T06 XCTU and Zigbee Network Configuration

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Before starting this XBee Tutorial 6 (XBee T6), the basic knowledges in T1 - T5 should be all studied. Without those information, user will just get puzzled and confused with the parameters for Zigbee network configuration.


Since XBee shares the same pins (Tx/Rx) for configuration and data sending, so it defines 2 modes for distinguish them:

  • Transparent Mode (Sending data wirelessly, the data it got will be sent)

  • Command Mode (Parameters update/configuration, use AT command)

Transparent Mode

  1. The default mode of XBee for sending/receiving data wirelessly

  2. The data from serial Rx pin, will be sent out wirelessly

  3. The data from air (antenna), will be sent to serial Tx pin

Command Mode

  1. The mode for network parameters configuration

  2. 1 sec silence + "+++" + 1 sec silence

  3. After 10 sec without any input (10 sec silence), the command mode will be quit and back to Transparent Mode

  4. The command mode can be quit with command "ATCN"





API Mode

Transparent mode is for basic wireless communication application. For advanced network application, API mode be defined and introduced. API (Application Programming Interface).

The data packet of API mode consists of data length, data, and checksum, xbee destination address, so it can perform complexed network application. Compare to transparent mode and command mode, API mode is the third way of translate the communication data.

API frame structure


X-CTU - API Frames Generator

X-CTU comes with a neat function - XBee API Frames Generator. It demonstrates how to generate the API frame formats correctly.


X-CTU - API Frames Interpreter

X-CTU also provides - XBee API Frames Interpreter. This definitely lower down the barrier of using XBee API mode.

Transparent Mode Configuration

  1. The Mac Address of an XBee module is the parameter of SH (Serial number High) & SL (Serial number Low) in XCTU. The Mac Address can not be modified.

  2. The DH (Destination address High) & DL (Destination address Low) settings are the Mac address of the target XBee for communication.

  3. Assume XBee A's mac address is A1, and XBee B's mac address is B1, then:

    • The DH & DL of XBee A should fill with "B1"

    • The DH & DL of XBee B should fill with "A1"



The minimum configuration for a Zigbee mesh network

Assume there are 2 XBee modules, one for Coordinator and one for Router/End Device. The most minimum network configuration is described below.

  1. Device Type Setting

Instead of using 1 item to decide the device type, XBee uses 2 items: CE & SM. CE: Coordinator Enable, SM: Sleep Mode.

  • Coordinator: CE: 1 SM: 0

  • Router: CE: 0 SM: 0

  • End Device: CE: 0 SM: 1

  1. PAN ID

PAN means Personal Area Network.

  • Each node in the network should use the same PAN ID.

  • The default ID is 0, then the PAN ID will be randomly choosed.

  1. Scan Channel (SC)

      • Each node in the netwrok should use the same Scan Channel

  2. Join Verification (JV)

      • Enable this setting to ensure there is a coordinator in the network.

      • If enabled, the XBee attempts to discover the address of the coordinator when it first joins a network.









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