The kits in this articles mix include those from Freescale, Microchip and Synapse. They are distinctly different. Freescale’s offering is a complete, high-end solution that is designed to sell chips. Microchip's is designed to sell chips too, but it includes a software stack with functionality similar to the low-end ZigBee market but without the overhead of joining the ZigBee Alliance. Both look for the user to supply code to the mix.
On the other hand, Synapse’s offering moves closer to an end product with a simpler system interface. It is designed to sell Synape’s modules running the Synapse Network Appliance Protocol (SNAP). A simple serial interface is all that is necessary to control the system. More functional carrier boards based on the modules are included in kit as well.
What kind of kit and platform will interest you depends upon the level of expertise and the time that will be allocated to software development. Modules and complete systems offer reduce time to market while working with the chips means potentially lower cost in the long run.
It’s nice to have options. It is also handy to have lots of AA batteries around when playing with these kits.
Read the articles here:
Freescale's Busy BeeStack
Microchip Makes MiWi
Synapse Sports SNAP
Related Links
ZigBee Alliance