-parameters

Minimum frequency count

This read-only command can be queried to determine the minimum number of channels that must be enabled with the Channel Mask command for proper operation in the module\'s region of operation.

Parameter range:

From 1 to 50

Default:

USA/Canada → 25

Australia → 25

Brazil → 25

Example of use:

{
    xbee900HP.getMinFreqCount();
}

Related variables:

xbee900HP._minFreqCount → stores the minimum frequency count value

XBee configuration example:

https://development.libelium.com/waspmote/900hp-01-configure-xbee-parameters

Preamble ID

Only modules with matching preamble IDs can communicate with each other. Different preamble IDs minimize interference between multiple sets of modules operating in the same vicinity. When receiving a packet this is checked before the network ID, as it is encoded in the preamble, and the network ID is encoded in the MAC header.

Parameter range: From 0x00 to 0x07

Default: 0x00

Example of use:

{
    xbee900HP.setPreambleID( 0x00 );
    xbee900HP.getPreambleID();
}

Related variables:

xbee900HP._preambleID → stores the preamble ID

XBee configuration example:

https://development.libelium.com/waspmote/900hp-01-configure-xbee-parameters