Building Wireless Sensor Networks Using Arduino

Starting and joining a network

To start sending data between your XBee modules, they all have to be joined to the same network first. In the previous examples, you have used a single coordinator and router, which together have automatically formed a network. In this section, you will learn a bit more about how these networks are formed and how addressing works.

The ZigBee protocol defines three different device types: coordinator, router, and end device. These are explained next:

• A coordinator starts a network and allows other devices to join it. It otherwise acts as a normal router. Each network must have exactly one coordinator.
• A router joins an existing network and will forward (route) packets on behalf of other members in the network, creating ...