Hi Richard,
thanks for sharing your thoughts on the list!
I'm not sure I fully understand your requirements, but believe that some are generically interesting for RIOT, e.g., running several/many 802.15.4 networks in parallel.
What about this join/leave button?
Best, Thomas
Hello Thomas
Hmm.. I see you sometimes joining/leaving #riot-os (o;
Anyway....
Yes the different networks is very interesting...and definitively a need.... not sure if it is easily done like adding a second interface on UNIX with a simple ifconfig (o;
The button thing...don't have to be a button..and is also not always possible...
Let's say you want to deploy a new network....
Idea is like all nodes have a default PAN as the firmware is all the same (more or less).
You start deploying the network from the border router away by pressing a button which tells it to start a join procedure....for example by broadcasting on that PAN a message like "who ever wants to joing my new network with PAN ID xxx, you have 5 minutes time"....
Then on the the next node you press also a button, which then listens on the default PAN and accepts then the new PAN advertised by the router node...
A leave would be then like pressing the button for 5 seconds...putting it back into the default PAN....
If you like we could also talk tomorrow on phone or chat on #riot-os....
thanks for listening richard aka davorin
Hi Richard,
Hmm.. I see you sometimes joining/leaving #riot-os (o;
That might be me, different Thomas. 
Yes the different networks is very interesting...and definitively a need.... not sure if it is easily done like adding a second interface on UNIX with a simple ifconfig (o;
Having two network interfaces is already possible with RIOT as well as RIOT provides a ifconfig command for configuration.
The button thing...don't have to be a button..and is also not always possible...
Let's say you want to deploy a new network....
Idea is like all nodes have a default PAN as the firmware is all the same (more or less).
You start deploying the network from the border router away by pressing a button which tells it to start a join procedure....for example by broadcasting on that PAN a message like "who ever wants to joing my new network with PAN ID xxx, you have 5 minutes time"....
Then on the the next node you press also a button, which then listens on the default PAN and accepts then the new PAN advertised by the router node...
A leave would be then like pressing the button for 5 seconds...putting it back into the default PAN....
If I understand your scenario correctly, what you are suggesting involves a 802.15.4 coordinator announcing PAN or channel changes and/or manages hardware addresses.
I started a discussion on this topic recently but for now RIOT is still missing these "runtime" features.
Please be aware though that, to the best of my knowledge, nothing in the standard keeps a device from starting to communicate on a certain channel with a certain PAN ID at any point in time.
Best, Thomas
Hello Thomas
So you're saying a node can participate even with two networks at the same time? Anyway...
But what we a re mainly looking is to external manpower with a deeper riot-os knowledge to implement our needed features....
Either sponsoring to the project if a feature is of everyones interest or to a company doing specific features which is applicable mostly to our needs.
Do you know of any company having knowledge/time/ doing such stuff?
thanks in advance richard
Hi Richard,
Yes, a node could for example have an ethernet and a 802.15.4 network interface and communicate over both.
Asking on this list is the right way to go as most people offering any service like this I know should be listening here.
Generally I think if the functionality I outlined before fits your use case this would most certainly be of broader interest. Anyways, it'd be great if you could keep this list updated.
Best, Thomas
Hi Richard,
here is the other Thomas again.
So you're saying a node can participate even with two networks at the same time? Anyway...
Yes, RIOT can handle multiple network interfaces and can speak with arbitrary neighbors from its neighbor cache.
But what we a re mainly looking is to external manpower with a deeper riot-os knowledge to implement our needed features....
Either sponsoring to the project if a feature is of everyones interest or to a company doing specific features which is applicable mostly to our needs.
Do you know of any company having knowledge/time/ doing such stuff? There are quite a number of people that (a) are generally working on
advancing RIOT and (b) some are available for doing additional freelance work. So we should be able to help you in some way.
Best, Thomas