CHAPTER - 6 ZIGBEE

6.1 Introduction
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. While Bluetooth focuses on connectivity between large packet user devices, such as laptops, phones, and major peripherals, ZigBee is designed to provide highly efficient connectivity between small packet devices. As a result of its simplified operations, which are one to two full orders of magnitude less complex than a comparable Bluetooth device, pricing for ZigBee devices is extremely competitive, with full nodes available for a fraction of the cost of a Bluetooth node. ZigBee devices are actively limited to a through-rate of 250Kbps, 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. 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. 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 in China, look to a near future when upwards of sixty ZigBee devices may be found in an average American home, all communicating with one another freely and regulating common
An LR-WPAN is a simple, low-cost communication network that allows wireless connectivity in applications with limited power and relaxed throughput requirements. The main objectives of an LRWPAN are ease of installation, reliable data transfer, short-range operation, extremely low cost, and a reasonable battery life, while maintaining a simple and flexible protocol. Some of the characteristics of an LR-WPAN are as follows: Over-the-air data rates of 250 kb/s, 100kb/s, 40 kb/s, and 20 kb/s Star or peer-to-peer operation Allocated 16-bit short or 64-bit extended addresses Optional allocation of guaranteed time slots (GTSs) Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA-CA) channel access Fully acknowledged protocol for transfer reliability Low power consumption Energy detection (ED) Link quality indication (LQI) 16 channels in the 2450 MHz band, 30 channels in the 915 MHz band, and 3 channels in the 868 MHz band.

Two different device types can participate in an IEEE 802.15.4 network; a full-function device (FFD) and a reduced-function device (RFD). The FFD can operate in three modes serving as a personal area network (PAN) coordinator, a coordinator, or a device. An FFD can talk to RFDs or other FFDs, while an RFD can talk only to an FFD. An RFD is intended for applications that are extremely simple, such as a

light switch or a passive infrared sensor; they do not have the need to send large amounts of data and may only associate with a single FFD at a time. Consequently, the RFD can be implemented using minimal resources and memory capacity.

6.2 Network topologies

Depending on the application requirements, an IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN may operate in either of two topologies: the star topology or the peer-to-peer topology. Both are shown in Figure x. In the star topology the communication is established between devices and a single central controller, called the PAN coordinator. A device typically has some associated application and is either the initiation point or the termination point for network communications.

A PAN coordinator may also have a specific application, but it can be used to initiate, terminate, or route communication around the network. The PAN coordinator is the primary controller of the PAN. All devices operating on a network of either topology shall have unique 64- bit addresses. This address may be used for direct communication within the PAN, or a short address may be allocated by the PAN coordinator when the device associates and used instead.

The PAN coordinator might often be mains powered, while the devices will most likely be battery powered. Applications that benefit from a star topology include home automation, personal computer (PC) peripherals, toys and games, and personal health care.

Figure 6.1: star and peer to peer Topologies

The peer-to-peer topology also has a PAN coordinator; however, it differs from the star topology in that any device may communicate with any other device as long as they are in range of one another. Peer-to-peer topology allows more complex network formations to be implemented, such as mesh networking topology. Applications such as industrial control and monitoring, wireless sensor networks, asset and inventory tracking, intelligent agriculture, and security would benefit from such a network topology. A peer-to-peer network can be ad hoc, self-organizing, and self-healing. It may also allow multiple hops to route messages from any device to any other device on the network. Such functions can be added at the higher layer, but are not part of this standard. Each independent PAN selects a unique identifier. This PAN identifier allows communication between devices within a network using short addresses and enables transmissions between devices across independent networks.

6.3 Architecture
The IEEE 802.15.4 architecture is defined in terms of a number of blocks in order to simplify the standard. These blocks are called layers. Each layer is responsible for one part of the standard and offers services to the higher layers. The layout of the blocks is based on the open systems interconnection (OSI) seven-layer model. The interfaces between the layers serve to define the logical links that are described in this standard. An LR-WPAN device comprises a PHY, which contains the radio frequency

(RF) transceiver along with its low-level control mechanism, and a MAC sub-layer that provides access to the physical channel for all types of transfer. Figure 6.2 shows these blocks in a graphical representation

Figure 6.2: ZigBee stack architecture

The upper layers, shown in Figure y, consist of a network layer, which provides network configuration, manipulation, and message routing, and an application layer, which provides the intended function of the device.

6.3.1 Physical layer (PHY):

The PHY provides two services: the PHY data service and the PHY management service interfacing to the physical layer management entity (PLME) service access point (SAP) (known as the PLME-SAP). The PHY data service enables the transmission and reception of PHY protocol data units

(PPDUs) across the physical radio channel. The features of the PHY are activation and deactivation of the radio transceiver, ED, LQI, channel selection, clear channel assessment (CCA), and transmitting as well as receiving packets across the physical medium. The radio operates at one or more of the following unlicensed bands: 868868.6 MHz (e.g., Europe) 902928 MHz (e.g., North America) 24002483.5 MHz (worldwide)

6.3.2 MAC sub layer:

The MAC sub layer provides two services: the MAC data service and the MAC management service interfacing to the MAC sub layer management entity (MLME) service access point (SAP) (known as MLME-SAP). The MAC data service enables the transmission and reception of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) across the PHY data service. The features of the MAC sub layer are beacon management, channel access, GTS management, frame validation, acknowledged frame delivery, association, and disassociation. In addition, the MAC sub layer provides hooks for implementing application-appropriate security mechanisms.

Figure 6.3: MAC Sublayer 6.3.2.1 Data Frame: The data frame provides a payload of up to 104 bytes. The frame is numbered to ensure that all packets are tracked. A frame-check sequence ensures that packets are received without error. This frame structure improves reliability in difficult conditions. 6.3.2.2 Acknowledgment (ACK) frame: Another important structure for 802.15.4 is the acknowledgment (ACK) frame. It provides feedback from the receiver to the sender confirming that the packet was received without error. The device takes advantage of specified "quiet time" between frames to send a short packet immediately after the data-packet transmission. 6.3.2.3 MAC command frame: A MAC command frame provides the mechanism for remote control and configuration of client nodes. A centralized network manager uses MAC to configure individual clients' command frames no matter how large the network.

6.3.2.4 Beacon frame: Finally, the beacon frame wakes up client devices, which listen for their address and go back to sleep if they don't receive it. Beacons are important for mesh and cluster-tree networks to keep all the nodes synchronized without requiring those nodes to consume precious battery energy by listening for long periods of time.

6.4 Data Transfer Model

Three types of data transfer transactions exist. The first one is the data transfer to a coordinator in which a device transmits the data. The second transaction is the data transfer from a coordinator in which the device receives the data. The third transaction is the data transfer between two peer devices. In star topology, only two of these transactions are used because data may be exchanged only between the coordinator and a device. In a peer-to-peer topology, data may be exchanged between any two devices on the network; consequently all three transactions may be used in this topology. The mechanisms for each transfer type depend on whether the network supports the transmission of beacons. A beacon-enabled PAN is used in networks that either require synchronization or support for low latency devices, such as PC peripherals. If the network does not need synchronization or support for low-latency devices, it can elect not to use the beacon for normal transfers. However, the beacon is still required for network discovery.

6.5 Device Types

Zigbee networks use three device types:

The network coordinator maintains overall network knowledge. It's the most sophisticated of the three types and requires the most memory and computing power.

The full function device (FFD) supports all 802.15.4 functions and features specified by the standard. It can function as a network coordinator. Additional memory and computing power make it ideal for network router functions or it could be used in network-edge devices (where the network touches the real world).

The reduced function device (RFD) carries limited (as specified by the standard) functionality to lower cost and complexity. It's generally found in network-edge devices.

6.6 Security
Security and data integrity are key benefits of the ZigBee technology. ZigBee leverages the security model of the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC sub layer which specifies four security services:

Access controlthe device maintains a list of trusted devices within the network. Data encryption, which uses symmetric key 128-bit advanced encryption standard. Frame integrity to protect data from being modified by parties without cryptographic keys. Sequential freshness to reject data frames that have been replayedthe network controller compares the freshness value with the last known value from the device and rejects it if the freshness value has not been updated to a new value.

6.7 Conclusion
Zigbee with its long battery life, low-cost , wireless range up to 70m indoors and 400m outdoors with full control of transmitted output power have networking flexibility to cover entire campuses and supports multiple network topologies encountered in home and professional settings.