6. Network Commissioning and Diagnostics
Network commissioning is the process whereby devices in a mesh network are discovered and configured for operation.
The XBee modules include several features to support device discovery and configuration. In addition to configuring
devices, a strategy must be developed to place devices to ensure reliable routes.
To accommodate these requirements, the XBee modules include various features to aid in device placement,
configuration, and network diagnostics.
Device Configuration
XBee modules can be configured locally through serial commands (AT or API), or remotely through remote API
commands. API devices can send configuration commands to set or read the configuration settings of any device in
the network.
Device Placement
For a mesh network installation to be successful, the installer must be able to determine where to place individual
XBee devices to establish reliable links throughout the mesh network.
Link Testing
A good way to measure the performance of a mesh network is to send unicast data through the network from
one device to another to determine the success rate of many transmissions. To simplify link testing, the
modules support a loopback cluster ID (0x12) on the data endpoint (0xE8). Any data sent to this cluster ID on
the data endpoint will be transmitted back to the sender. This is shown in the figure below:
The configuration steps to send data to the loopback cluster ID depend on the serial port mode as determined
by the AP command.
Transparent Mode
To send data to the loopback cluster ID on the data endpoint of a remote device, set the CI command value to
0x12. The SE and DE commands should be set to 0xE8 (default value). The DH and DL commands should be set
to the address of the remote (0 for the coordinator, or the 64-bit address of the remote). After exiting command
mode, any received serial characters will be transmitted to the remote device, and returned to the sender.
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