Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology

© 2005 - 2009 JATIT. All rights reserved.

www.jatit.org

THE ROLE OF ZIGBEE TECHNOLOGY IN FUTURE DATA

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Dr.S.S.Riaz Ahamed.

Professor & Head, Dept of Computer Applications, Mohamed Sathak Engg College,Kilakarai & Principal,
Sathak Institute of Technology, Ramanathapuram,TamilNadu, India-623501.

E-mail: ssriaz@ieee.org , sssriaz@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

ZigBee is an IEEE 802.15.4 standard for data communications with business and consumer devices. It is
designed around low-power consumption allowing batteries to essentially last forever. The ZigBee
standard
provides network, security, and application support services operating on top of the IEEE 802.15.4
Medium
Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) wireless standard. It employs a suite of technologies to
enable scalable, self-organizing, self-healing networks that can manage various data traffic patterns.
ZigBee is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh networking 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.ZigBee has
been developed to meet the growing demand for capable wireless networking between numerous low-
power devices. In industry ZigBee is being used for next generation automated manufacturing, with small
transmitters in every device on the floor, allowing for communication between devices to a central
computer. This new level of communication permits finely-tuned remote monitoring and manipulation.

Keywords: Medium Access Control (MAC), Physical Layer (PHY), Wireless Personal Area Networking
(WPAN), Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)

1. INTRODUCTION The relationship between IEEE 802.15.4 and

ZigBee is similar to that between IEEE 802.11 and
ZigBee is an established set of specifications for the Wi-Fi Alliance. For non-commercial purposes,
wireless personal area networking (WPAN), i.e. the ZigBee specification is available free to the
digital radio connections between computers and general public. An entry level membership in the
related devices. WPAN Low Rate or ZigBee ZigBee Alliance, called Adopter, costs US$ 3500
provides specifications for devices that have low annually and provides access to the as-yet
data rates, consume very low power and are thus unpublished specifications and permission to create
characterized by long battery life. ZigBee makes products for market using the specifications.
possible completely networked homes where all ZigBee is one of the global standards of
devices are able to communicate and be controlledcommunication protocol formulated by the relevant
by a single unit. The ZigBee Alliance, the standardstask force under the IEEE 802.15 working group.
body which defines ZigBee, also publishes The fourth in the series, WPAN Low Rate/ZigBee
application profiles that allow multiple OEM is the newest and provides specifications for
vendors to create interoperable products. The devices that have low data rates, consume very low
current list of application profiles either published power and are thus characterized by long battery
or in the works are: life. Other standards like Bluetooth and IrDA
address high data rate applications such as voice,
video and LAN communications.

• Home Automation
• ZigBee Smart Energy
• Telecommunication Applications
• ZigBee devices are actively limited to a through-
Personal Home rate of 250Kbps, compared to Bluetooth's much
larger pipeline of 1Mbps, operating on the 2.4 GHz

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ISM band, which is available throughout most of devices have been marketed as proprietary items for
the world.In the consumer market ZigBee is being want of a standard. With acceptance and
explored for everything from linking low-power implementation of ZigBee, interoperability will be
household devices such as smoke alarms to a enabled in multi-purpose, self-organizing mesh
central housing control unit, to centralized light networks
controls.

2. ZIGBEE CHARACTERISTICS
The specified maximum range of operation for
ZigBee devices is 250 feet (76m), substantially The focus of network applications under the IEEE
further than that used by Bluetooth capable devices, 802.15.4 / ZigBee standard include the features of
although security concerns raised over "sniping" low power consumption, needed for only two major
Bluetooth devices remotely, may prove to hold truemodes (Tx/Rx or Sleep), high density of nodes per
for ZigBee devices as well. Due to its low power network, low costs and simple implementation.
output, ZigBee devices can sustain themselves on a
small battery for many months, or even years,
making them ideal for install-and-forget purposes, These features are enabled by the following
such as most small household systems. Predictionscharacteristics,
of ZigBee installation for the future, most based on
the explosive use of ZigBee in automated
household tasks in China, look to a near future • 2.4GHz and 868/915 MHz dual PHY modes. This
when upwards of sixty ZigBee devices may be represents three license-free bands: 2.4-2.4835
found in an average American home, all GHz, 868-870 MHz and 902-928 MHz. The
communicating with one another freely and number of channels allotted to each frequency band
regulating common tasks seamlessly. is fixed at sixteen (numbered 11-26), one
(numbered 0) and ten (numbered 1-10)
respectively. The higher frequency band is
applicable worldwide, and the lower band in the
areas of North America, Europe, Australia and New
The ZigBee Alliance has been set up as “an
Zealand .
association of companies working together to
enablereliable,cost-effective,low-power,
wirelessly networked, monitoring and control
products based on an open global standard”. Once•aLow power consumption, with battery life
manufacturer enrolls in this Alliance for a fee, he ranging from months to years. Considering the
can have access to the standard and implement it in number of devices with remotes in use at present, it
his products in the form of ZigBee chipsets that is easy to see that more numbers of batteries need
would be built into the end devices. Philips, to be provisioned every so often, entailing regular
Motorola, Intel, HP are all members of the Alliance (as well as timely), recurring expenditure. In the
. The goal is “to provide the consumer with ZigBee standard, longer battery life is achievable
ultimate flexibility, mobility, and ease of use by by either of two means: continuous network
building wireless intelligence and capabilities into connection and slow but sure battery drain, or
every day devices. ZigBee technology will be intermittent connection and even slower battery
embedded in a wide range of products and drain.
applications across consumer, commercial,
industrial and government markets worldwide. For
the first time, companies will have a standards-
based wireless platform optimized for the unique • Maximum data rates allowed for each of these
needs of remote monitoring and control frequency bands are fixed as 250 kbps @2.4 GHz,
applications, including simplicity, reliability, low- 40 kbps @ 915 MHz, and 20 kbps @868 MHz.
cost and low-power”.
• High throughput and low latency for low duty-
cycle applications (<0.1%)

