ZIGBEE: INTRODUCTION ZigBee is an established set of specifications for wireless personal are a networking (WPAN), i.e.

digital radio connections between computers and relate d devices. WPAN Low Rate or ZigBee provides specifications for devices that have low data rates, consume very low power and are thus characterized by long batte ry life. ZigBee makes Possible completely networked homes where all devices are able to communicate and be controlled by a single unit. The ZigBee Alliance, the standards body which defines ZigBee, also publishes application profiles that a llow multiple OEM vendors to create interoperable products. The relationship between IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee is similar to that between IEE E 802.11 and the Wi-Fi Alliance. For non-commercial purposes, the ZigBee specifi cation is available free to the general public. An entry level membership in the ZigBee Alliance, called Adopter, costs US$ 3500 annually and provides access to the as-yet unpublished specifications and permission to create products for mar ket using the specifications. ZigBee is one of the global standards of communica tion protocol formulated by the relevant task force under the IEEE 802.15 workin g group. The fourth in the series, WPAN Low Rate/ZigBee is the newest and provid es specifications for devices that have low data rates, consume very low power a nd are thus characterized by long battery life. Other standards like Bluetooth a nd IrDA address high data rate applications such as voice, video and LAN communi cations. ZigBee devices are actively limited to a through rate of 250Kbps, compa red to Bluetooth's much larger pipeline of 1Mbps, operating on the 2.4 GHz ISM b and, which is available throughout most of the world. In the consumer market Zig Bee is being explored for everything from linking low-power household devices su ch as smoke alarms to a central housing control unit, to centralized light contr ols. The specified maximum range of operation for ZigBee devices is 250 feet (76m), substantially further than that used by Bluetooth capable devices, although security concerns raised over "sniping" Bluetooth devices remotely, may prove to hold true for ZigBee devices as well. Due to its low power output, Zig Bee devices can sustain themselves on a small battery for many months, or even y ears, making them ideal for install-and-forget purposes, such as most small hous ehold systems. Predictions of ZigBee installation for the future, most based on the explosive use of ZigBee in automated household tasks in China, look to a nea r future when upwards of sixty ZigBee devices may be found in an average America n home, all communicating with one another freely and regulating common tasks se amlessly. The ZigBee Alliance has been set up as an association of companies work ing together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked , monitoring and control products based on an open global standard. Once a manufa cturer enrolls in this Alliance for a fee, he can have access to the standard an d implement it in his products in the form of ZigBee chipsets that would be buil t into the end devices. Philips, Motorola, Intel, HP are all members of the Alli ance. The goal is to provide the consumer with ultimate flexibility, mobility, an d ease of use by building wireless intelligence and capabilities into every day devices. ZigBee technology will be embedded in a wide range of products and appl ications across consumer, commercial, industrial and government markets worldwid e. For the first time, companies will have a standardsbased wireless platform op timized for the unique needs of remote monitoring and control applications, incl uding simplicity, reliability, lowcost and low-power.The target networks encompas s a wide range of devices with low data rates in the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) radio bands, with building-automation controls like intruder/fire alarms, thermostats and remote (wireless) switches, video/audio remote controls likely to be the most popular applications. So far sensor and control devices ha ve been marketed as proprietary items for want of a standard. With acceptance an d implementation of ZigBee, interoperability will be enabled in multi-purpose, s elf-organizing mesh networks. Fig 4.8.1: Zigbee modules ZigBee module. The 1 coin, shown for size reference, is about 23 mm (0.9 inch) in

diameter. ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication pro tocols using small, low-power digital radios based on the IEEE 802.15.4-2003 sta ndard for wireless personal area networks (WPANs), such as wireless headphones c onnecting with cell phones via short-range radio. The technology defined by the ZigBee specification is intended to be simpler and less expensive than other WPA Ns, such as Bluetooth. ZigBee is targeted at radio-frequency (RF) applications t hat require a low data rate, long battery life, and secure networking. The ZigBe e Alliance is a group of companies that maintain and publish the ZigBee standard .

ZIGBEE CHARACTERISTICS: The focus of network applications under the IEEE 802.15.4 / ZigBee stand ard include the features of low power consumption, needed for only two major mod es (Tx/Rx or Sleep), high density of nodes per network, low costs and simple imp lementation. These features are enabled by the following characteristics, 2.4GHz and 868/915 MHz dual PHY modes. This represents three license-free bands: 2.4-2.4835 GHz, 868-870 MHz and 902-928 MHz. The number of channels allotted to each frequency band is fixed at sixteen (numbered 11-26), one(numbered 0) and t en (numbered 1-10) respectively. The higher frequency band is applicable worldwi de, and the lower band in the areas of North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Low power consumption, with battery life ranging from months to years. Consider ing the number of devices with remotes in use at present, it is easy to see that more numbers of batteries need to be provisioned every so often, entailing regu lar (as well as timely), recurring expenditure. In the ZigBee standard, longer b attery life is achievable by either of two means: continuous network connection and slow but sure battery drain, or intermittent connection and even slower batt ery drain. Maximum data rates allowed for each of these frequency bands are fixed as 250 kb ps @2.4 GHz, 40 kbps @ 915 MHz, and 20 kbps @868 MHz. High throughput and low latency for low duty cycle applications (<0.1%) Channel access using Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSM A - CA) Addressing space of up to 64 bit IEEE address devices, 65,535 networks.

