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XBee USB Adapter Board & Propeller Demo Board ? — Parallax Forums

XBee USB Adapter Board & Propeller Demo Board ?

zappmanzappman Posts: 418
edited 2010-10-04 15:03 in Accessories
Can the XBee USB Adapter Board be used with the Propeller Demo Board ?

I would like to know if the USB connector on the XBee USB Adapter Board can be connected to the USB connector on the Propeller Demo Board via a USB cable ?

I am trying to avoid using additional propeller pins on the demo board.

I did not see this mentioned in the XBee Tutorial - Chapter 2 Draft "Parallax XBee Adapter Boards" .

Comments

  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,392
    edited 2010-10-04 14:48
    Oh boy. I knew this question would surface sooner or later. Let me go find somebody who knows what they're talking about. I assume you've already read the docs and that they don't make this point very clear.

    Ken Gracey
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2010-10-04 14:53
    Zappman,

    The USB chips on both the demo board and the XBee USB Adapter are peripheral (slave) chips. That is, they are designed to connect to a USB Host (Master) chip on a PC. Because of this they cannot be connected together, because the slave chips are not designed to enumerate other USB devices and understand them. All USB peripherals are designed to plug into a PC or something with a Host controller, such as the Vinculum chip.

    Now, if you had a PC App written to talk to the Demo Board you could also talk to an XBee USB Adapter via a USB port on the PC and manage communication that way, but it is not very efficient and requires a custom PC application.
  • zappmanzappman Posts: 418
    edited 2010-10-04 15:03
    Chris Savage (Parallax) wrote: »
    Zappman,

    .... they cannot be connected together, because the slave chips are not designed to enumerate other USB devices and understand them. ....

    Ken & Chris thanks for quickly answering my question.

    Your answer makes perfect sense to me, I just wasn't thinking of the master / slave thing.
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