ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-

power digital radios based on the IEEE 802.15.4-2003standard for wireless personal area
networks (WPANs), such as wireless headphones connecting with cell phones via short-range
radio. The technology defined by the ZigBee specification is intended to be simpler and less
expensive than other WPANs, such as Bluetooth. ZigBee is targeted at radio-frequency (RF)
applications that require a low data rate, long battery life, and secure networking. The ZigBee
Alliance is a group of companies that maintain and publish the ZigBee standard.

ZigBee is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh networking proprietary standard. The low cost
allows the technology to be widely deployed in wireless control and monitoring applications, the
low power-usage allows longer life with smaller batteries, and the mesh networking provides
high reliability and larger range.

The ZigBee Alliance, the standards body that defines ZigBee, also publishes application profiles
that allow multiple OEM vendors to create interoperable products. The current list of application
profiles either published or in the works are:

 Home Automation
 ZigBee Smart Energy 1.0/2.0
 Commercial Building Automation
 Telecommunication Applications
 Personal, Home, and Hospital Care
 Toys

The relationship between IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee is similar to that between IEEE 802.11 and
the Wi-Fi Alliance. The ZigBee 1.0 specification was ratified on 14 December 2004 and is
available to members of the ZigBee Alliance. Most recently, the ZigBee 2007 specification was
posted on 30 October 2007. The first ZigBee Application Profile, Home Automation, was
announced 2 November 2007. As amended by NIST, the Smart Energy Profile 2.0 specification
will remove the dependency on IEEE 802.15.4. Device manufacturers will be able to implement
any MAC/PHY, such as IEEE 802.15.4(x) and IEEE P1901, under an IP layer based on
6LowPAN.

ZigBee operates in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands; 868 MHz in Europe,
915 MHz in the USA and Australia, and 2.4 GHz in most jurisdictions worldwide. The
technology is intended to be simpler and less expensive than other WPANs such as Bluetooth.
ZigBee chip vendors typically sell integrated radios and microcontrollers with between 60K and
128K flash memory, such as the Jennic JN5148, the Freescale MC13213, the Ember EM250,

The Texas Instruments CC2430, the Samsung Electro-Mechanics ZBS240 and

the AtmelATmega128RFA1. Radios are also available stand-alone to be used with any
processor or microcontroller. Generally, the chip vendors also offer the ZigBee software stack,
although independent ones are also available.

Because ZigBee can activate (go from sleep to active mode) in 15 msec or less, the latency can
be very low and devices can be very responsive — particularly compared to Bluetooth wake-up
delays, which are typically around three seconds. Because ZigBee’s can sleep most of the time,
average power consumption can be very low, resulting in long battery life.

The first stack release is now called ZigBee 2004. The second stack release is called ZigBee
2006, and mainly replaces the MSG/KVP structure used in 2004 with a "cluster library". The
2004 stack is now more or less obsolete.

ZigBee 2007, now the current stack release, contains two stack profiles, stack profile 1 (simply
called ZigBee), for home and light commercial use, and stack profile 2 (called ZigBee Pro).
ZigBee Pro offers more features, such as multi-casting, many-to-one routing and high security
with Symmetric-Key Key Exchange (SKKE), while ZigBee (stack profile 1) offers a smaller
footprint in RAM and flash. Both offer full mesh networking and work with all ZigBee application
profiles.