The target networks encompass a wide range of • Channel access using Carrier Sense Multiple
devices with low data rates in the Industrial, Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA - CA)
Scientific and Medical (ISM) radio bands, with
building-automation controls like intruder/fire
• Addressing space of up to 64 bit IEEE address
alarms, thermostats and remote (wireless) switches,
video/audio remote controls likely to be the most devices, 65,535 networks
popular applications. So far sensor and control

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• 50m typical range periodically, locks on and looks for messages

addressed to it. If message transmission is
complete, the coordinator dictates a schedule for
• Fully reliable “hand-shaked” data transfer
the next beacon so that the device ‘goes to sleep'; in
protocol.
fact, the coordinator itself switches to sleep mode.

• Different topologies as illustrated below: star,

peer-to-peer, mesh While using the beacon mode, all the devices in a
mesh network know when to communicate with
each other. In this mode, necessarily, the timing
circuits have to be quite accurate, or wake up
sooner to be sure not to miss the beacon. This in
turn means an increase in power consumption by
the coordinator's receiver, entailing an optimal
increase in costs.

Figure 1: ZigBee Topologies

3. TRAFFIC TYPES

ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 addresses three typical

traffic types. IEEE 802.15.4 MAC can
accommodate all the types.

1. Data is periodic. The application dictates the

rate, and the sensor activates, checks for data and
deactivates. Figure 2: Beacon Network Communication
[Source:www.zigbee.org/en/resources]

2. Data is intermittent. The application, or other

stimulus, determines the rate, as in the case of sayThe non-beacon mode will be included in a system
smoke detectors. The device needs to connect to the where devices are ‘asleep' nearly always, as in
network only when communication is necessitated.smoke detectors and burglar alarms. The devices
This type enables optimum saving on energy. wake up and confirm their continued presence in
the network at random intervals.

3. Data is repetitive, and the rate is fixed a priori.

Depending on allotted time slots, called GTS On detection of activity, the sensors ‘spring to
(guaranteed time slot), devices operate for fixed attention', as it were, and transmit to the ever-
durations. waiting coordinator's receiver (since it is mains-
powered). However, there is the remotest of
chances that a sensor finds the channel busy, in
ZigBee employs either of two modes, beacon or which case the receiver unfortunately would ‘miss a
non-beacon to enable the to-and-fro data traffic. call'.
Beacon mode is used when the coordinator runs on
batteries and thus offers maximum power savings,
whereas the non-beacon mode finds favour when
the coordinator is mains-powered.

In the beacon mode, a device watches out for the

coordinator's beacon that gets transmitted at

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It may be helpful to think of IEEE 802.15.4 as the

physical radio and ZigBee as the logical network
and application software. Following the standard
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference
model, ZigBee's protocol stack is structured in
layers. The first two layers, physical (PHY) and
media access (MAC), are defined by the IEEE
802.15.4 standard. The layers above them are
defined by the ZigBee Alliance. The IEEE working
group passed the first draft of PHY and MAC in
2003.

Figure 3: Non-Beacon Network Communication

ZigBee-compliant products operate in unlicensed
[Source:www.zigbee.org/en/resources]
bands worldwide, including 2.4GHz (global), 902
to 928MHz (Americas), and 868MHz (Europe).
4. ARCHITECTURE Raw data throughput rates of 250Kbps can be
achieved at 2.4GHz (16 channels), 40Kbps at
915MHz (10 channels), and 20Kbps at 868MHz (1
ZigBee is a home-area network designed channel). The transmission distance is expected to
specifically to replace the proliferation of range from 10 to 75m, depending on power output
individual remote controls. ZigBee was created to and environmental characteristics. Like Wi-Fi,
satisfy the market's need for a cost-effective, Zigbee uses direct-sequence spread spectrum in the
standards-based wireless network that supports low 2.4GHz band, with offset-quadrature phase-shift
data rates, low power consumption, security, and keying modulation. Channel width is 2MHz with
reliability. To address this need, the ZigBee 5MHz channel spacing. The 868 and 900MHz
Alliance,anindustryworkinggroup bands also use direct-sequence spread spectrum but
(www.zigbee.org), is developing standardized with binary-phase-shift keying modulation.
application software on top of the IEEE 802.15.4
wireless standard. The alliance is working closely
with the IEEE to ensure an integrated, complete,
and interoperable network for the market. For
example, the working group will provide 5. FRAME STRUCTURE
interoperability certification testing of 802.15.4
systems that include the ZigBee software layer. Figure 5 illustrates the four basic frame types
defined in 802.15.4: data, ACK, MAC command,
and beacon.