ARCHITECTURE: Fig 4.8.2: Zigbee Architecture ZigBee is a home-area network designed specifically to replace the proliferation of individual remote controls. ZigBee was created to satisfy the market's need for a cost-effective, standards-based wireless network that supports low data ra tes, low power consumption, security, and reliability. 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 System s Interconnection (OSI) reference model, ZigBee's protocol stack is structured i n layers. The first two layers, physical (PHY) and media access (MAC), are defin ed by the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. The layers above them are defined by the ZigBe e Alliance. The IEEE working group passed the first draft of PHY and MAC in 2003 . ZigBee-compliant products operate in unlicensed bands worl dwide, including 2.4GHz (global), 902 to 928MHz (Americas), and 868MHz (Europe).

Raw data throughput rates of 250Kbps can be achieved at 2.4GHz (16 channels), 4 0Kbps at 915MHz (10 channels), and 20Kbps at 868MHz (1 channel). The transmissio n distance is expected to range from 10 to 75m, depending on power output and en vironmental characteristics. Like Wi-Fi, Zigbee uses direct-sequence spread spec trum in the 2.4GHz band, with offset-quadrature phase-shift keying modulation. C hannel width is 2MHz with 5MHz channel spacing. The 868 and 900MHz bands also us e direct-sequence spread spectrum but with binary-phase-shift keying modulation. Protocols: The protocols build on recent algorithmic research (Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Ve ctor, neuRFon) to automatically construct a low-speed ad-hoc network of nodes. I n most large network instances, the network will be a cluster of clusters. It ca n also form a mesh or a single cluster. The current profiles derived from the Zi gBee protocols support beacon and non-beacon enabled networks. In non-beacon-enabled networks (those whose beacon order is 15), an unslotted CS MA/CA channel access mechanism is used. In this type of network, ZigBee Routers typically have their receivers continuously active, requiring a more robust powe r supply. However, this allows for heterogeneous networks in which some devices receive continuously, while others only transmit when an external stimulus is de tected. The typical example of a heterogeneous network is a wireless light switc h: 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, re ceives 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 netwo rk nodes called ZigBee Routers transmit periodic beacons to confirm their presen ce 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, from 24 mil liseconds to 24 ms * 214 = 393.216 seconds at 40 kbit/s and from 48 milliseconds to 48 ms * 214 = 786.432 seconds at 20 kbit/s. However, low duty cycle operatio n with long beacon intervals requires precise timing, which can conflict with th e need for low product cost. In general, the ZigBee protocols minimize the time the radio is on so as to redu ce 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 deci dedly asymmetrical: some devices are always active, while others spend most of t heir 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 Pers onal Area Network (WPAN) standard. The standard specifies the lower protocol lay ersthe physical layer (PHY), and the media access control (MAC) portion of the da ta link layer (DLL). This standard specifies operation in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz (worldwide), 915 MHz (Americas) and 868 MHz (Europe) ISM bands. In the 2.4 GHz band there are 16 ZigBee channels, with each channel requiring 5 MHz of bandwidt h. 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 d igital 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, and 20 kbit/s in the 868 MHz band. Transmission range is between 10 and 75 meters (33 and 246 feet) and up to 1500 meters for z igbee pro, although it is heavily dependent on the particular environment. The m aximum output power of the radios is generally 0 dBm (1 mW). The basic channel access mode is "carrier sense, multiple access/collision avoid ance" (CSMA/CA). That is, the nodes talk in the same way that people converse; t hey briefly check to see that no one is talking before they start. There are thr ee notable exceptions to the use of CSMA. Beacons are sent on a fixed timing sch edule, and do not use CSMA. Message acknowledgments also do not use CSMA. Finall

y, devices in Beacon Oriented networks that have low latency real-time requireme nts may also use Guaranteed Time Slots (GTS), which by definition do not use CSM A. 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 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 dat a 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 industr ial control, embedded sensing, medical data collection, smoke and intruder warni ng, building automation, home automation, etc. The resulting network will use ve ry small amounts of power individual devices must have a battery life of at leas t two years to pass ZigBee certification. Typical application areas include Home Entertainment and Control Smart lighting, advanced temperature control, saf ety and security, movies and music Home Awareness Water sensors, power sensors, energy monitoring, smoke and fire d etectors, smart appliances and access sensors Mobile Services m-payment, m-monitoring and control, m-security and access contr ol, m-healthcare and tele-assist Commercial Building Energy monitoring, HVAC, lighting, access control Industrial Plant Process control, asset management, environmental management, en ergy management, industrial device control