2009 International Forum on Computer Science-Technology and Applications

The networking technology within Smart Home system --ZigBee Technology

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Niu Dou1,, Yang Mei2, Zhao Yanjuan, Zhang Yan

Institute of Computer Science, Northeast Dianli University, Jilin 132012, China Institute of Computer Science, Northeast Dianli University, Jilin 132012, China kaixinforever47@163.com, honghe541@yahoo.com.cn The characteristics of UWB are: Powerful anti-disturbing capability. UWB provide adaptive frequency hopping to avoid channel collision. High speed of data transmission. A wide bandwidth, over 1GHZ (up to several Mbps). The small of energy consumption. Good secrecy. Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), also known as IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards, has been applied extensively for wireless local area networks (WLAN). The IEEE 802.11 architecture is made up of several components. The basic cell is called a basic service set (BSS), which is a set of mobile or fixed stations. Based upon the BSS, it employs the independent basic service set (IBSS) and extended service set (ESS) network configurations. B. Established Intelligent home network with Zigbee Wireless networking technology have undergone a rapid growth during the past few years, including working with it to monitor and automate home, industrial, agricultural systems and etc. Nowadays it has been mainly focused on high-speed communication applications such as the IEEE 802.11 WLAN standard. Another set of well-known study attempts to research low-rate wireless personal area networks (WPAN), especially Bluetooth. However, it has limited capacity for networking since a Bluetooth piconet only can have up to 8 active nodes. To achieve technological and marketplace success, the wireless networks need an efficient, economical, lowlatency, robust,energy, wireless connectivity infrastructure. With this in mind, users are increasingly focus on ZigBee technology. After an overview of the mentioned three shortrange wireless technologys, we attempt to make a preliminary comparison among the three technologys
TABLE I. COMPARISION OF THE BLUETOOTH, UWB, AND ZIGBEE
TECHNOLOGY

ABSTRACT: The establishment for internal communication network of Smart Home system includes a variety of ways such as wired, wireless and etc. Wireless network represents the development trend in home internal communication network. Among a series of network technology, because of low data rate, low power consumption, low cost, wider coverage, ZigBee technology is intended to be suitable standard for a low-rate wireless home control system . Therefore, this article focus on the technology of ZigBee which is widely used in smart home system.. Additionally, its characteristics, protocol framework, and its specific content are also discussed in this paper in order to provide the theoretical basis of smart house system. KEYWORDS: Zigbee technology; characteristics; protocol framework; application;

I.

INTRODUCTION

At present, a small range of networking equipment such as home network, mainly includes wired and wireless in two ways. With the large, low-cost and highly integrated wireless module, and other wireless communications technologies success, such as GSM cellular phones and WLAN, it's concluded that a wireless network technology is becoming the main technology in the field of networking and home automation due to characteristic of low cost and easy-to-use. A. The wireless network technology The wireless network provides the flexibility and mobility., reducing the cable restriction; therefore, the use of the wireless network technology has become an irresistible trend for intelligent home system. General speaking, the short-range wireless is currently held by four protocols: the Bluetooth, UWB, ZigBee, and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth technology, also known as 2.4 ISM band , is based on a wireless radio system for low cost, single chip implementation. It is mainly used in short-range of language and data transmission business. Bluetooth system has enough high anti-interference ability, simple equipment and superior performance. Two connectivity topologies are defined in Bluetooth: one is the piconet and the other is scatternet. Apart from fast frequency hopping and short data packets avoids interference, it provides link layer security between any two Bluetooth radios at the same time. UWB has recently attracted much attention on account of its bandwidth which is considered to be "expected to replace the Bluetooth and wireless LAN wireless communication technology."
978-0-7695-3930-0/09 $26.00 2009 IEEE DOI 10.1109/IFCSTA.2009.129 29

Bluetooth

UWB

Zigbee

IEEE spec. Max signal rate Frequency band transmission

IEEE802.15. 1 1Mb/s 2.4GHz 10m

IEEE802.15. 3a 110Mb/s 3.1-10.6GHz 10m(110Mbp

IEEE802.15.4 250Kb/s 2.4GHz;868MHz;915 MHz 10-75m

distance Power index price 120mw $3.5

s) 4m(200Mbps ) 100mw unknown

60mw $2-3

Different topologies as illustrated below: star, peerto-peer and mesh network topologies supported.