ZigBee 2007 is fully backward compatible with ZigBee 2006 devices: A ZigBee 2007 device
may join and operate on a ZigBee 2006 network and vice versa. Due to differences in routing
options, ZigBee Pro devices must become non-routing ZigBee End-Devices (ZEDs) on a
ZigBee 2006 or ZigBee 2007 network, the same as ZigBee 2006 or ZigBee 2007 devices must
become ZEDs on a ZigBee Pro network. The applications running on those devices work the
same, regardless of the stack profile beneath them.
ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 - General Characteristics:

• Dual PHY (2.4GHz and 868/915 MHz)

• Data rates of 250 kbps (@2.4 GHz), 40 kbps (@ 915 MHz), and 20 kbps (@868 MHz)
• Optimized for low duty-cycle applications (<0.1%)
• CSMA-CA channel access Yields high throughput and low latency for low duty cycle
devices like sensors and controls
• Low power (battery life multi-month to years)
• Multiple topologies: star, peer-to-peer, mesh
• Addressing space of up to:
- 18,450,000,000,000,000,000 devices (64 bit IEEE address)
- 65,535 networks
• Optional guaranteed time slot for applications requiring low latency
• Fully hand-shaked protocol for transfer reliability
• Range: 50m typical (5-500m based on environment)

Uses

ZigBee protocols are intended for use in embedded applications requiring low data rates and
low power consumption. ZigBee's current focus is to define a general-purpose, inexpensive,
self-organizing mesh network that can be used for industrial control, embedded sensing,
medical data collection, smoke and intruder warning, building automation, home automation,
etc. The resulting network will use very small amounts of power — individual devices must have
a battery life of at least two years to pass ZigBee certification.

Typical application areas include

 Home Entertainment and Control — Smart lighting, advanced temperature control,

safety and security, movies and music

 Home Awareness — Water sensors, power sensors, energy monitoring, smoke and fire
detectors, smart appliances and access sensors

 Mobile Services — m-payment, m-monitoring and control, m-security and access

control, m-healthcare and tele-assist

 Commercial Building — Energy monitoring, HVAC, lighting, access control

 Industrial Plant — Process control, asset management, environmental management,

energy management, industrial device control
Device types
There are three different types of ZigBee devices:

 ZigBee coordinator (ZC): The most capable device, the coordinator forms the root of
the network tree and might bridge to other networks. There is exactly one ZigBee coordinator
in each network since it is the device that started the network originally. It is able to store
information about the network, including acting as the Trust Centre & repository for security
keys.
 ZigBee Router (ZR): As well as running an application function, a router can act as an
intermediate router, passing on data from other devices.
 ZigBee End Device (ZED): Contains just enough functionality to talk to the parent node
(either the coordinator or a router); it cannot relay data from other devices. This relationship
allows the node to be asleep a significant amount of the time thereby giving long battery life.
A ZED requires the least amount of memory, and therefore can be less expensive to
manufacture than a ZR or ZC.
History

 ZigBee-style networks began to be conceived in about 1998, when many installers

realized that both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were going to be unsuitable for many applications. In
particular, many engineers saw a need for self-organizing ad-hoc digital radio networks.
 The IEEE 802.15.4 standard was completed in May 2003.
 In the summer of 2003, Philips Semiconductors, a major mesh network supporter,
ceased the investment. Philips Lighting has, however, continued Philips' participation, and
Philips remains a promoter member on the ZigBee Alliance Board of Directors.
 The ZigBee Alliance announced in October 2004 that the membership had more than
doubled in the preceding year and had grown to more than 100 member companies, in 22
countries. By April 2005 membership had grown to more than 150 companies, and by
December 2005 membership had passed 200 companies.
 The ZigBee specifications were ratified on 14 December 2004.
 The ZigBee Alliance announces public availability of Specification 1.0 on 13 June 2005,
known as ZigBee 2004 Specification.
 The ZigBee Alliance announces the completion and immediate member availability of
the enhanced version of the ZigBee Standard in September 2006, known as ZigBee 2006
Specification.
 During the last quarter of 2007, ZigBee PRO, the enhanced ZigBee specification was
finalized.
OVERVIEW

ZigBee protocol stack

ZigBee builds upon the physical layer and medium access control defined in IEEE standard
802.15.4 (2003 version) for low-rate WPAN's. The specification goes on to complete the
standard by adding four main components: network layer, application layer, ZigBee device
objects (ZDO's) and manufacturer-defined application objects which allow for customization and
favor total integration.

