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XBee setup for long distance USB devices — Parallax Forums

XBee setup for long distance USB devices

GraftlerGraftler Posts: 2
edited 2013-08-26 08:35 in General Discussion
Hello all.

I am trying to do a long distance USB cable extender. I am thinking of using a CON-USBBEE board plus one X-Bee in each end, howver I have no experience with XBee.

The idea, would be that the data from one side of the usb cable would go to the CON-USBBEE, which would send it to the XBee, the Xbee would then send to another xbee, which would send the signal to a second CON-USBBEE which would send the data to the target computer.
Does anyone know if this is possible? Would anyone point me in the right direction?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2013-08-25 14:54
    What you describe can work for a single serial port. It's not a general purpose USB extender. USB can carry all sorts of information and the xBee can only carry a single bidirectional serial channel. The CON-USBBEE adapter has a chip in it that creates a USB serial port for each computer to reference. The xBees extend this serial port via a wireless link. You just have to configure the xBees using Digi's utility program so, when they turn on, they automatically start up a serial link. Parallax's xBee starter guide shows how to do this. The CON-USBBEE adapters should come with a USB driver that you install on your PCs. You should see a new serial (COM) port on each PC.
  • GraftlerGraftler Posts: 2
    edited 2013-08-26 05:39
    Thank you very much for your answer.

    Could you please clarify what you mean when you say that it can work for only a single serial port? Does this means that it can be used in only one device? Or that once I instert the Xbee in a physical port it "binds" to that port, and needs to be reconfigured before being use din another PC or another port?

    Either of those is fine by me, I intend to use it in just one notebook and one EVO4

    Sorry if this is a dumb question but I am new to this whole wireless thing.
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2013-08-26 08:35
    You are not going to be able to use this scheme to connect a notebook and an EVO4. The notebook (or any PC) acts as a USB host or master while the CON-USBBEE adapter and the EVO4 act as a USB client or slave. They're controlled by the PC. You can't connect a CON-USBBEE and an EVO4 together because they're both USB clients. In other words, what you're trying to do is like this:

    Notebook
    CON-USBBEE
    xBee --^^^-- xBee
    CON-USBBEE
    EVO4

    What you need is:

    Notebook
    CON-USBBEE
    xBee --^^^-- xBee
    USB-Host-Bridge
    EVO4

    It's not at all clear whether the EVO4 software on the notebook side will allow this sort of connection and it's not at all clear that the EVO4 will work with any USB host that's not a PC running its software. Theoretically, you might be able to use something like Parallax's Memory Stick Datalogger to act as a USB-Host-Bridge, but it's not at all clear that this would work. It's certainly not a beginner's project and a lot depends on what documentation is available on the EVO4's USB interface details.

    There used to be a general purpose wireless USB extender on the market that would do what you want, but I don't think it's on the market anymore (see here). You might be able to find one or something similar on the internet. I don't know why they're no longer available.
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