Having better understanding of features provided by NXP JN5168, I understood that I need to create next generation of coordinator/gateway device at least for development purposes.

The main issue I wanted to solve was messy setup with connections to coordinator board – coordinator board had uart in/out and I used usb->uart dongles to connect board to pc. As I absolutely love dual uart functionality (one for communication with application, one for debug/info output), it was even more messy with two dongles and two connections to board.

So the new board of course has my current favorite Zigbee chip from NXP – JN5168, and I went with FD2232D which provides dual uart functionality with single usb connection. Added few pushbuttons for reset/programming mode and command button (not used yet, but who knows), and also I2C header in case I’ll decide to add some extra features later.

Regarding firmware of JN5168 – I’m still sticking with XBEE compatible API for communication with application, as it’s simple enough and at the same time provides all the necessary information, as well as provides certain level of compatibility with XBEE devices.