Besides adding two high-level network layers to the underlying structure, the most significant
improvement is the introduction of ZDO's. These are responsible for a number of tasks, which
include keeping of device roles, management of requests to join a network, device discovery
and security.

At its core, ZigBee is a mesh network architecture. Its network layer natively supports three
types of topologies: both star and tree typical networks and generic mesh networks. Every
network must have one coordinator device, tasked with its creation, the control of its parameters
and basic maintenance. Within star networks, the coordinator must be the central node. Both
trees and meshes allow the use of ZigBee routers to extend communication at the network level
(they are not ZigBee coordinators, but may act as 802.15.4 coordinators within their personal
operating space), but they differ in a few important details: communication within trees is
hierarchical and optionally utilizes frame beacons, whereas meshes allow generic
communication structures but no router beaconing.
Network layer

The main functions of the network layer are to enable the correct use of the MAC sublayer and
provide a suitable interface for use by the next upper layer, namely the application layer. Its
capabilities and structure are those typically associated to such network layers, including
routing.

On the one hand, the data entity creates and manages network layer data units from the
payload of the application layer and performs routing according to the current topology. On the
other hand, there is the layer control, which is used to handle configuration of new devices and
establish new networks: it can determine whether a neighboring device belongs to the network
and discovers new neighbors and routers. The control can also detect the presence of a
receiver, which allows direct communication and MAC synchronization.

The routing protocol used by the Network layer is AODV. In order to find the destination device,
it broadcasts out a route request to all of its neighbors. The neighbors then broadcast the
request to their neighbors, etc until the destination is reached. Once the destination is reached,
it sends its route reply via unicast transmission following the lowest cost path back to the
source. Once the source receives the reply, it will update its routing table for the destination
address with the next hop in the path and the path cost.
Application layer

The application layer is the highest-level layer defined by the specification, and is the effective
interface of the ZigBee system to its end users. It comprises the majority of components added
by the ZigBee specification: both ZDO and its management procedures, together with
application objects defined by the manufacturer, are considered part of this layer.
Main components

The ZDO is responsible for defining the role of a device as either coordinator or end device, as
mentioned above, but also for the discovery of new (one-hop) devices on the network and the
identification of their offered services. It may then go on to establish secure links with external
devices and reply to binding requests accordingly.

The application support sublayer (APS) is the other main standard component of the layer, and
as such it offers a well-defined interface and control services. It works as a bridge between the
network layer and the other components of the application layer: it keeps up-to-date binding
tables in the form of a database, which can be used to find appropriate devices depending on
the services that are needed and those the different devices offer. As the union between both
specified layers, it also routes messages across the layers of the protocol stack.
802.15.4 – ZigBee Physical Layer
ZigBee is a wireless technology developed as an open global standard to address the unique
needs of low-cost, low-power wireless M2M networks. The ZigBee standard operates on the
IEEE 802.15.4 physical radio specification and operates in unlicensed bands including 2.4 GHz,
900 MHz and 868 MHz.

XBee and XBee-PRO ZB ZigBee modules support the latest ZigBee PRO feature set
and allow for interoperability with ZigBee devices from other vendors. With XBee, users can
have their ZigBee network up-and-running in a matter of minutes.

XBee and XBee-PRO ZB adapters provide simple ZigBee communication via a variety
of connection options including RS-232, RS-485, digital I/O and analog I/O.

Connect Port X gateway sallow you to IP-enable ZigBee networks by aggregating

device data and making that information available over an Ethernet, cellular, or Wi-Fi
connection. Connect Port X gateways offer programmability and configuration options to most
effectively manage devices on a ZigBee network.

The 802.15.4 specification upon which the ZigBee stack operates gained ratification by
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2003. The specification is a
packet-based radio protocol intended for low-cost, battery-operated devices. The protocol
allows devices to communicate in a variety of network topologies and can have battery life
lasting several years.
Communication models

ZigBee high-level communication model

An application may consist of communicating objects which cooperate to carry out the desired
tasks. The focus of ZigBee is to distribute work among many different devices which reside
within individual ZigBee nodes which in turn form a network (said work will typically be largely
local to each device, for instance the control of each individual household appliance).