First the Bluetooth, UWB and ZigBee are corresponding to the IEEE 802.15.1, 802.15.3 and 802.15.4 standards, respectively. Because of its long-term battery operation, greater useful range, flexibility in a number of dimensions, and reliability of the mesh networking architecture, ZigBee over 802.15.4 protocol can fulfill a wider variety of real industrial needs than Bluetooth and UWB. Secondly, power consumption. Table 1 indicates the power consumption in mW unit for each technology. Obviously, the Bluetooth and ZigBee technology consume less power as compared with UWB. Finally, Bluetooth and ZigBee are suitable for low data rate applications with limited battery power (such as mobile devices and battery-operated sensor networks), UWB is proposed for shortrange and high data rate applications. But Bluetooth dont fit the bill due to they are too expensive or use too much energy. In summary, comparing the system which uses ZigBee technology with traditional wired network system, it has advantage of low cost, low power and wider coverage. Based on these factors, it is believed that Zigbee would be the most suitable techniques for smart home system. II. ZIGBEE TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

Figure 1. ZigBee network topologies (source: ZigBee Alliance).

A. The characteristics of ZigBee ZigBee technology is a low data rate, low power consumption, low cost, wireless networking protocol targeted towards home automation, building automation, industrial monitoring and control,etc. It has been developed to become the global control/sensor network standard. [3] The main characteristics of Zigbee are as follows Low power consumption: because of extremely low duty-cycle (< 10 ppm) capability, sending and receiving messages on low-power and adoptting Hibernation Mode, ZigBee Technology can run for six months to two years on just two AA batteries. Reliability: MAC layer using the fully handshakedprotocol for transfer reliability. Supports large network orders (<= 65k nodes) Security (using AES-128): ZigBee provides functions of checking data integrity and Sender authentication. Support for low latency devices: ZigBee is optimized for time-critical applications. Meanwhile ZigBee devices dont have to synchronize with other nodes before beginning communication. Thus, devices require only 30 milliseconds to join a network and 15 milliseconds to access and start communicating.

B. Network Devices According to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, Zigbee defines two different types of physical devices: Full Function Device (FFD) and Reduced Function Device (RFD). 1) Full function device (FFD) Can function in any network topology Serve as the Network coordinator Can communication with any other device 2) Reduced function device (RFD) Only be used to star topology Cannot become a network coordinator Services only to a network coordinator Very minimal implementation C. ZigBee Protocol suite ZigBee standard uses hierarchically structured. ZigBee does not exactly fit the OSI 7-layer networking model, but it does have some of the same elements, including the PHY (physical), MAC (link layer), and NWK (network) layers. The Alliance focuses on the specification of the upper layers of the protocol stack (from network to the application layer), as the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol specifies the Medium Access Control (MAC) sub-layer and physical layer for LR[8] WPAN . Figure-2 shows the frame structure adopted by the alliance. We describe the major features of each layer and then.

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Figure 2. IEEE820.15.4/ZigBee protocol stack architecture

GTS management. Providing a reliable communication links between two MAC entity of equals. Association refers to a device operating in a specific PAN adding to the Coordinator for registration and authentication process. LR-WPAN network equipment is likely to switch from one network to another network, then it is need to association and disassociation operations. CSMA/CA used during the contention access period is very similar to TDMA; however, it can be dynamically allocated time slot for the application equipment. Generally speaking, the use of CSMA/CA mechanism needs time synchronisation between devices, for example, one person talks, the others wait. Now its others turn to talk, when there is a pause in conversation. Occasionally two people talk to one another. Always keep in mind: only one person is talking at any given time. IEEE802.15.4 has an optional super-frame structure (Figure 3) with beacons for time synchronisation as well.

