Digi International has just announced the Digi XBee3 series of RF modules and cellular IoT modules. The modules will be available in the existing Digi XBee SMT amd through-hole form factor, as well as a new micro form factor (19×13 mm) that’s about a third of the size of the original XBee RF module.
The RF modules will first come with ZigBee 3.0 and IEEE 802.15 support, but Bluetooth LE will be available through a firmware update later on, and WiFi and DigiMesh version will be brought to markets too. The first cellular module supports LTE Cat.1, but the company will eventually launch NB-IoT and eMTC (LTE Cat M) versions for Europe and the US respectively.
Some of the shared key capabilities listed by the company:
- Over-the-air (OTA) changes to devices in the field for bug fixes and new features
- Dynamically reconfigurable, based upon situation
- Establish business rules to aggregate, store, transform and filter data via MicroPython programming capability
- Create alerts and alarms for priority data and device health
- Built-in support for advanced I/O including I2C, SPI, to drive modern sensors and actuators
- Provide control logic for devices that require a microcontroller, without electronics redesign
- With Digi Remote Manager, enables better bandwidth management via prioritization/ transmission of actionable information
- Dynamic changes to behavior as requested from cloud platforms such as AWS and Azure (e.g., enabling real-time decisions based on local conditions)
- Continue to operate during communications outages by dynamically executed logic that is not cloud-dependent
There are three RF models operating at 2.4 GHz up to 250 kbps, and available in the three package mentioned in the introduction (micro, surface mount, and though-hole):
- Digi XBee3 ZigBee 3.0 supporting Zigbee Pro protocol
- Digi XBee3 DigiMesh
- Digi XBee3 802.15.4
Those modules, and corresponding development kits are certified for the US, Canada, and Europe.
There will be three cellular IoT models only available as through-hole module:
- Digi XBee3 Cellular Cat-1
- LTE Bands 2,4,5,12 and soon Verizon Band 13
- 10 Mbps Downlink / 5 Mbps Uplink
- Certified for US & Canada
- Current Draw Tx/Rx – 1Amp / 10uA (Low Power Mode) @3.3V
- Digi XBee3 Cellular LTE-M
- Verizon Bands: 4 and 13, and AT&T Bands: 2, 4, and 12.
- Up to 375 kbps Uplink and Downlink
- For US & Canada
- Current Draw Tx/Rx – 550mA / 20uA (Power Save Mode) @3.3V
- Digi XBee3 Cellular NB-IoT
- Bands 8 and 20
- Up to 27.2 kbps Downlink, 62.5 kbps Uplink
- Certified for Europe
- Current Draw Tx/Rx – 550mA / 20uA (Power Save Mode) @3.3V
More information is available about the modules and development kit on XBee product page. However, you won’t easily find any pricing information on their website, so instead I had to do a web search about the part numbers to find out XB3-24Z8CM-J micro Xbee Zigbee 3.0 module is sold for $14.70, the XBee3 Zigbee Mesh development kit (XK3-Z8S-WZM) for $99, Digi XBee3 Cellular Smart Modem, LTE CAT 1 (XB3-C-A1-UT-001) for $99 as well, and the corresponding AT&T development kit (XK3-C-A1-UT-U) for $199.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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No new Zigbee USB Stick Adapter version similar to the Digi XStick?