The collection of objects that form the network communicate using the facilities provided by
APS, supervised by ZDO interfaces. The application layer data service follows a typical request-
confirm/indication-response structure. Within a single device, up to 240 application objects can
exist, numbered in the range 1-240. 0 is reserved for the ZDO data interface and 255 for
broadcast; the 241-254 range is not currently in use but may be in the future.
There are two services available for application objects to use (in ZigBee 1.0):

 The key-value pair service (KVP) is meant for configuration purposes. It enables
description, request and modification of object attributes through a simple interface based on
get/set and event primitives, some allowing a request for response. Configuration uses
compressed XML (full XML can be used) to provide an adaptable and elegant solution.
 The message service is designed to offer a general approach to information treatment,
avoiding the necessity to adapt application protocols and potential overhead incurred on by
KPV. It allows arbitrary payloads to be transmitted over APS frames.

Addressing is also part of the application layer. A network node consists of an 802.15.4-
conformant radio transceiver and one or more device descriptions (basically collections of
attributes which can be polled or set, or which can be monitored through events). The
transceiver is the base for addressing, and devices within a node are specified by an endpoint
identifier in the range 1-240.

The ZigBee Protocol

The ZigBee protocol has been created and ratified by member companies of the ZigBee
Alliance. Over 300 leading semiconductor manufacturers, technology firms, OEMs and service
companies comprise the ZigBee Alliance membership. The ZigBee protocol was designed to
provide an easy-to-use wireless data solution characterized by secure, reliable wireless network
architectures.
ZigBee protocol features include:

• Support for multiple network topologies such as point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and

mesh networks
• Low duty cycle – provides long battery life
• Low latency
• Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)
• Up to 65,000 nodes per network
• 128-bit AES encryption for secure data connections
• Collision avoidance, retries and acknowledgements
Mesh Networks
A key component of the ZigBee protocol is the ability to support mesh networking. In a mesh
network, nodes are interconnected with other nodes so that multiple pathways connect each
node. Connections between nodes are dynamically updated and optimized through
sophisticated, built-in mesh routing table.

Mesh networks are decentralized in nature; each node is capable of self-discovery on the
network. Also, as nodes leave the network, the mesh topology allows the nodes to reconfigure
routing paths based on the new network structure. The characteristics of mesh topology and ad-
hoc routing provide greater stability in changing conditions or failure at single nodes.

ZigBee Applications
ZigBee enables broad-based deployment of wireless networks with low-cost, low-power
solutions. It provides the ability to run for years on inexpensive batteries for a host of monitoring
and control applications. Smart energy/smart grid, AMR (Automatic Meter Reading), lighting
controls, building automation systems, tank monitoring, HVAC control, medical devices and fleet
applications are just some of the many spaces where ZigBee technology is making significant
advancements.

Digi ZigBee Technology

Digi is a member of the ZigBee Alliance and has developed a wide range of networking
solutions based on the ZigBee protocol. XBee and XBee-PRO modules and other XBee-
enabled devices provide an easy-to-implement solution that provides functionality to connect to
a wide variety of devices.
ZIGBEE/IEEE802.15.4 - TYPICAL TRAFFIC TYPES ADDRESSED

• Periodic data
• Application defined rate (e.g., sensors)
• Intermittent data
• Application/external stimulus defined rate (e.g., light switch)
• Repetitive low latency data

The ZigBee specification is a combination of HomeRF Lite and the 802.15.4 specification. The
spec operates in the 2.4GHz (ISM) radio band - the same band as 802.11b standard, Bluetooth,
microwaves and some other devices. It is capable of connecting 255 devices per network. The
specification supports data transmission rates of up to 250 Kbps at a range of up to 30 meters.
ZigBee's technology is slower than 802.11b (11 Mbps) and Bluetooth (1 Mbps) but it consumes
significantly less power.

