View source for Description of the Hardware

The hardware used Dresden Elektronik radio communication platform described in this wiki can be divided into the following components:
* Radio/microcontroller modules
* Development boards (can also be replaced with a custom board)
* Programmers
* Sniffer (for analyzing communication between the nodes)

==Radio/Microcontroller Modules==
The Dresden Elektronik radio/MCU modules are small modules consisting of a AVR or ARM based microcontroller with integrated radio.
List of all available modules can be seen [https://www.dresden-elektronik.de/funktechnik/products/radio-modules/overview/?L=1 here].

As of July 2015, three types of Dresden Elektronik Radio/microcontroller modules were available in the institute:
* deRFmega128
* deRFmega256
* deRFarm

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: left;"
| 
| '''deRFmega128'''
| '''deRFmega256'''
| '''deRFarm'''
|-
| '''Chip'''
| ATmega128RFA1
| ATmega256RFR2
| AT91SAM7X512
|-
| '''Datasheet'''
| [http://www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-8266-MCU_Wireless-ATmega128RFA1_Datasheet.pdf Link]
| [http://www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-8393-MCU_Wireless-ATmega256RFR2-ATmega128RFR2-ATmega64RFR2_Datasheet.pdf Link]
| [http://www.atmel.com/Images/doc6120.pdf Link]
|-
| '''Platform'''
| AVR
| AVR
| ARM
|-
| '''MCU bit width'''
| 8-bit
| 8-bit
| 32-bit
|-
| '''Flash size'''
| 128 kb
| 256 kb
| 512 kb
|-
| '''SRAM size'''
| 16 kb
| 32 kb
| 128 kb
|-
| '''Operating frequency'''
| 16 MHz
| 16 MHz
| 48 MHz
|-
| '''Voltage range'''
| 1.8 - 3.6 V
| 1.8 - 3.6 V
| 1.8 - 3.6 V
|-
| '''Radio transceiver'''
| Integrated
| Integrated
| AT86RF231
|-
| '''Radio frequency'''
| 2.4 GHz
| 2.4 GHz
| 2.4 GHz
|-
| '''Interfaces'''
| JTAG, UART, I2C, ADC, SPI, GPIO
| JTAG, UART, I2C, ADC, SPI, GPIO
| JTAG, DBGU, I2C, SPI, UART, USB, RMII, GPIO, ADC
|- 
| '''Power consumption (TX)'''
| 18 mA
| 18 mA
| 45 mA
|- 
| '''Power consumption (RX)'''
| 16 mA
| 16 mA
| 45 mA
|- 
| '''Power consumption (Sleep)'''
| < 1 µA
| < 1 µA
| < 250 µA
|}

The 2.4 GHz transceivers that are used in all modules supports the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.15.4 IEEE 802.15.4 MAC standard].
This standard has support for additional network layers like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6LoWPAN 6LoWPAN] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigBee ZigBee].
However, it should be noted, that although the ZigBee protocol is theoretically supported by the hardware, it is not supported the Dresden Elektronik's communication stack and thus 6LoWPAN should be used.

==Development Boards==
Two different development boards are available for the platform:
* '''deRFnode:''' Used for network nodes, supports both AVR and ARM based microcontrollers
* '''deRFgateway:''' Used for network gateways between IEEE 802.15.4/6LoWPAN and Ethernet networks. In addition to deRFnode functionality, it includes also an Ethernet connector. Supports only ARM based microcontrollers

The boards have following features:
* '''Measures:''' 70 x 68 x 33 mm
* '''Power options:''' 5V DC / USB / 3 x AA batteries
* '''Sensors:''' Temperature / light / acceleration
* '''I/O:''' 2 Buttons and 3 LEDs
* '''On-board storage:''' 4Mbit flash for firmware updates / user data
* '''Programming interfaces:''' Standard JTAG connectors
* '''Communication interfaces:''' I2C, SPI, GPIO, ADC, debug interface and UART
* '''GPIO:''' 46-pin, almost all chip functions available, including the ones used on the development board
* '''Networking:''' Ethernet (deRFgateway ONLY)

A more detailed description of the development boards (including pinouts for different headers) can be found in [https://www.dresden-elektronik.de/funktechnik/products/boards-and-kits/development-boards/derfgateway/description/?L=1&eID=dam_frontend_push&docID=693 deRFnode and deRFgateway user manual]