ABSTRACT

This paper aims at presenting the concept of ZigBee, the name of a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on the IEEE 802.15.4-2006 standard for wireless personal area networks (WPANs), such as wireless headphones connecting with cell phones via short-range radio. The technology is intended to be simpler and less expensive than other WPANs, such as Bluetooth. ZigBee is targeted at radiofrequency (RF) applications that require a low data rate, long battery life, and secure networking. After the birth of wireless LAN and Bluetooth, new International short-distance wireless standard technology of ZigBee has applied rapidly in our life and recognized as core technology to bring Ubiquitous life in near future. The word ZigBee was originated from word ZigZag indicating cross-shaped network cables and Bee to indicate economical communication method.Word ZigBee was proposed and decided by committee members in early phase of standard committee of ZigBee. 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 MediumAccess 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, lowpower, wireless mesh networking standard. The low cost allows the technologyto be widely deployed in wireless control and monitoring applications, the low power-usage allows longerlife 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 lowpowerdevices. 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 centralcomputer. This new level of communication permits finely-tuned remote monitoring and manipulation. ZigBee is an open global standard providing wireless networking based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard and taking full advantage of a powerful physical radio this standard specifies. ZigBee is the result of collaborative efforts by a global consortium of companies known as the ZigBee Alliance. The term "ZigBee" originates from honeybees' method of communicating newfound food sources.

OVERVIEW:
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. The current list of application profiles either published or in the works are: Home Automation ZigBee Smart Energy Telecommunication Applications Personal Home Hospital Care ZigBee operates in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands; 868 MHz in Europe, 915 MHz in countries such as 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. 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. HISTORY:
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ZigBee-style networks began to be conceived about 1998, when many installers realized that both WiFi and Bluetooth were going to be unsuitable for many applications.

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The IEEE 802.15.4 standard was completed in May 2003. 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.

ORIGIN OF THE TERM ZIGBEE:

An urban myth perpetuated by the Zigbee Alliance is that the term ZigBee originates from the silent, but powerful method of communication used by honeybees to report information about food sources. The myth says that the communication system is known as the ZigBee Principle"[8]. By "dancing" around in a zig-zag waggle dance, a bee is able to share critical information, such as the location, distance, and direction of a newly discovered food source to its fellow hive members.

WHAT IS ZIGBEE?
The name "ZigBee" is derived from the erratic zigging patterns many bees make between flowers when collecting pollen. This is evocative of the invisible webs of connections existing in a fully wireless environment. The standard itself is regulated by a group known as the ZigBee Alliance, with over 150 members worldwide.

INTRODUCTION:

ZigBee devices are actively limited to a through-rate of 250Kbps,compared to Bluetooth's much larger pipeline of 1Mbps, operating on the 2.4 GHz ISM band, which is available throughout most of the world. 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. 2

In the consumer market ZigBee is being explored for everything from linking low-power household devices such as smoke alarms to a central housing control unit, to centralized light controls.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.

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, selforganizing 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.

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 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.

PROTOCOLS:
The protocols build on recent algorithmic research 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. 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, from 24 milliseconds 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 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 nonbeacon-enabled networks, power consumption is decidedly asymmetrical: some devices are always active, while others spend most of their time sleeping.

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.of a Bluetooth node. ZIGBEE: A FUTURE REVOLUTION Due to its low power output, ZigBee devices can sustain themselves on a small battery for many months, or even years, making them ideal for install-and-forget purposes, such as most small household systems. Predictions of ZigBee installation for the future, most based on the explosive use of ZigBee in automated household tasks

Who Needs ZigBee?

Were beginning to hear more and more about this wireless technology called ZigBee. A catchy name for sure, but what is it and who needs it? We already have Bluetooth- and Wi-Fi-enabled devices, and WiMAX and Wireless USB proliferation are at the doorstep. Who needs another wireless standard? First, lets understand that each wireless technology that makes it to market serves a special purpose or function. Bluetooth and wireless USB provide short-range connectivity in what is called a personal-area network (PAN). Bluetooth serves a short-range, moderate-speed, wire replacer, and wireless USB provides short-range, high-speed device connectivity. Wi-Fi is for local-area networks (LANs) and WiMAX is designed to provide wide-area networking (WAN) or metropolitan-area networking (MAN). ZigBee fills yet another nitch. It is a PAN technology based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. Unlike Bluetooth or wireless USB devices, ZigBee devices have the ability to form a mesh network between nodes. Meshing is a type of daisy chaining from one device to another. 5