The ZigBee membership includes Philips, Honeywell and Invensys Metering Systems, and
others and is responsible for defining and maintaining higher layers above the MAC. The
alliance is also developing application profiles, certification programs, logos and a marketing
strategy. Philips Semiconductors and other chip vendors plan to launch their first ZigBee
products as early as 2003. ZigBee was formerly known as PURLnet, RF-Lite, Firefly, and
HomeRF Lite.

The mission of the ZigBee Working Group is to bring about the existence of a broad range of
interoperable consumer devices by establishing open industry specifications for unlicensed,
untethered peripheral, control and entertainment devices requiring the lowest cost and lowest
power consumption communications between compliant devices anywhere in and around the
home.
LICENSING
For non-commercial purposes, the ZigBee specification is available free to the general
public. An entry level membership in the ZigBee Alliance, called Adopter, provides access to the
as-yet unpublished specifications and permission to create products for market using the
specifications.

The click through license on the ZigBee specification requires a commercial developer to join
the ZigBee Alliance. "No part of this specification may be used in development of a product for
sale without becoming a member of ZigBee Alliance." The annual fee conflicts with the GNU
General Public License. From the GPL v2, "b) You must cause any work that you distribute or
publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to
be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License." Since
the GPL makes no distinction between commercial and non-commercial use it is impossible to
implement a GPL licensed ZigBee stack or combine a ZigBee implementation with GPL
licensed code. The requirement for the developer to join the ZigBee Alliance similarly conflicts
with most other free software licenses.

Protocols
The protocols build on recent algorithmic research (Ad-hoc On-demand Distance
Vector, neuRFon) to automatically construct a low-speed ad-hoc network of nodes. In
most large network instances, the network will be a cluster of clusters. It can also form a
mesh or a single cluster. The current profiles derived from the ZigBee protocols support
beacon and non-beacon enabled networks.

In non-beacon-enabled networks (those whose beacon order is 15), an

unslotted CSMA/CA channel access mechanism is used. In this type of network, ZigBee
Routers typically have their receivers continuously active, requiring a more robust power supply.
However, this allows for heterogeneous networks in which some devices receive continuously,
while others only transmit when an external stimulus is detected. The typical example of a
heterogeneous network is a wireless light switch: The ZigBee node at the lamp may receive
constantly, since it is connected to the mains supply, while a battery-powered light switch would
remain asleep until the switch is thrown. The switch then wakes up, sends a command to the
lamp, receives an acknowledgment, and returns to sleep. In such a network the lamp node will
be at least a ZigBee Router, if not the ZigBee Coordinator; the switch node is typically a ZigBee
End Device.
In beacon-enabled networks, the special network nodes called ZigBee Routers transmit periodic
beacons to confirm their presence to other network nodes. Nodes may sleep between beacons,
thus lowering their duty cycle and extending their battery life.

Beacon intervals may range from

• 15.36 milliseconds to 15.36 ms * 214 = 251.65824 seconds at 250 kbit/s,

• 24 milliseconds to 24 ms * 214 = 393.216 seconds at 40 kbit/s

• 48 milliseconds to 48 ms * 214 = 786.432 seconds at 20 kbit/s.

However, low duty cycle operation with long beacon intervals requires precise timing, which
can conflict with the need for low product cost.

In general, the ZigBee protocols minimize the time the radio is on so as to reduce power use. In
beaconing networks, nodes only need to be active while a beacon is being transmitted. In non-
beacon-enabled networks, power consumption is decidedly asymmetrical: some devices are
always active, while others spend most of their time sleeping.

Except for the Smart Energy Profile 2.0, which will be MAC/PHY agnostic, ZigBee devices are
required to conform to the IEEE 802.15.4-2003 Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Network
(WPAN) standard. The standard specifies the lower protocol layers—the physical layer (PHY),
and the media access control (MAC) portion of the data link layer (DLL).

