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WhatsTheDifferenceBetweenIEEE802.15.4AndZigBee
Wireless?
ElectronicDesign
LouFrenzel

CommunicationsEditor
Fri,2013032211:59

Therearemanystandardsforshortrangewirelesstechnologies,butthisvarietyoftenperplexesdesigners
whowanttoselectastandardforanapplication.ThepopularIEEE802.15.4standardanditsrelativeZigBee
oftenareconfused.Theyarentthesamething.
TableOfContents
ShortRangeWirelessChoices
IEEE802.15.4
ZigBee
OtherVariations
References
ShortRangeWirelessChoices
Adesignerofwirelessapplicationshasmultiplechoicesofstandardsandprotocolsrangingfromthesimple
totheamazinglycomplex.ThemostfamiliarchoicesareBluetoothandWiFi.Bluetoothhasfoundaniche
intheaudiospacewithbillionsofcellphoneheadsetconnections,automotivehandsfreeconnections,and
wirelessspeakers.Itsnewerlowenergyversionsarefindingmanyapplicationsinthemedicaland
sports/fitnessworldtomonitoranindividualsphysicalstatus.
WiFiisthepremierlocalareanetwork(LAN)technologyforhighspeedInternetaccessforlaptops,smart
phones,andtablets.NewfasterversionsareusedinsmartTVsetsforvideotransfer.Inastrippeddown
form,itcanalsobeusedindataacquisitionapplications.Lowpowerversionsarenowavailable.Many
versionsandsupplementusethe2.4,5,and60GHzindustrial,scientific,andmedical(ISM)bands.
Related
WhatsTheDifferenceBetweenZigBeeAndZWave?
IEEE802.15.4TransceiverTargetsZigBee,RF4CERemoteControl,AndSmartEnergyApps
WhatsDrivingTheSuccessOfIEEE802.15.4Radios?

WirelessBridgeExtendsZigBee/802.15.4RangeTo40Miles
TheproprietaryZWavestandardhasfoundanicheinthehomemonitoringandcontrolmarket.Thereare
otherproprietarystandardsforspecificapplications,suchasWirelessHDfor60GHzvideotransfer.Many
oftheseproprietaryvariationsusetheISMbandsbelow1GHz,includinggaragedooropenersat315MHz,
remotetemperaturemonitorsat433MHz,anddataacquisitionat915MHz.Agrowingcategoryiscellular
connectivityformachinetomachine(M2M)andInternetofThings(IoT)applications.
Mostoftherestofthestandardsusesomevariationofthe802.15.4standard.
IEEE802.15.4
TheInstituteofElectricalandElectronicsEngineers(IEEE)supportsmanyworkinggroupstodevelopand
maintainwirelessandwiredcommunicationsstandards.Forexample,802.3iswiredEthernetand802.11is
forwirelessLANs(WLANs),alsoknownasWiFi.The802.15groupofstandardsspecifiesavarietyof
wirelesspersonalareanetworks(WPANs)fordifferentapplications.Forinstance,802.15.1isBluetooth,
802.15.3isahighdataratecategoryforultrawideband(UWB)technologies,and802.15.6isforbodyarea
networks(BAN).Thereareseveralothers.
The802.15.4categoryisprobablythelargeststandardforlowdatarateWPANs.Ithasmany
subcategories.The802.15.4categorywasdevelopedforlowdataratemonitorandcontrolapplicationsand
extendedlifelowpowerconsumptionuses.Thebasicstandardwiththemostrecentupdatesand
enhancementsis802.15.4a/b,with802.15.4cforChina,802.15.4dforJapan,802.15.4eforindustrial
applications,802.15.4fforactive(batterypowered)radiofrequencyidentification(RFID)uses,and
802.15.4gforsmartutilitynetworks(SUNs)formonitoringtheSmartGrid.Allofthesespecialversionsuse
thesamebaseradiotechnologyandprotocolasdefinedin802.15.4a/b.
The802.15.4standarddefinesthephysicallayer(PHY)andmediaaccesscontrol(MAC)layeroftheOpen
SystemsInterconnection(OSI)modelofnetworkoperation(Fig.1).ThePHYdefinesfrequency,power,
modulation,andotherwirelessconditionsofthelink.TheMACdefinestheformatofthedatahandling.The
remaininglayersdefineothermeasuresforhandingthedataandrelatedprotocolenhancementsincluding
thefinalapplication.

