I have been searching the internet for advice on what sort of wireless to use for a microcontroller application, but have only been finding info on wireless with respect to PCs.
Does anyone have any advice on what to use?
I will have about 100 modules that will control LED arrays. I really want to find something where I can create a network in which they all communicate with each other rather a master/slave scenario.
Thanks in advance for any responses.
Cheers, DHD
On 26 Jan 2007 14:24:11 -0800, "Dr. Honeydew" wrote in :
Lots more info would be helpful; e.g., Maximum range needed? Transmission speed needed? Latency issues? Error checking needed? Duty cycle (% of time on the air)? Power available? Physical environment? Sources of radio interference?
Zigbee from Jennic looks interesting, although it is based on an open standards, using their technology is proprietary I think, like Echelon Lonworks (who incidently promise their own wireless system in their Pyxsos line) the upshot is that you have to pay a lot.
Thanks John... Yea, good call... Here is some more info:
The units will be laid out in an array about 120ft in diameter, so no one unit will be more than that distance form another.
Hmm, didn't think too much about this one. The project is a sort of interactive light show where people will trigger lights in a unit nearest them and this will set off a kind of domino effect of other units lighting up. Does that make sense?
Sorry, I'm kind of new at this stuff. What do you mean?
Presumably that would be important. Again, I'm not sure how to factor that in, I'm sorry.
Hopefully the above description helps answer some of these questions, 'cause I'm at a loss here! ha.
Battery powered, probably 5 volts. There will be enough to power 60 LEDs per unit, so presumably plenty for components.
The desert. Literally. Modules will be protected with enclosures, but temps will be rather high and enclosures will be in direct sunlight.
I wouldn't imagine much. I suppose if I use 802.11 I am at higher risk for that?
Thanks so much.
Cheers, Bill Goodrich
Thanks Lee.
Yea, I've had some experience with maxstream's OEM zigbee modules. I had the same thought for this application. Haven't looked at Jennic's yet.
Thanks.
Cheers, DHD
On 26 Jan 2007 15:41:21 -0800, "Dr. Honeydew" wrote in :
Bluetooth Class 1 (100 m range) should suffice. Likewise ZigBee.
Sure, and although you ducked my question, sounds like speed isn't much of an issue.
How much typical and worst-case transmission delay can the application tolerate? 1 ms? 10 ms? 100 ms? 1,000 ms? etc.
Will your application assume responsibility for retransmitting lost packets, or must the radio system do that?
Sounds pretty low, so 100 nodes may be practical. 0.1% is a typical ZigBee duty cycle.
Enclosures need to be transparent to radio, will need venting, and you'll probably want sunshades to avoid overheating.
Question I forgot: What kind of security do you need? Protection against hackers? Robust encryption? Nothing?
Anyway, a Bluetooth PAN (Personal Area Network) or piconet could be the way to go if only 8 devices will be "active" at any one time; all other devices would have to be in "parked" mode. (Latency could be an issue if more than 8 devices try to become active at any one time.) Bluetooth advantages are cost (low), standardization, and wide availability of parts.
Another possible way to go is ZigBee, which has a simpler implementation than Bluetooth, more flexibility (up to 255 devices on the network), and even lower cost. That's where I'd personally start.
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