ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working together to enable wirelessly networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global standard.
The ZigBee standard is being developed by IEEE [Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers] under the draft 802.15.4 standard which is intended to fill the gap in the wireless networking spectrum by enabling designers to create products with low cost, very low power and highly flexible wireless networking capabilities. Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector has Promoter status within the ZigBee Alliance and Driving Member status in the IEEE 802.15.4 Task Group.
ZigBee-enabled products are engineered to allow businesses to automate, control, and wirelessly connect their enterprise systems. This technology provides an opportunity for a high return on investment for the business user by enabling energy management, predictive maintenance, logistics management, and automation and control, all at a significantly lower cost than wired networks.
Consumers should benefit from ZigBee technology through the interoperability of everyday devices, for ease of use, and a high level of security. ZigBee-enabled products in the home are expected to provide consumers with simplified ways of interfacing with household appliances, toys and game stations, PCs and peripherals as well as home systems for security, lighting, and air conditioning.
The IEEE 802.15.4 Standard details the Physical Layer [PHY] and Medium Access Control [MAC] specifications, and offers the building blocks for different types of networking known as star, mesh, and cluster tree. Network routing schemes are designed to ensure power conservation, and low latency through guaranteed time slots. Communication redundancy is a unique feature of the ZigBee network layer, eliminating single point of failure in mesh networks.
Key features of the PHY include energy and link-quality detection, and clear channel assessment for improved coexistence with other wireless networks. The MAC specifies automatic packet acknowledgement, provides options for transmission in a range of pre-selected time intervals, and supports 128-bit AES security. The MAC and ZigBee application software is implemented in code-efficient RAM/ROM devices.
The association is based in San Ramon [California].
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