1.Mostnetworkingsystems,bothwiredandwireless,usetheOSIcommunicationsmodel.Mostsystems
alsouseatleastthefirstfourlayers,butmanydonotuseallsevenlayers.
Morespecifically,Figure2showsthelayer1andlayer2detailsof802.15.4.

2.The802.15.4standardusesonlythefirsttwolayersplusthelogicallinkcontrol(LLC)andservice
specificconvergencesublayer(SSCS)additionstocommunicatewithallupperlayersasdefinedby
additionalstandards.
Thegoalofthestandardistoprovideabaseformattowhichotherprotocolsandfeaturescouldbeaddedby
wayoftheupperlayers(layers3through7).Whilethreefrequencyassignmentsareavailable,the2.4GHz
bandisbyfarthemostwidelyused(seethetable).MostavailablechipsandmodulesusethispopularISM
band.

Thestandardusesdirectsequencespreadspectrum(DSSS)modulation.Itishighlytolerantofnoiseand
interferenceandofferscodinggaintoimprovelinkreliability.Standardbinaryphaseshiftkeying(BPSK)is
usedinthetwolowspeedversions,whileoffsetquadraturephaseshiftkeying(OQPSK)isusedforthe
higherdatarateversion.OQPSKhasaconstantwaveenvelopemeaningthatmoreefficientnonlinear
poweramplificationtechniquescanbeusedtominimizepowerconsumption.
Withregardtochannelaccess,802.15.4usescarriersensemultipleaccesswithcollisionavoidance(CSMA
CA).Thismultiplexingapproachletsmultipleusersornodesaccessthesamechannelatdifferenttimes
withoutinterference.Mosttransmissionsareshortpacketsthatoccurinfrequentlyforaverylowdutycycle
(<1%),minimizingpowerconsumption.Theminimumpowerleveldefinedis3dBmor0.5mW.Most
modulesuse0dBmor1mW.However,some20dBmor100mWmodulesareavailable.
Transmissionrangevariesconsiderablydependingonthenatureofthepaththatmustforthemostpartbe
lineofsight(LOS).Transmitpowerlevelandreceiversensitivityarealsofactors.Underthebestconditions
therangecanbeasgreatas1000meterswithaclearoutdoorpath.Mostapplicationscoverashorterrange
of10to75meters.
Withregardtonetworkingcapability,802.15.4definestwotopologies.Oneofthemisabasicstar(Fig.3a).
Allcommunicationsbetweennodesmustpassthroughthecentralcoordinatornode.Abasicpeertopeer
(P2P)topologyisalsodefined(Fig.3b).Anydevicemaythentalktoanyotherdevice.Thisbasictopology
maybeexpandedintoothertopologiesintheuppernetworklayers,suchasthepopularmeshtopology.

3.The802.15.4standarddefinesthestar(a)andpeertopeer(b)commonnetworktopologies.
ZigBee
Themostwidelydeployedenhancementtothe802.15.4standardisZigBee,whichisastandardofthe
ZigBeeAlliance.Theorganizationmaintains,supports,anddevelopsmoresophisticatedprotocolsfor
advancedapplications.Ituseslayers3and4todefineadditionalcommunicationsfeatures(Fig.4).These
enhancementsincludeauthenticationwithvalidnodes,encryptionforsecurity,andadataroutingand
forwardingcapabilitythatenablesmeshnetworking.ThemostpopularuseofZigBeeiswirelesssensor
networksusingthemeshtopology.

