hello beautiful comp.arch.embedded world! how are you feeling this fine night?
i've been developing a DIY home automation network for five or six years now, and its evolved in a number of ways. one of the final goals was always going to be to attach some form of RF system and make the whole shebang wireless. well, i'm proud to say, its finally at that point!
it seems like there's actually a plethora of zigbee hardware out there, which i like. what i'm not sure about is how what is required to do devel work, most prominently on the software side. what do zigbee stacks actually do? are they all vendor specific, or does the MAC/PHY specify a strict enough interface guidelines to make this generic? i'm still on a student hobbyist budget, where should i look for low cost solutions?
my other question is, what is required for mesh operation of Zigbee, and how do you configure your mesh system? it is my understanding that zigbee was crafted ground up to be a "mesh" system. this would seem to imply that there is a coperative standard in place. none-the-less, it seems intuitive that there would still be some level of control over the network to let you create dispirate networks, or to prevent a battery powered remote from acting as a central relay.
many thanks! myren