This technique allows the short range of an individual node to be expanded and multiplied, covering a much larger area.One ZigBee network can contain more than 65,000 nodes (active devices). The network they form in cooperation with each other may take the shape of a star, a branching tree or a net (mesh). Whats more, each device can operate for years off of a AA cell. That means that each node uses little power.What might be perceived as a disadvantage is the low data rate of ZigBee devices, typically less than 100 kbps, depending on the selected frequency band. Is slow bad? That depends on the function or service the technology is intended to provide. That brings us to the opening question: Who needs ZigBee? If we are looking for wireless monitoring and remote control solutions, ZigBee may be the answer. Those are the functions for which ZigBee was designed. ZigBee nodes can be used to tie an entire home, office or factory together for safety, security and control. Nodes are embedded in hundreds of sensors and controls that are built into large infrastructures for home automation, industrial automation, remote metering, automotives, medical equipment, patient monitoring, asset tracking systems, security systems, lighting and temperature control systems, and even toys.

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 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.

Implementing ZigBee wireless mesh networking:

ZigBee offers unique advantages for wireless applications. But with a technology this new, realizing a successful ZigBee wireless implementation requires understanding its architecture and operation, assessing design options at the chip and module level, and weighing practical considerations relative to specific application needs. ZigBee is the product of the ZigBee Alliance, an organization of manufacturers dedicated to developing a networking technology for small, ISM-band radios that could welcome even the simplest industrial and home end devices into wireless connectivity. The ZigBee specification was finalized in December 2004, and products supporting the ZigBee standard are just now beginning to enter the market. ZIGBEE: A HOUSE OF EXTENSIVE ADVANTAGES: ZigBee is designed as a low-cost, low-power, low-data rate wireless mesh technology. The ZigBee specification identifies three kinds of devices that incorporate ZigBee radios, with all three found in a typical ZigBee network (FIG) 7

To minimize power consumption and promote long battery life in battery-powered devices, end devices can spend most of their time asleep, waking up only when they need to communicate and then going immediately back to sleep. ZigBee envisions that routers and the coordinator will be mains-powered and will not go to sleep. ZIGBEE:AS A POWER SAVER: To illustrate how these components interrelate, consider ZigBee networking in office lighting. Several manufacturers are currently developing inexpensive sensors for fluorescent tubes that let lights be turned on and off by battery-powered wall switches, with no wires between switch and fixture. The light switch is the end device, powered by a button cell battery that will last for years; the switch wakes up and uses battery power only when flipped on or off to transmit the new state to the fluorescent tubes' routers. The routers are already connected to the mains and are not concerned with battery conservation. Any one of the fluorescent tubes can contain the coordinator. The implications are enormous for new office construction no more electrical runs for lighting and the ability to reconfigure lighting controls at almost zero cost.

ZIGBEE BENEFITS:In all of its uses, ZigBee offers four inherent, beneficial characteristics: The typical ZigBee radio is cost-effective. Chipset prices can be as low as $12 each in quantities as few as 100 pieces. While the 802.15.4 and ZigBee stacks are typically included in this cost, crystals and other discrete components are not; design-in modules fall in the neighborhood of $25 in similar quantities. This pricing provides an economic justification for extending wireless networking to even the simplest of devices.

RANGE AND OBSTRUCTION ISSUES AVOIDANCE:

ZigBee routers double as input devices and repeaters to create a form of mesh network. If two network points are unable to communicate as intended, transmission is dynamically routed from the blocked node to a router with a clear path to the data's destination. This happens automatically, so that communications continue even when a link fails unexpectedly. The use of low-cost routers can also extend the network's effective reach. ZigBee Alliance working groups define interoperability profiles to which ZigBee-certified devices must adhere.

A ZigBee-certified radio will interoperate with any other ZigBee-certified radio adhering to the same profile. This promotes compatibility and competition, which allows the end users to choose the best device for each particular network node, regardless of manufacturer.

