Zigbee

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient

Control Networks

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks | 

 | Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks

Sommaire

Introduction................................................................................

p5

1. What is ZigBee? ......................................................................

p6

2. How ZigBee Works ................................................................

p8

3. Operating Modes and Low Power Consumption . .......

p 10

4. Zigbees Practical Applications.........................................

p 14

Conclusion...................................................................................

p 16

Fonction Devices
Network Topologies

Low Cost
Comparisons with Bluetooth
Coexistence with Wifi

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks | 

The art
of simplicity

 | Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks

Introduction

In 2005 Schneider Electrics Innovation Department began running tests

to assess the performance of ZigBee, a ready-to-use wireless technology
with ultra-low power consumption. The departments aim was to gauge
Zigbees performance in ensuring the continuous operation of machines
and processes, while contributing to a greener environment even in harsh
industrial environments.
The cost-related and environmental gains became immediately apparent.
Because it is wireless, it does away with accessory equipment, and makes no
or low use of batteries. It saves energy and raw materials, while dramatically
cutting installation and maintenance costs.
Schneider Electric believes that innovative, Zigbee-based solutions
can bring about major advances in wireless networks in the home and
industrial facilities. It is coming into its own in consumer electronic device
control, energy management and efficiency, healthcare, telecom services,
consumer, home and commercial building automation, and in industrial plant
management.

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks | 

What is ZigBee?

ZigBee is a set of specifications created specifically for control and sensor

networks. Built on IEEE 802.15.4, the standard for low data rate wireless
personal area networks (WPANs), it was developed by the ZigBee Alliance.
Formed in 2002, the Zigbee Alliance brings together public and private
industry leaders who sought to address the need for a single standard that
would ensure the interoperability of proprietary wireless sensors and control
systems both with each other and newer technologies. Such systems require
low latency, low data rates, low cost, and low energy consumption.
IEEE standard 802.15.4, which defines the physical layer (PHY) and
media access control (MAC) for low-rate WPANs, restricts the data rate to
250 kbps in the global 2.4-GHz Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) band,
while also specifying low power consumption and cost. Taking the low-level
PHY and MAC layers as their base, the Zigbee Alliance developed
Zigbee the network protocol, security, and application layers for
low-rate WPANs.
Since the ZigBee specification was released in 2006, it has developed to the
point where is it now poised to become the global control/sensor network
standard for a wide and varied range of residential, industrial, and commercial
applications. It enables wireless two-way communications between
commands and controls (e.g. boiler and thermostat), travels as far as
75-100 meters, and controls sensors that perform many different tasks.
Residential and commercial applications include lighting controls, smoke
and CO2 detectors, HVAC controls, home security, automatic utility meter
readings, and communication between a remote control and a digital
set-top box. And, with mobile telephone operators integrating ZigBee
into phones and PDAs, consumers can use their cell phones as their
single remote control device. In industry, examples are monitoring medical
equipment, building and industrial automation, and environmental controls.
The secret of ZigBees success is that it is fit to purpose. At 250 kbps,
ZigBees data rate is hundreds of times lower than WiFis. But it does not
need to be higher. An intrusion sensor, for example, does not need to
transmit and receive much data. In fact, low data rates mean low power
requirements. ZigBees very low energy consumption (door opening sensors,
for instance, can run for five years on an ordinary AAA battery) is an economic
and ecological advantage. It is related to the way ZigBee networks work.

 | Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks

Range

The 802 wireless space

Data Rate (Mbps)

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks | 

How ZigBee Works

Function Devices
ZigBee and its underlying 802.15.4 standard provide networks with two kinds
of devices full function devices (FFDs) and reduced function devices (RFDs).
All must have 64-bit IEEE addresses, although short 16-bit addresses can
be allocated to reduce packet size. FFDs may be network coordinators or
routers, while the endpoint devices that interact with the physical world are
the RFDs. All ZigBee networks must have a coordinator. The coordinator
sets up the network, is aware of all its constituent nodes, handles and stores
information, acts as a repository for security keys, and manages
the information transmitted and received within the network.
Routers act as intermediaries, channelling information between devices.
The endpoint devices have limited functionality in order to reduce system cost
and complexity. They are also the cheapest devices to manufacture. They
require limited memory and usually only interact with the physical world.
They have just enough capability to talk to their parent nodes, be they
the coordinator or routers.

Network Topologies
Although ZigBee supports several network topologies, the Zigbee Alliance
states that the core specification defines ZigBees smart, cost-effective and
energy-efficient mesh network. Its an innovative, self-configuring, self-healing
system of redundant, low-cost, very low-power nodes. In mesh networks
each wireless node communicates with the one adjacent to it. Should one
node fail, information is automatically rerouted to allow devices to go on
communicating. This dynamic node link redundancy contributes to ZigBees
low maintenance needs, reliability, and seeming unstoppability. Because
of their rerouting capability, nodes on a ZigBee can walk through walls and
even communicate with each other through a buildings floors. Furthermore,
even when they cannot see each other, nodes are still able to set up
networks.
The most common network configuration, however, is probably the star
topology. It is particularly useful when endpoint nodes are closely clustered
and communicate with a single router node. This arrangement enables
individual client nodes to save battery power. Zigbee specifications also refer
to the tree topology, where a single large network brings together several star
networks.

 | Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks

Example of application

3 topologies defined in the IEE 802.15.4 standard Star, Cluster Tree, and Mesh.

