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Can Z-stack or 6LoWPAN respect my project requirements?

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: Z-STACK, CC2538, CC1310, CC1200

Hi, 

I am working on a project for a wireless product design relative to an IoT solution for temperature monitor system.

Wireless communication requirements 

  • A secure, reliable wireless channel
  • Onboard antenna
  • Network Size > 150 devices
  • Indoor Communication
  • OTA Programming 
  • Multiple networks in one location 
  • range up to 200 meters (with repeaters)

I am thinking about using Z-Stack or 6LoWPAN Stack . Do you confirm the respect by this stack of the project requirements?

Best Regards

  • It's no problem for Z-Stack to work for your application.
  • Our Thingsquare platform, which uses 6lowpan, definitely would fit the bill. Plus, you'd also get built-in device onboarding mechanisms, data access control, data history, as well as Android / iOS / web frontends ready to use from day one. The ready-made frontend means that you have something to show to your customers immediately, and at a later point decide to develop your own apps, working directly on top of the REST API.

    This blog post is a good starting point: e2e.ti.com/.../building-a-connected-soil-moisture-monitor-with-a-sub-1-ghz-launchpad-development-kit

  • Thank you for your reply.
    I 'd like to ask you some other questions:
    1-How long is the range of CC2538 with 7 dbm Tx power? (must be up to 30 m)
    2-How many devices can simultaneously communicate with the coordinator? ( the max number).
    3-If I prefer using 868MHz band which transceiver do you advise me to use ?
    I appreciate your help.

    Best Regards
  • 1. It depends on your antenna and it is no problem to have more than 30m light of sight transmitting.
    2. Devices cannot communicate with the coordinator simultaneously. It's sequential.
    3. I suggest you to use CC1310.
  • Hi Gharbi,

    maybe those questions were directed to YiKai and about the Z-Stack, but I thought I'd answer them from the Thingsquare / 6lowpan perspective anyway:

    30 m is a reasonable range, but it depends on many different factors (hardware design, indoor/outdoor, the number of walls, the structure of the walls, etc.). Best way to know for sure is to test in your target environment.

    There is no maximum number to the number of devices in each network, but depending on how much data you need to send, one network may run out of bandwidth. The solution is then to add another network in the same location. They will be jumping on different radio channels so they will not interfere directly with each other. We run 100 nodes in our CC2538 testbed and sees a fairly low network utilization.

    For sub-GHz, the CC1310 is currently the best supported option, but it has a limited flash size. It is also possible to do CC2538 + CC1200 to get more flash + RAM.

    /adam
  • Thank you Ms. Adam. I will definitely take a look at your Thingsquare platform.
  • Hi Ms. Adam,

    Thank you again for your reply!
    I have taken a look at the blog post that you sent to me. your platform offers amazing features but I m not interested in the frontends solution! I need only to know which device and protocol stack I have to choose. So could you tell me if you can offer only this two services? and does your platform support the OTA programming?

    best regards,
    Hamed
  • Hi Hamed,

    yes, we certainly support OTA programming. OTA really is a core mechanism that any connected device platform has to have. We have more information about it here: www.thingsquare.com/.../ and here: www.thingsquare.com/.../

    Regarding the frontends, most customers build their applications directly against the REST API. But even then, having the possibility to easily deploy a frontend for interacting with the network is extremely useful, both for developing the business (e.g. showing to early customers) and the technology (e.g. to inspect the performance and properties of the network).

    /adam