ZigBee IEEE 802.15.

International IEEE 802.15.4

standard

Developed by Connectivity
Standards Alliance

Introduced June 13, 2005

Industry Industrial, scientific,

medical, and IoT

Physical 10 to 100 meters (30'

range to 300')

Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of

communication protocols used to create personal area
networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home
automation, medical device data collection, and other low-power
low-bandwidth needs, designed for small scale projects which need
wireless connection.
Hence, Zigbee is a low-power, low-data-rate, and close proximity
(i.e., personal area) wireless ad hoc network.
The technology defined by the Zigbee specification is intended to
be simpler and less expensive than other wireless personal area
networks (WPANs), such as Bluetooth or more general wireless
networking such as Wi-Fi (or Li-Fi).

Typical application areas include:

 Home automation.
 Wireless sensor networks.
 Industrial control systems.
 Embedded sensing.
 Medical data collection.
 Smoke and intruder warning.
  Building automation.
Its low power consumption limits transmission distances to 10–
100 meters (30' to 300') line-of-sight, depending on power output
and environmental characteristics.
Zigbee devices can transmit data over long distances by passing
data through a mesh network of intermediate devices to reach
more distant ones
Zigbee is typically used in low data rate applications that require
long battery life and secure networking. (Zigbee networks are
secured by 128-bit symmetric encryption keys.) Zigbee has a
defined rate of up to 250 kbit/s, best suited for intermittent data
transmissions from a sensor or input device.
Zigbee is a low-power wireless mesh network standard targeted at
battery-powered devices in wireless control and monitoring
applications. Zigbee delivers low-latency communication. Zigbee
chips are typically integrated with radios and with microcontrollers.

zigbee module

Device types and operating modes

There are three classes of Zigbee devices:
 Zigbee Coordinator (ZC): The most capable device, the
coordinator forms the root of the network tree and may
bridge to other networks. There is precisely one Zigbee
coordinator in each network since it is the device that
started the network originally (the Zigbee LightLink
specification also allows operation without a Zigbee
coordinator, making it more usable for off-the-shelf home
products). It stores information about the network,
including acting as the trust center and repository for
security keys. It communicates with routers. This device is
used for connecting the devices.
  Zigbee Router (ZR): As well as running an application
function, router devices can act as intermediate routers,
passing data on to other devices. These types of Zigbee
products are typically mains-powered so they are always
available on the network. Zigbee Router devices are
sometimes called Zigbee repeaters or Zigbee range
extenders.
 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. These types of
Zigbee device products are often battery-powered. A ZED
requires the least amount of memory and thus can be less
expensive to manufacture than a ZR or ZC.

In non-beacon-enabled networks, an unslotted CSMA/CA channel

access mechanism is used. In this type of network, Zigbee routers
typically have their receivers continuously active, requiring
additional power.
In beacon-enabled networks, Zigbee routers transmit periodic
beacons to confirm their presence to other network nodes. Nodes
may sleep between beacons, thus extending their battery life.
General Characteristics of Zigbee Standard:

 Low Power Consumption

 Low Data Rate (20- 250 kbps)
 Short-Range (10-100 meters)
 Network Join Time (~ 30 msec)
 Support Small and Large Networks (up to 65000 devices
(Theory); 240 devices (Practically))
 Low Cost of Products and Cheap Implementation (Open
Source Protocol)
 Extremely low-duty cycle.
 3 frequency bands with 27 channels.
Operating Frequency Bands (Only one channel will be selected
for use in a network):
1. Channel 0: 868 MHz (Europe)
2. Channel 1-10: 915 MHz (the US and Australia)
3. Channel 11-26: 2.4 GHz (Across the World)
Advantages of Zigbee:
1. Designed for low power consumption.
2. Provides network security and application support services
operating on the top of IEEE.
3. Zigbee makes possible completely networks homes where
all devices are able to communicate and be
4. Use in smart home
5. Easy implementation
6. Adequate security features.
7. Low cost: Zigbee chips and modules are relatively
inexpensive, which makes it a cost-effective solution for IoT
applications.
8. Mesh networking: Zigbee uses a mesh network topology,
which allows for devices to communicate with each other
without the need for a central hub or router. This makes it
ideal for use in smart home applications where devices
need to communicate with each other and with a central
control hub.
9. Reliability: Zigbee protocol is designed to be highly
reliable, with robust mechanisms in place to ensure that
data is delivered reliably even in adverse conditions.
Disadvantages of Zigbee :
1. Limited range: Zigbee has a relatively short range
compared to other wireless communications protocols,
which can make it less suitable for certain types of
applications or for use in large buildings.
 2. Limited data rate: Zigbee is designed for low-data-rate
applications, which can make it less suitable for
applications that require high-speed data transfer.
3. Interoperability: Zigbee is not as widely adopted as other
IoT protocols, which can make it difficult to find devices
that are compatible with each other.
4. Security: Zigbee’s security features are not as robust as
other IoT protocols, making it more vulnerable to hacking
and other security threats.

Zigbee Network Topologies:

 Star Topology (ZigBee Smart Energy): Consists of a

coordinator and several end devices, end devices
communicate only with the coordinator.
 Mesh Topology (Self Healing Process): Mesh topology
consists of one coordinator, several routers, and end
devices.
 Tree Topology: In this topology, the network consists of a
central node which is a coordinator, several routers, and
end devices. the function of the router is to extend the
network coverage.

Architecture of Zigbee:

Zigbee architecture is a combination of 6 layers.

1. Application Layer
2. Application Interface Layer
3. Security Layer
4. Network Layer
5. Medium Access Control Layer
6. Physical Layer
  Physical layer: The lowest two layers i.e the physical and
the MAC (Medium Access Control) Layer are defined by the
IEEE 802.15.4 specifications. The Physical layer is closest to
the hardware and directly controls and communicates with
the Zigbee radio. The physical layer translates the data
packets in the over-the-air bits for transmission and vice-
versa during the reception.
 Medium Access Control layer (MAC layer): The layer
is responsible for the interface between the physical and
network layer. The MAC layer is also responsible for
network discovery through beacon requests.
 Network layer: This layer acts as an interface between
the MAC layer and the application layer. It is responsible for
mesh networking.
 Application layer: The application layer in the Zigbee
stack is the highest protocol layer and it consists of the
application support sub-layer and Zigbee device object. It
contains manufacturer-defined applications.
Channel Access:
1. Contention Based Method (Carrier-Sense Multiple
Access With Collision Avoidance Mechanism)
2. Contention Free Method (Coordinator dedicates a
specific time slot to each device (Guaranteed Time Slot
(GTS)))

Zigbee Applications:

1. Home Automation
2. Medical Data Collection
3. Industrial Control Systems
4. meter reading system
5. light control system
6. Commercial
7. Government Markets Worldwide
8. Home Networking