This standard specifies operation in the unlicensed ISM bands:

• 2.4 GHz (worldwide)

• 915 MHz (Americas)

• 868 MHz (Europe)

. In the 2.4 GHz band there are 16 ZigBee channels, with each channel requiring 5 MHz of
bandwidth.

The center frequency for each channel can be calculated as,

FC = [2405 + 5 * (ch - 11)] MHz,

Where ch = 11, 12... 26.

The radios use direct-sequence spread spectrum coding, which is managed by the digital
stream into the modulator. BPSK is used in the 868 and 915 MHz bands, and OQPSK that
transmits two bits per symbol is used in the 2.4 GHz band.

The raw, over-the-air data rate is

• 250 kbit/s per channel in the 2.4 GHz band

• 40 kbit/s per channel in the 915 MHz band

• 20 kbit/s per channel in the 868 MHz band.

Transmission range is between 10 and 75 meters (33 and 246 feet) and up to 1500 meters for
ZigBee pro, although it is heavily dependent on the particular environment. The maximum
output power of the radios is generally 0 dBm (1 mW).

The basic channel access mode is "carrier sense, multiple access/collision avoidance"
(CSMA/CA). That is, the nodes talk in the same way that people converse; they briefly check to
see that no one is talking before they start. There are three notable exceptions to the use of
CSMA. Beacons are sent on a fixed timing schedule, and do not use CSMA. Message
acknowledgments also do not use CSMA.

Finally, devices in Beacon Oriented networks that have low latency real-time requirements may
also use Guaranteed Time Slots (GTS), which by definition do not use CSMA.
ZigBee RF4CE

On March 3, 2009 the RF4CE (Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics) Consortium agreed
to work with the ZigBee Alliance to jointly deliver a standardized specification for radio
frequency-based remote controls. ZigBee RF4CE is designed to be deployed in a wide range of
remotely-controlled audio/visual consumer electronics products, such as TVs and set-top boxes.
It promises many advantages over existing remote control solutions, including richer
communication and increased reliability, enhanced features and flexibility, interoperability, and
no line-of-sight barrier.
Software and hardware

The software is designed to be easy to develop on small, inexpensive microprocessors. The

radio design used by ZigBee has been carefully optimized for low cost in large scale production.
It has few analog stages and uses digital circuits wherever possible.

Even though the radios themselves are inexpensive, the ZigBee Qualification Process involves
a full validation of the requirements of the physical layer. This amount of concern about the
Physical Layer has multiple benefits, since all radios derived from that semiconductor mask set
would enjoy the same RF characteristics. On the other hand, an uncertified physical layer that
malfunctions could cripple the battery lifespan of other devices on a ZigBee network. Where
other protocols can mask poor sensitivity or other esoteric problems in a fade compensation
response, ZigBee radios have very tight engineering constraints: they are both power and
bandwidth constrained. Thus, radios are tested to the ISO 17025 standard with guidance given
by Clause 6 of the 802.15.4-2006 Standard. Most vendors plan to integrate the radio and
microcontroller onto a single chip.

Communication and device discovery

In order for applications to communicate, their comprising devices must use a common
application protocol (types of messages, formats and so on); these sets of conventions are
grouped in profiles. Furthermore, binding is decided upon by matching input and output cluster
identifiers, unique within the context of a given profile and associated to an incoming or outgoing
data flow in a device. Binding tables contain source and destination pairs.

Depending on the available information, device discovery may follow different methods. When
the network address is known, the IEEE address can be requested using uni cast
communication. When it is not, petitions are broadcast (the IEEE address being part of the
response payload). End devices will simply respond with the requested address, while a
network coordinator or a router will also send the addresses of all the devices associated with it.

This extended discovery protocol permits external devices to find out about devices in a network
and the services that they offer, which endpoints can report when queried by the discovering
device (which has previously obtained their addresses). Matching services can also be used.

