Chapter 1 – ZigBee Basics

Publisher Summary This chapter introduces the ZigBee standard for short-range wireless networking. It provides a brief overview of ZigBee's fundamental properties, including its networking topologies, its channel access mechanism, and the role of each protocol layer. The name ZigBee was selected as a metaphor for the way devices on the network find and interact with one another, which is illustrated somewhat parallel to a bee dance to communicate messages. ZigBee is a standard that defines a set of communication protocols for low-data-rate short-range wireless networking. ZigBee-based wireless devices operate in 868 MHz, 915 MHz, and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. One of the key characteristics of the ZigBee standard is its mesh networking capability. The greatest advantage of ZigBee lies in the fact that, in many ZigBee applications, the total time the wireless device is engaged in any type of activity is very limited; the device spends most of its time in a power-saving mode, also known as sleep mode. As a result, ZigBee-enabled devices are capable of being operational for several years before their batteries need to be replaced. Also, the ZigBee standard helps reduce the implementation cost by simplifying the communication protocols and reducing the data rate. Applications of Zigbee include in-home patient monitoring and monitoring the structural health of large-scale buildings.