CC1101: Seeking TI’s Best ISM Band Chip for Mesh Networking with Multi-Hop Routing

Hi Alex,

I have forwarded your email details to the sales/field team in the UK. Give them a couple of days and if no reply just let me know.

Thanks.

Hi, I haven't heard anything back yet :(. 

Hi Alex,

Just sent a reminder to team in the UK. 

In the meantime, I would recommend you to look at the CC1354 and the SW stacks that are available for this chip set as a start.

www.ti.com/.../CC1354R10 

Hi,

Please look at the software stack options at: https://dev.ti.com/tirex/explore/node?node=A__AC7UNBWx3i6iMAUzzhqKwA__com.ti.SIMPLELINK_CC13XX_CC26XX_SDK__BSEc4rl__LATEST

Hi all,

Just following up on my original post from March 10. I've since been in touch with a TI FAE, and I've made progress testing the CC1352P7 with the Wi-SUN stack.

I sent a few follow-up questions on April 7 and again on April 11, but haven’t heard back yet. I know people are busy, but I’d really appreciate any guidance on the remaining points if someone has time to take a look.

Thanks,
Alex

Hi Alex,

Can you post your questions here on the E2E forum since then we can assign them to a software or hardware expert who can give a better technical answer than the local sales team.

Thanks

1. Dual Stack Use
   Is it advisable to run both the Wi-SUN and Bluetooth stacks on the CC1352P7 in practice?
   We’d like to support both a CoAP node (Wi-SUN) and a BLE node simultaneously.
   1. Are there downsides in doing this ? 
2. Licensing
   Are there any licensing requirements we need to be aware of when using the provided TI Wi-SUN stack?
   1. We aren't planning on using their logo / going the certification route, just using them as a reliable mesh phy for all of our comms. 
3. Airtime Constraints
   Are there any limitations on airtime usage when transmitting with the TI Wi-SUN reference stack?
4. Scaling to Large Node Counts
   We're considering scaling up to 400 nodes in one area.
   • I understand TI has tested up to 100 nodes.
   • We plan to run the border router on a platform like the SK-AM64B to manage RAM usage.
     Are there any additional concerns or recommendations for supporting this scale?
5. Multiple Border Routers
   If we deploy a second border router, will the nodes be able to automatically configure to multiple endpoints?
6. Power Consumption
   • Do you have any example figures for power consumption of the CC1352P7 while maintaining Wi-SUN connectivity?
   • Is there any reference code demonstrating low-power operation with Wi-SUN?

Hi Alex,

1. What is the case for running Wi-SUN and BLE simultaneously, is it for commissioning purposes?

2. The Wi-SUN stack is royalty, no licensing needed. Wi-SUN | TI.com

3. Since I believe airtime is region dependent, we have provided a long list of PHY which match each of the listed region's requirements:  https://www.ti.com/lit/swra714

6. We do not have low-power operation examples with Wi-SUN. 

Regards,

Arthur

1)

What is the case for running Wi-SUN and BLE simultaneously: 

One use case is commissioning, But also being able to run something like BLE Services and Characteristics so phones could get / set data from the wider mesh. 

From what I've seen so far, the CC Studio doesn't let me run 2 stacks at the same time, so I'd need to interleave / timeshare them, and risk missing messages ? 

2)Thanks for getting back on the WiSun Licence

3) So as long as I set the region correctly, the WiSun / Ti Implementation will handle all appropriate airtime constraints ?

Any more info I can get on 4, 5, and is there going to be a reference implementation for 6 ? 

Thanks ! 

Hi Alex,

please see below answers to your questions.

1) BLE Wi-SUN DMM
Unfortunately we can not run BLE and Wi-SUN simultaneously but we have the option to start and stop the BLE stack. Meaning you could trigger the comissioning mode when running Wi-SUN (over the Wi-SUN network or a button press) which would trigger a soft reset to stop the Wi-SUN stack and boot up with the BLE stack. The data transferred using BLE could be stored on the device and after the BLE connection is terminated you could start the Wi-SUN Stack, re-join the network and transmit the stored data.

3) Yes, this is correct.

4) Scaling to Large Node Counts
We are currently only supporting the host application (wfantund) for AM64 and the border router is running embedded on eg. CC1352P7. 
In our tests we have currently tested 100 nodes connected to one border router and have planned to extend this number with future changes.
As you already mentioned the main current constraint is the ram usage on the border router and looking at that you will be able to connect most nodes when using CC1354P10 or CC1354R10.
But you can connect already more than 100 nodes to one host using multiple border routers as I will explain below.

5) Multiple Border Routers
If you deploy two border routers with a different PAN ID but other than that same network parameters and certificates the nodes will connect to the border router that they have a lower routing cost to. Meaning a better rssi, less hops etc.

If you want to influence which border router the nodes are joining you can use the PAN ID allow deny list feature which is available on application layer to force the nodes to join another or a specific border router. https://dev.ti.com/tirex/explore/content/simplelink_cc13xx_cc26xx_sdk_8_30_01_01/docs/ti_wisunfan/html/wisun-guide/network-management.html#pan-id-allow-deny-list 

If you connect multiple border routers to one host and create seperate network interfaces for them with wfantund you can connect them to the same DHCP server and manage all nodes in one IPv6 network. https://github.com/TexasInstruments/ti-wisunfantund 

6) Power Consumption
You need to consider that Wi-SUN is a protocol that requires the nodes to be permanently active to maintain a connection. If you want to lower the power consumption you can chose a less responsive network profile which will lead to less transmissions. Theoretically you can also have some nodes that you shutdown completely but you will need to re-join the network after waking them up. This would only work for nodes at the border of you network as otherwise the node is also needed as router for other nodes (mesh) and thus need to be active.

Kind regards,
Theo