The use of cluster identifiers enforces the binding of complementary entities by means of the
binding tables, which are maintained by ZigBee coordinators, as the table must be always
available within a network and coordinators are most likely to have a permanent power supply.
Backups, managed by higher-level layers, may be needed by some applications. Binding
requires an established communication link; after it exists, whether to add a new node to the
network is decided, according to the application and security policies.

Communication can happen right after the association. Direct addressing uses both radio
address and endpoint identifier, whereas indirect addressing uses every relevant field (address,
endpoint, cluster and attribute) and requires that they be sent to the network coordinator, which
maintains associations and translates requests for communication. Indirect addressing is
particularly useful to keep some devices very simple and minimize their need for storage.
Besides these two methods, broadcast to all endpoints in a device is available, and group
addressing is used to communicate with groups of endpoints belonging to a set of devices.
Security services

As one of its defining features, ZigBee provides facilities for carrying out secure
communications, protecting establishment and transport of cryptographic keys, cyphering
frames and controlling devices. It builds on the basic security framework defined in IEEE
802.15.4. This part of the architecture relies on the correct management of symmetric keys and
the correct implementation of methods and security policies.
Basic security model

The basic mechanism to ensure confidentiality is the adequate protection of all keying material.
Trust must be assumed in the initial installation of the keys, as well as in the processing of
security information. In order for an implementation to globally work, its general correctness
(e.g., conformance to specified behaviors) is assumed.

Keys are the cornerstone of the security architecture; as such their protection is of paramount
importance, and keys are never supposed to be transported through an insecure channel. There
is a momentary exception to this rule, which occurs during the initial phase of the addition to the
network of a previously unconfigured device. The ZigBee network model must take particular
care of security considerations, as ad hoc networks may be physically accessible to external
devices and the particular working environment cannot be foretold; likewise, different
applications running concurrently and using the same transceiver to communicate are supposed
to be mutually trustworthy: for cost reasons the model does not assume a firewall exists
between application-level entities.

Within the protocol stack, different network layers are not cryptographically separated, so
access policies are needed and correct design assumed. The open trust model within a device
allows for key sharing, which notably decreases potential cost. Nevertheless, the layer which
creates a frame is responsible for its security. If malicious devices may exist, every network
layer payload must be cyphered, so unauthorized traffic can be immediately cut off. The
exception, again, is the transmission of the network key, which confers a unified security layer to
the network, to a new connecting device. Point-to-point encryption is also supported.
SECURITY ARCHITECTURE

ZigBee uses 128-bit keys to implement its security mechanisms. A key can be associated either
to a network, being usable by both ZigBee layers and the MAC sublayer, or to a link, acquired
through pre installation, agreement or transport. Establishment of link keys is based on a master
key which controls link key correspondence. Ultimately, at least the initial master key must be
obtained through a secure medium (transport or pre installation), as the security of the whole
network depends on it. Link and master keys are only visible to the application layer. Different
services use different one-way variations of the link key in order to avoid leaks and security
risks.

Key distribution is one of the most important security functions of the network. A secure network
will designate one special device which other devices trust for the distribution of security keys:
the trust center. Ideally, devices will have the trust center address and initial master key
preloaded; if a momentary vulnerability is allowed, it will be sent as described above. Typical
applications without special security needs will use a network key provided by the trust center
(through the initially insecure channel) to communicate.
Thus, the trust center maintains both the network key and provides point-to-point security.
Devices will only accept communications originating from a key provided by the trust center,
except for the initial master key. The security architecture is distributed among the network
layers as follows:

 The MAC sub layers are capable of single-hop reliable communications. As a rule, the
security level it is to use is specified by the upper layers.
 The network layer manages routing, processing received messages and being capable
of broadcasting requests. Outgoing frames will use the adequate link key according to the
routing, if it is available; otherwise, the network key will be used to protect the payload from
external devices.
 The application layer offers key establishment and transport services to both ZDO and
applications. It is also responsible for the propagation across the network of changes in
devices within it, which may originate in the devices themselves (for instance, a simple
status change) or in the trust manager (which may inform the network that a certain device
is to be eliminated from it). It also routes requests from devices to the trust center and
network key renewals from the trust center to all devices. Besides this, the ZDO maintains
the security policies of the device.

