Development support for STMicroelectronics' integrated ZigBee devices from Arrow

The support from Arrow includes complete evaluation and development kits; type-approved radio control modules (RCMs); and a hardware-based Insight Adapter that allows the PC integrated suite InSight Desktop to thoroughly monitor the behaviour of the ZigBee nodes. Specific products include the SNPRO Kit, allowing engineers to thoroughly monitor an unlimited number of nodes in a ZigBee network and the SNDEV kit, which can monitor up to three nodes.



The two kits include all of the hardware necessary to both build the ZigBee nodes and develop and debug the system. The SNPRO kit includes eight nodes while the SNDEV kit includes three nodes. Each node is built from an RCM, base board, power supply and cabling. The development hardware includes an Insight Adapter per node, plus cabling and an Ethernet switch. This allows easy control over individual nodes, and the network as a whole, from a host PC.



Software support includes the InSight Desktop graphical development tool. Via an Ethernet connection with each network node, this allows designers to control their application, upload firmware, test execution and collect debugging information from a central PC. By providing a consolidated, graphical view of the network’s operation with built-in protocol analysis and traffic visualisation, the Insight Desktop dramatically simplifies the task of wireless development and debugging.



For code development, Arrow also provides the xIDE development environment, consisting of a C-language compiler, assembler, source-level debugger and graphical editing environment. Training and on-going technical support are also available.



The SN250 and SN260 provide designers with everything they need to implement standards-compliant ZigBee solutions for low-data-rate wireless applications. The SN250 SoC includes an on-chip host processor, making it a suitable solution for low-cost, low-power applications like sensors. The SN260 is built on a network co-processor architecture, allowing users to choose their own applications processing platform. It therefore lends itself to tasks such as retrofitting ZigBee to an existing platform, and use in more sophisticated systems such as gateways and control units. Both devices employ Ember Corporation’s EmberZNet™ ZigBee software stack and include an integrated transceiver with performance that exceeds the requirements of IEEE 802.15.4.