Point-to-point communication

The simplest way to communicate using XBee modules is point to point, which refers to a communication between two nodes. An example of this type of communication in the everyday world is a telephone call, where the two phones are connected and what is said by the caller can only be heard by the receiver.

In XBees, data received by one module from a computer or microcontroller is transmitted wirelessly to the other and vice versa. The point-to-point communication is a wireless link between two XBee modules.

To phone a friend, your telephone and your friend's must be connected to the telephone line; for XBees, the network is the equivalent to the line. This means the modules must be in the same network, so their Channel (CH) and Network ID (ID) must coincide, as explained in Wireless communication.

But to start the call you also have to dial your friend's number. In the same way, an XBee module needs to know the "telephone number" of the destination module where it is going to transmit the data. For an XBee, its 64-bit address or MAC is equivalent to the phone number. The way an XBee "dials" this number depends on how it is configured—transparent or API mode: