ZigBee Alliance shows off latest devices
posted Mar 5th 2005 9:28AM
We're not sure whether ZigBee is the wireless standard of the future, or just an attempt by every company that isn't Nokia to push an alternative to Bluetooth (or whether it's just a rejected name for a Sesame Street character that somehow got picked up by a bunch of geeks). Regardless, members of the ZigBee Alliance were out in force this week at their annual meeting in San Francisco. ExtremeTech's Jim Louderback dropped in and found the devices on display — from a radiation sensor and a wireless gas meter to an automated pet door — to be proof that the standard is about to emerge from the shadows and lead "a revolution in how devices communicate." We hope so, but we somehow recall hearing the same thing about Bluetooth a few years ago — and about Wireless USB just a few hours ago.
Zigbee along with a couple other similar standards are coming out not to compete with Bluetooth, Wireless USB, and UWB, but rather as new options for home automation (over lackluster and overpriced existing options such as X10). They have very limited bandwith, incredibly low power consumption, and much longer range compared to Bluetooth/W-USB/UWB so are ideally suited for home automation tasks involving sensors, remote controls, etc to manage your lights, heat, sprinklers, power outlets, etc. all from numerous devices including your PC. The devices look to be fairly cheap in comparison to old home automation systems which didn't even have two way or mesh networking networking like these do.
Zigbee looks to be the most promising solution so far but Z-Wave is a very similar standard coming out and Insteon doesn't look as powerful just going over the specs, but it's made to be backwards compatible with X10 and combine wireless and powerline components which could be useful as well. Which one if any will become the new defacto standards for home automation products is completely up in the air.
d4d
Like D4D said this is the unbluetooth. This comercial and industrial sensing and control. (X10 is not exactly factory safe). It is likely that you will run into a lot of zigbee before you ever even realize it. The consumer side of things is sort of dragging, but a lot of companies are salivating at the chance to set up wireless reporting and control. (Coke machines that can report on inventory, and lots of strain sensors, humidity sensors etc.) it was possible to do before, but it required lock in to a vendor, and you generally had to write your own protocoll, now you can just buy a stack from your compiler vendor.
PC communication was slow, limited, and not quite easy before wifi, now it is quick, and easy. Zigbee is wifi for the embdedded world.
"...or just an attempt by every company that isn’t Nokia to push an alternative to Bluetooth..."
Funny that everybody that isnt from a scandinavian nation seems to think that everything that has to do with telecom originates from Nokia... The bluetooth standard was invented by Ericsson, you know, the other half of Sonyericsson that isnt Sony? Just felt i needed to say that. :)
> (or whether it’s just a rejected name for a Sesame Street character that somehow got picked up by a bunch of geeks).
Why not visit zigbee.org and find out?
http://www.zigbee.org/en/about/faq.asp#7
> The domestic honeybee, a colonial insect, lives in a hive that contains a queen, a few male drones, and thousands of worker bees. The survival, success, and future of the colony is dependent upon continuous communication of vital information between every member of the colony. The technique that honey bees use to communicate new-found food sources to other members of the colony is referred to as the ZigBee Principle. Using this silent, but powerful communication system, whereby the bee dances in a zig-zag pattern, she is able to share information such as the location, distance, and direction of a newly discovered food source to her fellow colony members. Instinctively implementing the ZigBee Principle, bees around the world industriously sustain productive hives and foster future generations of colony members.