How to form Zigbee 3.0 network with EmberZnet stack?

 

Background:

As you know, currently the Zigbee Alliance only certificates the Zigbee 3.0 devices, some customers are familiar with HA1.2 network, but for Z3.0 network, there are many differences. This article is talking about how to form Z3.0 network with EmberZnet stack. Hope it is helpful for some junior Zigbee engineers who develop the Z3.0 devices.

Before we talk about the Z3.0 network, let's review the HA1.2 network quickly. It is easy to setup HA1.2 network, especially, Silicon labs provide lots of CLI commands which can be used conveniently. Here are the examples:

1. For HA1.2 network

• On coordinator, if you want to form the network on the given channel, power and Pan Id, you can use below CLI command:

// Form HA1.2 network on coordinator
>> network form [channel:1] [power:1] [panId:2]
eg: 
>> network form 12 3 0x1234

If you want to search for an unused Channel and Pan Id, and automatic form a network on the first unused Channel and Pan Id it finds, you can use below CLI command.

// Form HA1.2 network
>> network find unused

Permit joining after the network is formed.

// Permit joining
>> network pjoin [time:1]
eg:
>> network pjoin 200

• On router or end device, if you want to join the network, you can use below CLI command.

// Joining a network
>> network join [channel:1] [power:1] [panId:2]
eg:
>> network join 12 3 0x1234

 

2. For Z3.0 network

The Zigbee Alliance specifies the details of Z3.0 network in docs-13-0402-13-00zi-Base-Device-Behavior-Specification.pdf, any customers can download this file on Zigbee website if they are members of Zigbee Alliance.

First, you should know the difference between the Centralized and Distributed network in Z3.0 network.

Centralized security network:

A centralized security network is a ZigBee network formed by a ZigBee coordinator with the functionality of a Trust Center. Each node that joins such a network is authenticated with the Trust Center before it can operate on the network.

Distributed security network:

A distributed security network is a ZigBee network formed by a ZigBee router and which does not have a Trust Center. Each node that joins such a network is authenticated by its parent before it can operate on the network.

Then, let's use CLI commands to form the Z3.0 network. If you want to form Z3.0 network, you can use below CLI command:

// Form Z3.0 network.
>> plugin network-creator form [centralized:1] [panId:1] [radioTxPower:1] [channel:1]

//Form centralized network.
>> plugin network-creator form 1 0x1234 3 12

//Form distributed network.
>> plugin network-creator form 0 0x1234 3 12

If you want to search for an unused Channel and Pan Id, and automatic form a network on the best unused Channel and Pan Id it finds, you can use below CLI command.

// Form Z3.0 network.
>>plugin network-creator start [useCentralizedSecurity:1]

//Form centralized network.
>> plugin network-creator start 1

//Form distributed network.
>> plugin network-creator start 0

Open network after the network formed. If you go through the detailed implementation of this CLI command, it sets the TC policy and opens the network, but additionally puts the well known key into the transient key table.

// open network
>> plugin network-creator-security open-network

If you want to join the network for routers or end devices, you can use below CLI command:

//option = 0 means the device will update TCLK after joining centralized network succeed,
//otherwise it won’t.
>> plugin network-steering start [options:1]

// Update TCLK after joining network succeed.
>> plugin network-steering start 0

Please note that, for router devices, it will form distributed network once it fails to join centralized network.

In conclusion, you can use above CLI commands to setup Z3.0 network, meanwhile, we have Z3Gateway/Z3LightSoc/Z3SwitchSoc samples in stack, you can build these samples to do testing quickly. If you want to get more details about the implementation of the CLI commands, please refer to the source code in plugins (Network Creator/Network Creator Security/Network Steering/Update TC Link Key).

 

Hello hassan atyq,

The emberAfIncomingPacketFilterCallback error shows that you enable the packet handoff plugin but you don't implement it in your callback.c file.

Please check the same for the other one.

Best Regards,

Lei Sun

Hello Tenang.

 Can you try with the latest stack? And let me know if the issue is still existed?

 

Best Regards,

Lei Sun

Hi Rayton,

The format of "raw" CLI command can be found on [project folder]/zcl-cli.h(or cli.h if using EmnerZNet prior to 6.6.0).

/** @brief <b>raw [clusterId:2] [data:-1] </b>
 *   - <i>Creates a message by specifying the raw bytes. Use "send" to send the message once it has been created. Ex: raw 0x000F {00 0A 00 11 22 33 44 55} sends a message to cluster 15 (0x000F) of length 8 which includes the ZCL header.</i>
 *     - clusterId - INT16U - two byte cluster id
 *     - data - OCTET_STRING - ZCL message, including ZCL header and payload
 */

 

Using the raw command is to fill the outcoming ZCL message buffer. "send" CLI command is usually used with it to send the ZCL message to a particular device.

As I know, Zigbee R20 and R21 are design to be compatible. If you see problem, can you elaborate or specify your problem?

Hello Jose Manuel Cano Garcia,

Sorry for the inconvenience. The UG129 is obsolete and we don't support the Reference Design any more, so the UG129 doc is out of date. You can use the Z3GatewayHost sample to set up Gateway device. And also the UG102 is a little bit out of data. I agree some of the documentation will need to be updated. Before that, it is recommended to create tickets on Salesforce if you have any questions during your development, we will have engineer to support you and answer your questions. 

Best Regards,

Lei Sun 

Is your node an end device? If so, I suggest you to use protocol analyzer to check if your end device joins back network after coordinator does power cycle first. If your end device hasn’t joined back, you cannot send message to it.

Hello James Lao,

 

The info is not enough for us to identify your issue. Please try to provide below info:

1) What's your set up?

2) How do you test? Please list very step.

3) Provide the logs and EZSP /network trace.

 

Best Regards,

Lei Sun

Hello HBj,

 

The below two links may helpful for you.

https://www.silabs.com/community/wireless/zigbee-and-thread/forum.topic.html/create_a_sleepy_enddevicewithefr32mg12-SU7F

https://www.silabs.com/community/wireless/zigbee-and-thread/knowledge-base.entry.html/2017/09/26/measuring_sleep_curr-4oh5

 

Best Regards,

Lei Sun

EM35x series is old Zigbee chip which is more power consumption and less RAM/Flash resources. EFR32 is new generation and more resourceful. Both of them uses EmberZNet as Zigbee Stack. If your application codes on EM35X series are well maintained inside application callbacks, it should be less efforts to do migration.