
Transmission, addressing, and routing
Data transmission
XBee/XBee-PRO® S2C ZigBee® RF Module
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all routers that receive a broadcast transmission retransmits the packet three times.
Note
When a router or coordinator delivers a broadcast transmission to an end device child, the
transmission is only sent once (immediately after the end device wakes and polls the parent for any
new data). For more information, see
Broadcast data transmission
Each node that transmits the broadcast also creates an entry in a local broadcast transmission table.
This entry to keeps track of each received broadcast packet to ensure the packets are not
transmitted endlessly. Each entry persists for 8 seconds, and the broadcast transmission table holds 8
entries.
For each broadcast transmission, the ZigBee stack reserves buffer space for a copy of the data packet
that retransmits the packet as needed. Large broadcast packets require more buffer space. Users
cannot change any buffer spacing; information on buffer space is for general knowledge only. The
XBee/XBee-PRO ZigBee RF Module handles buffer spacing automatically.
Since each device in the network retransmits broadcast transmissions, use broadcast messages
sparingly.
Unicast transmissions
Unicast transmissions are sent from one source device to another destination device. The destination
device could be an immediate neighbor of the source, or it could be several hops away. Unicast
transmissions sent along a multiple hop path require some means of establishing a route to the
destination device. For more information, see
.