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Digi XBee is the brand name of a popular family of form factor compatible wireless connectivity modules from
Digi International Digi International is an American Industrial Internet of Things ( IIoT) technology company headquartered in Hopkins, Minnesota. The company was founded in 1985 and went public as Digi International in 1989. The company initially offered intellig ...
. The first XBee modules were introduced under the MaxStream brand in 2005 and were based on the IEEE 802.15.4-2003 standard designed for point-to-point and star communications. Since the initial introduction, the XBee family has grown and a complete ecosystem of wireless modules, gateways, adapters and software has evolved. The XBee radios can all be used with the minimum number of connections — power (3.3 V), ground, data in and data out (
UART A universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART ) is a computer hardware device for asynchronous serial communication in which the data format and transmission speeds are configurable. It sends data bits one by one, from the least signific ...
), with other recommended lines being Reset and Sleep. Additionally, most XBee families have some other flow control,
input/output In computing, input/output (I/O, or informally io or IO) is the communication between an information processing system, such as a computer, and the outside world, possibly a human or another information processing system. Inputs are the signals ...
(I/O),
analog-to-digital converter In electronics, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC, A/D, or A-to-D) is a system that converts an analog signal, such as a sound picked up by a microphone or light entering a digital camera, into a digital signal. An ADC may also provide ...
(A/D) and indicator lines built in. The latest XBee 3 family introduces new capabilities like MicroPython, Digi's TrustFence security framework and Bluetooth low energy for local commissioning, configuration, diagnostics or beaconing


Supported technologies

Short Range (2.4 GHz) *
Zigbee Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home automation, medical device data collection, and oth ...
, IEEE 802.15.4, DigiMesh,
Bluetooth Low Energy Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE, colloquially BLE, formerly marketed as Bluetooth Smart) is a wireless personal area network technology designed and marketed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) aimed at novel applications i ...
Long Range (868/900 MHz) * Point-to-Point, Star topology, DigiMesh Cellular / LPWAN * LTE Cat-1, LTE-M / Narrowband IoT, 3G


Form-factors, antennas and data modes

XBee modules are available in three form-factors. All XBees, with the exception of the XBee 868LP, are available in the popular 20-pin through-hole form-factor. The latest XBee modules are also available in surface-mount and micro-mount form-factors, which are popular for high-volume applications due to the reduced manufacturing costs of SMT. *
through-hole In electronics, through-hole technology (also spelled "thru-hole") is a manufacturing scheme in which leads on the components are inserted through holes drilled in printed circuit boards (PCB) and soldered to pads on the opposite side, either ...
(TH) * surface mount (SMT) * micro-mount (MMT) XBee modules typically come with several antenna options, including U.FL, on-board chip, RF pad and integrated PCB XBee modules can operate either in a transparent data mode or in a packet-based
application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
(API) mode. * Transparent mode: data coming into the Data IN (DIN) pin are directly transmitted over-the-air to the intended receiving radios without any modification. Incoming packets can either be directly addressed to one target (point-to-point) or broadcast to multiple targets (star). This mode is primarily used in instances where an existing protocol cannot tolerate changes to the data format. AT commands are used to control the radio's setting * API mode: data are wrapped in a packet structure that allows for addressing, parameter setting and packet delivery feedback, including remote sensing and control of digital I/O and analog input pins.


Product family

As of March 2020, the Digi XBee portfolio includes * Short Range (2.4 GHz) **XBee 3 (newest family featuring integrated Bluetooth low energy, MicroPython and TrustFence security framework) ***802.15.4 - point-to-point topology or
star topology A star network is an implementation of a spoke–hub distribution paradigm in computer networks. In a star network, every host is connected to a central hub. In its simplest form, one central hub acts as a conduit to transmit messages. ...
based on the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol ***Zigbee - standards-based mesh networking based on the Zigbee protocol ***DigiMesh - sleeping mesh networking protocol developed by Digi International **XBee Series 2 (mature family, not recommended for new designs) ***802.15.4 / Zigbee / DigiMesh (see descriptions above) *Long Range (900/868 MHz) **XBee SX 900 / 868 *** point-to-point topology,
star topology A star network is an implementation of a spoke–hub distribution paradigm in computer networks. In a star network, every host is connected to a central hub. In its simplest form, one central hub acts as a conduit to transmit messages. ...
or mesh networking based on DigiMesh protocol ***High power (up to 1-Watt) for extreme RF line-of-sight range up to 105 km (65 miles) ***Low power (+13 dBm / 20 mW) for EU and battery-optimized applications **XBee 868LP/900HP *** point-to-point topology,
star topology A star network is an implementation of a spoke–hub distribution paradigm in computer networks. In a star network, every host is connected to a central hub. In its simplest form, one central hub acts as a conduit to transmit messages. ...
or mesh networking based on DigiMesh protocol * Cellular / LPWAN **XBee 3 LTE Cat-1 **XBee 3 LTE-M / NB-IoT **XBee 3G


See also

*
Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
*
Zigbee Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home automation, medical device data collection, and oth ...
* LTE-M * Narrowband IoT *
Comparison of wireless data standards A wide variety of different wireless data technologies exist, some in direct competition with one another, others designed for specific applications. Wireless technologies can be evaluated by a variety of different metrics of which some are describe ...


References


External links


Official Digi XBee Website

XBee on Arduino Blog

XBee Project Gallery

XBee Examples Site
{{Ambient intelligence Wireless sensor network Internet of things