1) PHY Layer Features The IEEE 802.15.4 standard defines three frequency bands: 2.4GHz and 868/915 MHz dual PHY modes. All of these are based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) spreading technique which has an advantage in that their wide channel filters. Generally speaking, raw data rates of 250 kbps can be achieved at 2.4 GHz(16 channels), 40 kbps at 915 MHz(10 channels) and 20kbps at 868 MHz(1 channels). We will focus on the 2.4GHz bands which is now recognized to be a global band, accepted in almost all countries. 2.4GHz band is attributed to a higher-order modulation scheme. On the other hand, it facilitates access to high throughput and low latency for low dutycycle applications because of higher rate. The lower 868/915 MHz band is applicable in areas of North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Because of these two frequency bands with low propagation losses, they can be translated into better sensitivity and larger coverage area. The Physical data services include the following five aspects of function: Activation and deactivation of the radio transceiver Receiver energy detection (ED) Link Quality Indication (LQI) Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) Sending and Receiving Data 2) MAC Layer Features The MAC layer of the IEEE 802.15.4 is in charge of the following tasks: Network beacon transmitted by network coordinator Synchronization with the beacon Support Personal Area Network (PAN) association and disassociation Support for safety of plant A slotted CSMACA mechanism used by channel access

Figure 3. Zigbee super-frame structure

3) Network Layer Features Most of the new technology development has been brought about the network layer. The responsibilities of the ZigBee network layer includes the usual tasks of network start-up, associating, dissociating, address assignment to devices, security, frame routing, etc. In addition, multiple network topologies are supported by the network layer. Also through the use of ZigBee routers, it achieves more efficient routing, involving in using multiple intermediate relay devices within the network. Network layer will mainly consider technology-based ad hoc network protocols, it is responsible for: Common network layer functions: constructed and maintenance of topological structures, naming and associated business, which including the addressing, routing and security. Electricity-saving as well as IEEE802.15.4 standard. A suite of technologies to enable scalable, selforganizing, self-healing networks that can minimize consumer spending and maintenance costs.

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III.

ZIGBEE APPLICATION

A. Applications of ZigBee technology in smart homes ZigBee technology has been a global standard for wireless communication system .The key features of ZigBee wireless technology are reliability, low cost, low power consumption allowing batteries life ranging from months to years and easy-to-use. As per its formation ZigBee can be particularly well adapted for use in home control automation, which provides a reliable method for intelligent sensor both inside homes as well as outside targeting the household lights, air conditioning, tap water, household appliancesecurity system and etc. Home Wireless Network based on Zigbee is easy to install. Because a large number of sensor nodes make use of battery-powered to guarantee a long service life without wires. With the installation of home control network based on Zigbee, it is convenient for the lighting, air conditioning and security system to adapt to changing system requirements as well as for users, contractors and suppliers to save costs. In the other hand, it is convenient to move and rearrange with a fully installed network nodes. Generally speaking, it is easy to add network nodes through the request of the adjacent network coordinator. Another function of Home Network based on ZigBee is that it can be flexible configuration for device, and control a specific device. Also, it can use a controller control multiple independent equipment which can work not just independently but work together to complete a series of function. For example, when you are taking the mobile phones with configurable nodes and at home, the network will know that you have been back home, automatically switching the lights, stereo equipment and other equipments that you wanted, providing you with a comfortable home environment. For an even stronger home network, users can adjust their living environment more effectively. Such as in domestic garden, irrigation system allows working water jet capacity and time self-regulation due to soil moisture content analyser installed. More importantly, it is designed around home control network installation allowing the use time of household electrical appliances, the use of savings to adjust automatically as well. Because many a power supply are different in the standard fees at different times. Through a certain algorithm, it can be used with the most cost effective way. A wireless home network function based on Zigbee is particularly powerful. Users can enjoy the home automation, save costs, provide safety and comfortable life for people. All these functions enable ZigBee to offer broad-ranged wireless networking application. The figure 4 illustrates the application of the ZigBee for smart home system. As described above, the home sensor

network often adopts star topological structure, and is made of home gateway and several ZigBee sensors node module. For one thing, home gateway is a full-featured device, which acts as a network coordinator for a network establishment and normal operation. It is configured with more memory space to initialize the network, data acquisition, device control and other functions. For another thing, it is configured with 16bit local address to save bandwidth. The others Zigbee child node modules are RFD, which complete the status data collection, inquiry response, control appliance and etc. In other words, they can only communicate between the home gateways without each other.

