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Sub 1Ghz 6lowpan Mesh Network - Hardware Decision and Software Stack for Mesh Network

Daniel Fuchs41
Prodigy 130 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: MSP430F5438, CC1125, MSP430F5418, CC1120, MSP430F5418A, CC2538, CC1310

Hello,


We are trying to build an field monitoring System with different sensors. Therefore we want to build up a Mesh Network for high distances, low power(solar, battery powered) and low datarates, just a few bytes every hour.

We have 4 TRxEb Boards with a CC1125  Transceiver. These boards are comming with a MSP430F5438.

i have found a Contiki OS Port for 6lowpan for this boards. But i think this stack is a overkill for our application. the whole stack is 120kB big. In comparision to Atmels lightweight Mesh Stack (10kb) is this very huge.

So my Question is: do i have the right Hardware? Are there any other possibilites for a Mesh Network with Ti without the contiki os, or is there a "lightweight" contiki os? Which Hardware would you recommend us? The application beside the Mesh network is very small... read some sensors and set an actuator.

Is 2.4Ghz a better choice then Sub 1Ghz?

I also read something about Sensinode Mesh stack . But i hardly can find anything about it, only the mbed website?!.

Thanks for your help,

greetings from Austria!

Daniel

  • 0
    TI__Genius 12480 points

    Hello Daniel,

    It would be useful for us to understand your network topology, in order to recommend the best network stack. How many devices are in your network?, how many hops do you foresee? What is the range you need? Questions like these are important to understand in order to recommend what stack to use and what PHY layer is the best option.

    Contiki is a toolbox, and a very flexible one, so you can configure different protocol stacks, buffer sizes etc etc. If you do not require Internet/IP connectivity, I would recommend to have a look at thr rime stack inside Contiki. See /examples/rime for a bunch of different applications. 

    You most certainly have the correct hardware, once you have a platform supported in Contiki you can build any of the application examples for it. 

    /Jonas

  • 0 in reply to Firefighter
    Prodigy 130 points
    Hello Firefighter,

    Thank you for your reply.

    Ok we want to measure moisture on the fields , for every plant and control a valve. So on one field it is possible to have 10 000plants and therefore 10000 Nodes, the required range between a node will be at maximum 1000m.
    We want also a Gateway which is connected to all the nodes (maybe more gateways(?) per field) and sends the data via UMTS to a database server. So i don't know how many hops are possible and how many are required. Maybe we can use more than one gateway for 10000 nodes?

    We're planning to grow up to 100 or more such fields.
    On the database Server mobile apps and webapplications can be connected, but thats not important at the moment.

    The amount of data is very low. So we've got Sensor Values which are about 10x16bit and then parameters which are also 10x16bit. The Parameters are updated one time at a day. The Sensor Values should send to the data base at every hour.
    So the microcontroller should have an RTC, and should sleep the whole time and if there occour some data or 1hour ends than it makes a measurement sets actuator and go to sleep. We planned a Solar panel 6V 100mA and a Lipo battery < 2000mA 3.7V (the smaller the better).

    So i am using this Demo:
    processors.wiki.ti.com/.../Thingsquare_6LoWPAN_MSP430
    But i think the Thingsquare Module is a bit to much for hour application?

    I will have a look on rime stack!

    Do you
  • 0 in reply to Daniel Fuchs41
    Prodigy 130 points

    Hello,

    Sorry for doubleposting...

    I found the CC430 for the sub1ghz bands, which is also able to be used in a wireless mesh network. Are there any ports of the contiki os or Sensinode stack or Rime Stack? I hardly can find anything .. only that it is possible.

    Thank you

    Daniel

  • 0 in reply to Daniel Fuchs41
    TI__Mastermind 36375 points
    No, the CC430 is not big enough to handle Contiki, have you seen the new CC13xx that we just announced? It will have the right size (Flash and RAM) and will have the right power profile (very low)

    Regards,
    Thomas
  • 0 in reply to TA12012
    Prodigy 130 points

    Hello TA12012


    Thanks for your reply!
    Yes the CC13xx sounds very good, but i hardly can find a Contiki OS port for it. So i think it could be very hard to Port the Software for a Contiki os Beginner?

    We decided at to build up a testsystem of 50 pieces with the MSP430F5418 and CC1120. But if there will come a Port for the CC13xx we maybe will change the Hardware for it.

    Best Regards,

    Daniel

  • 0 in reply to Daniel Fuchs41
    Prodigy 80 points

    Hello Daniel,

    I'd like to know if you were able to port Contiki OS to MSP430F5418?

    I'm trying to port Contiki to MSP430F5418A + CC1120, but I'm having some issues.

    Kind regards.

    Rafael Christ

  • 0 in reply to Rafael Christ
    Prodigy 130 points
    Hello,

    we've choose now the CC2538 for our application and use contiki for it.
  • 0 in reply to Daniel Fuchs41
    Prodigy 80 points

    OK. Thank you for the reply.

  • 0 in reply to Daniel Fuchs41
    Prodigy 220 points
    Hi Daniel and Rafael,

    I have arrived at the exact same place. Same devices: MSP430F5418A + CC1120. Same question! Can I use contiki for my mesh network? For me, I absolutely need the range of the lower frequency radio, so the CC2538 won't help me any.

    Have you both hit a wall with this, or have you managed to get it to work?

    It seems likely that it would be less work to start over on the hardware platform to work with contiki than it would be to hack the contiki code. With this in mind, if I was starting over, is there a tried and tested solution that would be recommended? What did you guys do in the end?

    Thanks all,

    Al.
  • 0 in reply to Al Brennan
    Guru 735455 points
    Contiki supports CC1310 now so I would suggest you to use it for your design.
  • 0 in reply to YiKai Chen
    Prodigy 220 points
    Yikai,

    Thanks for your response. I've looked up CC1310 and it is perfect for my application. It's a pity as I've already had a batch of boards made, and bought parts which will go to waste! :-( I can reuse the application code at the very least.

    So if I commit to redesigning with CC1310, what steps are involved in getting a few prototype nodes running. I've been working in CCS with a FET programmer. Will I need to buy other stuff and learn new toolchains. Are we talking a few days work, or months getting Contiki to run on hardware? And is there any sort of API / documentation available to learn how to use it, or do you just read the source code to figure it out?

    Cheers,

    Al.
  • 0 in reply to Al Brennan
    Guru 735455 points
    You would need XDS100V3 emulator to download FW to CC1310 and it should be a few days work.