User guide

BB2-7040 User Guide – Rev. 1.2 Page 3
1.4 Overview of the BB2-7040
Control Solutions’ Babel Buster® BB2-7040 is a BACnet client/server device that functions as a ZigBee Coordinator
and gateway. After setting up the appropriate mappings in the BB2-7040, data from ZigBee sensors will appear as
BACnet objects on BACnet IP and/or BACnet MS/TP. Data written to BACnet objects can also be propagated to ZigBee
actuators by the BB2-7040.
The BB2-7040 expects most ZigBee endpoints to be low power devices that spend most of their time sleeping. Therefore
the traditional gateway behavior of polling slave devices will not work. The BB2-7040 operates primarily in Listen
mode, simply waiting for ZigBee devices to report in. When the ZigBee devices do report in, the BB2-7040 searches its
known device list and data maps to see if the reported data should be saved as a local BACnet object's Present Value.
The collection of BACnet objects found in the BB2-7040 will maintain the most recently received ZigBee data as their
Present Value. Other BACnet clients may then query the BB2-7040 server to obtain that most recent data using a simple
Read Property request.
BACnet clients may use a Write Property request to any of the BB2-7040's output objects to send data to a ZigBee
device when mapped for writing. The BB2-7040 will transmit to the ZigBee device, and a properly configured ZigBee
device will receive the transmission at the end of its sleep period.
The BB2-7040 may also function as a BACnet client, and will use Read and Write Property requests to share data with
other BACnet servers (slaves). The BB2-7040 therefore has the ability to transfer data between ZigBee devices and other
BACnet devices that operate as a slave only.
The BB2-7040 initial release provides some degree of higher level support for ZigBee products transmitting raw data
packets. The ZigBee Alliance has approved two functional profiles as of this writing. The HVAC profile is still in
development. As specifications become available, along with devices that implement the profiles, the BB2-7040 will be
updated. Firmware in the BB2-7040 is field upgradeable.
The 8/18/2009 version of the XBee OEM manual includes some discussion of ZigBee Device Objects (ZDO) and XBee
support of ZDO. The BB2-7040 will not prevent use of any of the ZDO support; it simply does not automatically do
ZDO support for you. It will at some later time as implementation of ZDO becomes more wide spread.
The BB2-7040 is based on the XBee OEM module from Digi International. The API command reference may be found
in section 10 in the document at this link (as of March 2010):
http://ftp1.digi.com/support/documentation/90000976_D.pdf
If this link is no longer valid, contact [e-mail] for an updated link.
Available Models:
BB2-7040-US Standard BB2-7040 for North America and Australia, ZigBee Coordinator
BB2-7040-EU Standard BB2-7040 for Europe (lower powered RF), ZigBee Coordinator
BB2-7040-US-R BB2-7040 North America/Australia, ZigBee Router (non-stock, build to order)
BB2-7040-EU-R BB2-7040 Europe, ZigBee Router (non-stock, build to order)