Figure 4. Intelligent home of internal control network topology

B.

Other Applications of Zigbee 1) Industrial automation In the process industry, it can be served as an essential part of decision support system (DSS), using sensors and network to make data collection, analysis and disposition easier. Such as unsafe chemicals detection, early detection and prediction of fire alarm, and high-speed rotating machine maintenance and inspection. All these applications do not require high data throughput and continuous status update, they focus on low power consumption, which can maximum extending battery life, reducing network maintenance costs. 2) Automotive industry On a bus, the common sensor is mainly used for transinformation. As many sensors can only be built-in spinning wheels or engine, such as TPMS-Tire Pressure Monitoring System, it is required that the built-in battery used by Wireless Telecom Equipment has a longer life of greater than or equal to the tyre life itself. At the same time, it should overcome the noisy conditions and metal structure of electromagnetic shielding effect.

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3) Agricultural field The isolated, no communication ability of mechanical equipment mainly used for traditional agriculture, which depends heavily on human for crop growth monitoring. With the advancement of society, the sensor and network can be adopted to increasingly shift toward basing on the information and software for the center of production mode so that it will be better to cultivate with more automation, networking, and remote control of intelligent equipments. Further, sensors may be gather informations, including soil moisture, nitrogen concentration, temperature and atmospheric pressure, etc, which provide decision references for peasants via the network by way of central control equipment. Because of this, farmers can find the problem promptly and accurately, thus helping to maintain and increase crop yield. 4) Medical field In the medicine domain, ZigBee Health Care provides a global standard for interoperable wireless devices enabling secure and reliable monitoring by means of sensors and networks. It will help people live healthier, happier independent lives. It diminishes healthcare costs by promoting wellness, fitness and reducing in-patient stays, without sacrificing convenience or mobility. IV. FUTURE OF ZIGBEE IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

the machines remotely during the day, when they are not at [1] home. Research indicates that the demand for having security systems at home will drive the adoption of ZigBee. The increasing human dependence on machines to take control of the household will also drive the need for ZigBee in home automation. In fact, by 2006- 07, many homes are expected to have a minimum of 100 to 150 ZigBee chips in various appliances, said Deepa Doraiswamy, an analyst for Frost & Sullivan, a market research firm. As well as can be expected, the potential opportunity for ZigBee is significant. In the next few years, products and chips of ZigBee will tend to be an indispensable part for most households. However, to investigate its full potential, it needs more development and investment in networking software and sensor applications.
CONLUSION

A. Competition ZigBee alliance, creator of ZigBee says that, ZigBee was created to address the market need for a cost-effective, standards-based wireless networking solution that supports low data-rates, low-power consumption, security, and reliability. ZigBee is the standard-based technology that is developed to address the unique needs of most remote monitoring and control and sensory network applications. However, with the advent of the many more new technologies like Z-wave, ZigBee must cope with marketplace competition. B. Moving ahead The future of Zigbee is, in effect, heading towards the following aspects: According to the latest information, Zigbee technology will be able to capture and store energy from external sources such as the sun and movement. For example, in some countries, Chipcons Martin said, running washing machines at night is either prohibited or incurs higher energy costs. Owners thus may want to use ZigBee to run

ZigBee technology help to fill a vacancy in wireless communication market owing to low cost, low power consumption and low rate. The key to its success is based on the rich and convenient application, rather than technology itself. We have reasons to believe that in the near future, ZigBee will increasingly play an important role in the future of computer and communication technology, there will be more and more ZigBee built-in functions Equipment into our lives, and will be greatly improved our way of life and experience. REFERENCES
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[8]

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