The ZigBee Alliance will also serve as the official

test and certification group for ZigBee devices.
ZigBee is the only standards-based technology that
addresses the needs of most remote monitoring and
control and sensory network applications.

Figure 4: ZigBee stack architecture

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Figure5: The four basic frame types defined in Device addresses employ 64-bit IEEE and optional
802.15.4: Data, ACK, MAC command, and beacon 16-bit short addressing. The address field within the
MAC can contain both source and destination
address information (needed for peer-to-peer
The data frame provides a payload of up to 104 operation). This dual address information is used in
bytes. The frame is numbered to ensure that all mesh networks to prevent a single point of failure
packets are tracked. A frame-check sequence within the network.
ensures that packets are received without error.
This frame structure improves reliability in difficult
conditions.
7. DEVICE TYPES

Another important structure for 802.15.4 is the These devices have 64-bit IEEE addresses, with
acknowledgment (ACK) frame. It provides feedbackoption to enable shorter addresses to reduce packet
from the receiver to the sender confirming that thesize, and work in either of two addressing modes –
packet was received without error. The device takesstar and peer-to-peer.
advantage of specified "quiet time" between frames
to send a short packet immediately after the data-
packet transmission. ZigBee networks use three device types:

• The network coordinator maintains overall

A MAC command frame provides the mechanism network knowledge. It's the most
for remote control and configuration of client sophisticated of the three types and
nodes. A centralized network manager uses MAC requires the most memory and computing
to configure individual clients' command frames no power.
matter how large the network. The full function device (FFD) supports all
•
802.15.4 functions and features specified
by the standard. It can function as a
Finally, the beacon frame wakes up client devices, network coordinator. Additional memory
which listen for their address and go back to sleep and computing power make it ideal for
if they don't receive it. Beacons are important for network router functions or it could be
mesh and cluster-tree networks to keep all the used in network-edge devices (where the
nodes synchronized without requiring those nodes network touches the real world).
to consume precious battery energy by listening for The reduced function device (RFD) carries
long periods of time. limited (as specified by the standard)
•
functionality to lower cost and complexity.
It's generally found in network-edge
6. CHANNEL ACCESS, ADDRESSING devices.

Two channel-access mechanisms are implemented

in 802.15.4. For a non"beacon network, a standard
ALOHA CSMA-CA (carrier-sense medium-access 8. SECURITY
with collision avoidance) communicates with
positive acknowledgement for successfully
received packets. In a beacon-enabled network, a Security and data integrity are key benefits of the
superframe structure is used to control channel ZigBee technology. ZigBee leverages the security
access. The superframe is set up by the network model of the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC sublayer which
coordinator to transmit beacons at predetermined specifies four security services:
intervals (multiples of 15.38ms, up to 252s) and
provides 16 equal-width time slots between • access control—the device maintains a list
beacons for contention-free channel access in each
time slot. The structure guarantees dedicated of trusted devices within the network
bandwidth and low latency. Channel access in each • data encryption, which uses symmetric key
time slot is contention-based. However, the 128-bit advanced encryption standard
network coordinator can dedicate up to seven • frame integrity to protect data from being
guaranteed time slots per beacon interval for quality modified by parties without cryptographic
of service. keys
sequential freshness to reject data frames
• that have been replayed—the network
controller compares the freshness value
with the last known value from the device

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and rejects it if the freshness value has notThe actual security implementation is specified by
been updated to a new value the implementer using a standardized toolbox of
ZigBee security software.

The following table-1 shows the Wireless technology comparison chart,

Standard Bandwidth Power Protocol Stronghold Applications

Consumption Stack Size

Wi-Fi Upto 400+mATX, 100+KB High data rate Internetbrowsing,

54Mbpsstandby 20mA PC networking, file
transfers

Bluetooth 1Mbps 40mATX, ~100+KB Interoperability, WirelessUSB,

standby 0.2mA cable replacement handset, headset

ZigBee 250kbps 30mA TX, 4"32KB Long battery life, Remotecontrol,

standby low costbattery-operated
3#&956;A products, sensors

Table 1 Wireless technology comparison chart

9. CONLUSION [2] P. Kinney, ZigBee Technology: Wireless

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stack size, ZigBee's 32 KB is about one-third of Third Edition, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing
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the stack size is as low as 4 KB). The IEEE Networks”,FourthEditionPearson
802.15.4–based ZigBee is designed for remote Publication Limited, 2003, Pp 21-89.
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networks that are characterized by numerous nodes Paper dated 26 July 2005.
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battery lives. ZigBee technology is designed to Protocol Stack and Light Sensor in
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fast market adoption. Implementer’sGuide;Document
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[10] Weiser, M. (1991). The Computer for the 21st
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