4.TheZigBeeprotocolisdefinedbylayer3andabove.Itworkswiththe802.15.4layers1and2.
Themainbenefitofthemeshtopologyisthatanynodecancommunicatewithanyothernode,ifnotdirectly
ifwithinrange,butindirectlybyrelayingthetransmissionthroughmultipleadditionalnodes(Fig.5).The
networkthencanspreadoutoveralargerarea.Furthermore,itincreasesnetworkreliabilityasitstill
functionsevenifonenodeisdisabled.Thereareusuallyalternatepathsthroughthenetworktosustaina
connection.Forexample,ifnodeAwishestocommunicatewithnodeG,itcanrelaydatathroughnodesC
andE.IfnodeCfails,anotherpathisvianodesB,D,andF.ZigBeemeshnetworksareselfconfiguringand
selfhealing.

5.Inameshnetwork,eachnodecommunicateswithitsclosestneighborasconditionspermit.Notethat
therearealternatepathsbetweenanytwonodes.
ZigBeeisalsoavailableinaversionthatsupportsenergyharvestingwherenobatteryoracmainspoweris
available.And,oneofthekeybenefitsofZigBeeistheavailabilityofpredevelopedapplications.These
upperlayersoftwareadditionsimplementspecializedusesforZigBee.Someoftheseapplicationsinclude:
Buildingautomationforcommercialmonitoringandcontroloffacilities

Remotecontrol(RF4CEorRFforconsumerelectronics)
Smartenergyforhomeenergymonitoring
Healthcareformedicalandfitnessmonitoring
Homeautomationforcontrolofsmarthomes
Inputdevicesforkeyboards,mice,touchpads,wands,etc.
LightLinkforcontrolofLEDlighting
Retailservicesforshoppingrelateduses
Telecomservices
Networkservicesrelatedtolargemeshnetworks
TheZigBeeAlliancealsooffersfulltestingandcertificationofZigBeeenabledproductstoensure
interoperability.
ZigBeehasbeenaroundformorethan10yearsnowandiswidelyused.Itisagreatoptionformany
applications.Forsomesimplercommunicationsprojectsitmaybeoverkillwithitsextracomplexityand
cost.Plainold802.15.4maybeabetterchoiceinsuchcases.
OtherVariations
WhileZigBeeisthemostnotableexampleoftheuseofthebase802.15.4standard,otherprotocolsare
definedforspecificapplications.The802.15.5standarddefinesameshnetworkingcapabilityfor802.15.4.
WirelessHARTisaradioversionofthewiredHART(highwayaddressableremotetransducer)protocol
standardwidelyusedinautomationandindustrialcontrolapplications.Itdefinesatimemultiplexed
protocolforaccessingmultiplenodesofsensorsandactuators.
TheInternationalSocietyofAutomationsISA100.11aindustrialcontrolstandardisusedinprocesscontrol
applications.Itaddschannelhopping,variabletimeslotmultiplexoptions,andmeshnetworkingtothe
802.15.4base.
Oneotherinterestingvariationis6LoWPAN,createdbytheInternetEngineeringTaskForce(IETF)(RFC
5933andRFC4919).Thisprotocoladaptionallows802.15.4radiostocarry128bitaddressesofversion6
oftheInternetProtocol(IPv6).Itusesheadercompressionandaddresstranslationtechniquesso802.15.4
devicescanaccesstheInternet.TheIPv6packetsarecompressedandencapsulatedsotheyfitintostandard
802.15.4packetframes.ThisvariationfacilitatestheuseofthestandardtoimplementIoT,SmartGrid,and
M2Mapplications.
References
IEEE:www.ieee802.org/15/pub/TG4.htmlandwww.standards.ieee.org/about/get/802/802.15html
InternationalSocietyofAutomation:www.isa.org/isa100
InternetEngineeringTaskForce:www.ietf.org
WirelessHART:www.hartcomm.org

ZigBeeAlliance:www.zigbee.org
SourceURL:http://electronicdesign.com/whatsdifferencebetween/whatsdifferencebetweenieee
802154andzigbeewireless