LOW POWER CONSUMPTION:

Basic ZigBee radios operate at 1 mW RF power and can sleep when not involved in transmission (higher RF-power ZigBee radios for applications needing greater range also provide the sleep function). Because this makes battery-powered radios more practical than ever, wireless devices are free to be placed without power cable runs in addition to eliminating data cable runs.

ZIGBEE ARCHITECTURE:

For purposes of this discussion, three areas of architectural responsibility are in a ZigBee engineering effort .The physical and MAC layers take full advantage of the physical radio specified by IEEE 802.15.4. The 802.15.4 specification describes a peer-to-peer radio using direct-sequence, spread spectrum (DSSS). The specification also calls out the data rates, channelization and modulation techniques to be employed. The ZigBee Alliance specifies the logical network, security and application software, which are implemented in a firmware stack. It is the ZigBee networking stack that creates the mesh networking capability.Each microcontroller /RF chip combination requires its own ZigBee stack due to the differences in microcontrollers and RF chips.

Typically, the ZigBee stack is included with either the microcontroller or RF chip. The stack may belong to the chip vendor, be provided by the chip vendor from a third-party source, or be provided by a third-party source for a specific microcontroller/RF Chip combination. Ultimate control over product details is achievable with a custom design around a ZigBeecompliant chipset. This method carries high up-front costs in RF and digital engineering, plus investments in test equipment and test fees, and will typically encounter the longest time to market. It may also yield the lowest recurring per-unit cost; if manufacturing quantities are sufficiently high and if time to market is not critical, this is an advantageous method.

ADVANTAGES OF ZIGBEE:
Zigbee has a mash network topology with low cost, multi hop data transmission and is powereffective. Its smart applications include home automation, wireless sensor, interactive toys and remote controls. It is less complex than Bluetooth. Its short working period results in power saving and low power consumption of communication.

DISADVANTAGES OF ZIGBEE
As it is said each thing has its advantages and disadvantages both. Zigbee also has its disadvantages that mainly includes short range, low complexity and low data speed. Its high maintenance cost, lack of total solution, slow materialization, low transmission reliability; low network stability are also some of its disadvantages that takes it a step back as compared to others. As it is a newly introduced service it is improving day by day to bring better results and looking at the present conditions it is been predicted that in future zigbee will be explosively installed and used protocol in wireless technology for automated household tasks as a result zigbee devices may be found in an average homes around the world, all people communicating with each other freely and in a much better convenient method and regulating common tasks easily in sort period of time.

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APPLICATION AREAS:
Enterprise systems : health care and patient monitoring, environmental , Monitoring and hazard detection. Industrial systems : remote controlled machines such as in tracking wind turbines. Military and government systems : asset tracking, personnel monitoring and surveillance. Transportation systems : audio control and automation, security and access control. Consumer products:cellular handsets computer peripherals ,remote controls and other portable devices. Climate control : customize the temperatures of ac machines or thermostats as differently needed. Home automation : turn on or off ovens, air conditioners, geysers,lights without any hassles only when needed. Also sprinkle water to plants in garden monitoring moisture content in soil. Private Security : this also acts like a private security to monitor kids or aged even from office and alert in case of medical emergencies.

CONCLUSION:
The ZigBee Standard enables the broad-based deployment of reliable wireless networks with low complexity, low cost solutions and provides the ability for a product to run for years on inexpensive primary batteries (for atypical monitoring application). It is also, of course, capable of inexpensively supporting robust mesh networking technologies .ZigBee is all set to provide the consumers with ultimate flexibility, mobility, and ease of use by building wireless intelligence and capabilities into every day devices.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. There are many specifics to be considered among the product resources available to us, and the dynamics that govern engineering choices will change as the ZigBee standard matures. To help make the best-informed decisions, you are encouraged to visit www.zigbee.org for further discovery.

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REFERENCES:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. "Our Mission". zigbee.org. Retrieved on 2008-03-18 "ZigBee Specification Download Request". Retrieved on 2008-03-18. Adams, Jon; Bob Heile. "Busy as a ZigBee". IEEE. Retrieved on 2007-01-16. "Compare with Other Technologies". Bluetooth SIG. Retrieved on 2007-01-16 "WLAN Interference to IEEE802.15.4". Retrieved on 2007-11-22.

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