The security levels infrastructure is based on CCM*, which adds encryption- and integrity-only
features to CCM.
After Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, ZigBee is the one now making noises. Though ZigBee is used for
data transfer on devices within a
personal or small area network, it is not being positioned as a threat to the existing technologies.
It is targeted towards networked sensing, monitoring, and controlling applications rather than
actual data transfer on Wi-Fi or file transfer over Bluetooth.

ZigBee is supposed to do what Wi-Fi or Bluetooth are not doing-two-way communication

between multiple devices over simple networks using very less power and at very low cost. It
uses the free 2.4 GHz band and the IEEE-defined 802.15.4 standard. And, unlike many wireless
licensed technologies it is an open standard. ZigBee typically transfers a few bytes of sensor
readings between devices, it requires very low bandwidth, and low power. In fact, the low power
proposition gives it an edge over Bluetooth.

In December 2004, ZigBee 1.0 was accepted as an official standard and it is mandatory for
companies to be member of the ZigBee Alliance for manufacturing Zigbee products. Today the
alliance has over 100 members including Ember, Honeywell, Philips, Samsung, and Motorola
who are working towards rolling out ZigBee devices.

The initial markets earmarked for ZigBee are: home control, building automation, and industrial
automation. The underlying benefit is remote control of multiple systems and their flexible
management. In the home and building segment this can be extended to lighting, heating, air
conditioning, and security systems. In the industrial segment it can be used to improve asset
management and extend existing manufacturing and process control systems reliably.

Once volumes pick up and acceptance of the technology increases, newer application like patient
and fitness monitoring systems in hospitals will come up. On a larger scale, one could also
expect environmental monitoring and energy management applications.

While we wait for ZigBee to make its commercial entry and prove its efficiency, big noises are
being made about its deployment and the moolah it can bring in. Frost & Sullivan not only
predicts $700 million in ZigBee chipset sale by 2008-up 3400 percent from the $18.8 million in
2004-but it also says there would be minimum of 100 to 150 ZigBee chips in every home in the
world in the next two to three years.
 Comparison of Wireless Standards
Market Name ZigBee GPRS/GSM Wi-Fi Bluetooth
Standard 802.15.4 1xRTT/CDMA 802.11b 802.15.1
Application Focus Monitoring & Control Wide Area Voice & Data Web, Email, Video Cable Replacement
System Resources 4Kb - 32 Kb 16Mb+ 1Mb+ 250Kb+
Battery Life (Days) 100-1,000+ 38,359 .5-5 7-Jan
Network Size Unlimited (264) 1 32 7
Bandwidth (Kb/s) 20-250 64-128+ 11,000+ 720
Transmission Range (Meters) 1-100+ 1000+ 1-100 1-10+
Success Metrics Reliability, Power, Cost Reach, Quality Speed, Flexibility Cost, Convenience

According to another report by Industrial Wireless Sensor Networking, almost 85.9 million
industrial wireless sensor network nodes would be deployed by 2010 with 85 percent of them
being ZigBee nodes. West Technology Research Solutions says almost 19 million ZigBee chips
would be shipped in 2006. ABI Research puts almost one million devices on ZigBee in 2005.

Though only time would check the veracity of these figures, the wireless technology certainly
seems to be going on a hype crest. Not long ago Bluetooth was also projected to bring a
revolution in data transfer within devices in the personal area network, but they have gained
some acceptance only when applications over mobile phones were proven. ZigBee has to
demonstrate its usefulness and usage efficiency, without which acceptance level might not be as
high as predicted.