CC2420 Introduction
The TI/Chipcon CC2420 radio is a complex device, taking care of many of the low-level details of transmitting and receiving packets through hardware. Specifying the proper behavior of that hardware requires a well defined, yet flexible radio stack implementation. Although much of the functionality is available within the radio chip itself, there are still many factors to consider when implementing a robust and general radio stack.
The software radio stack that drives the CC2420 radio consists of many layers that sit between the application and hardware. The highest levels of the radio stack modify data and headers in each packet, while the lowest levels determine the actual send and receive behavior. By understanding the functionality at each layer of the stack, as well as the architecture of a layer itself, it is possible to easily extend or condense the CC2420 radio stack to meet project requirements.
Some details about the CC2420 are out of the scope of this document. These details can be found in the datasheet.