Mesh
Star

Cluster Tree

PAN coordinator
Full Function Device
Reduced Function Device

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks | 

Operating Modes
and Low Power Consumption

To enable different kinds of two-way data traffic ZigBee operates in two

main modes: non-beacon mode and beacon mode. The beacon mode is for
battery-powered coordinators and so saves maximum energy, whereas the
non-beacon mode serves mains-powered coordinators. In beacon-enabled
networks, the coordinator periodically wakes up and sends beacons to the
routers in its network. The beacons wake up other nodes to check whether
there is any incoming message. If there is none, both the nodes and the
coordinators go back to sleep. Beacon-oriented networks use guaranteed
time slots in other words, devices are active only when a beacon is being
transmitted. The result? Shorter duty cycles and longer battery lives.
In non-beacon mode, some devices are always active and others sleep.
The coordinator and routers receivers do not sleep because any node can
wake up and talk to it. Although the non-beacon mode requires a robust
power supply (mains) and uses more energy, its overall power consumption
is low because most of the network devices can remain inactive over long
periods. In short, ZigBee devices are either awake or asleep. Its two modes
may be set against Bluetooths multiple modes, dictated by latency and
power requirements e.g. sniff, park, hold, active.
Listed below are three power consumption scenarios for a future home with
100 wireless control/sensor devices. They illustrate the savings ZigBee brings
even when devices are mains powered.
Case 1 WiFi: 802.11 Rx power is 667mW (always on) @ 100 devices/
home & 50,000 homes/city = 3.33 megawatts
Case 2 Non-beacon: 802.15.4 Rx power is 30mW (always on)
@ 100 devices/home & 50,000 homes/city = 150 kilowatts
Case 3 Beacon mode: 802.15.4 power cycled at 1% (typical duty cycle)
= 150 watts.
Even at full deployment ZigBee devices are incomparably more energyefficient than earlier RF devices, WiFi and as we shall see Bluetooth.
They save megawatts thanks to their ability to switch automatically to sleep
mode. ZigBee-based radios sleep, waking up only to transmit and receive.
As a result, battery-powered devices show very low duty cycles and power
consumption. The same is true of RF-power-hungry devices in demanding
industrial applications.
A Cirronet white paper points out that the power rating of an RF radio is
irrelevant as energy is consumed only when it transmits. In the case of
Cirronets ZigBee solutions, a radio with 100mW RF power will typically
consume 150mA at 3.3V when transmitting, compared to 75mA at 3.3V for
a radio with 1mW RF power. The 100mW radio consumes twice as much
power but only when actively transmitting

10 | Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks

[P]ower consumption while sleeping is roughly equivalent to that of a low

power radio. Furthermore, the authors of the white paper go on to argue
that ZigBees use of sleep mode delivers long battery life even for radios with
high RF output ratings, making them excellent candidates for use with
battery-powered devices.
ZigBees beacon and non-beacon operating modes can seamlessly manage
different data types, whether periodic, intermittent, or repetitive low latency.
Although [e]ach of these traffic types mandates different attributes from
IEEE802.15.4 MAC, the MAC is flexible enough to handle each of these
types. The beaconing system can manage periodic data like sensor data,
whereas intermittent data (e.g. light switches) is handled in the beaconless
mode. Intermittent data traffic can, however, also be managed in a
disconnected way whereby a device joins the network only when it needs
to communicate an operating mode that, once again, saves significant
amounts of energy. Low latency usage typically, computer mice make
use of guaranteed time slots (GTS), whereby devices are active only when
beacons are being transmitted.

Low Cost
Low cost for users is not only about lower power consumption. Other factors
are low retail cost and low maintenance and installation costs.
The 802.15.4 PHY layer was designed precisely to ensure low cost and high
levels of integration. Although ZigBees radio design principally uses digital
circuitry it does include analog stages. However, the use of direct sequence
CDMA results in very simple analog circuitry that lends itself to low-cost
implementation.
As observed above, 802.15.4s MAC enables multiple topologies that are not
complex and have only two basic modes of operations. The result is low or
no maintenance (particularly in residential fit-and-forget applications), while
networks self-healing capability and node redundancy further dispenses
with maintenance. The extensive use of RFDs cheap to manufacture and
maintain thanks to their inherent low functionality, low ROM and RAM helps
keeps cost down.
Further controlling cost is the ZigBee application layer. It was designed to
let networks grow physically without the need for more powerful power
transmitters, even when networks have very large numbers of nodes with
low latency requirements.
In addition to low power consumption, the key factor in ZigBees low cost
is, perhaps, its simplicity. By way of comparison, the number of layers in
Zigbees protocol stack is four times less than in Bluetooths. Indeed, further
comparison with Bluetooth can be a convenient way of highlighting some
other ZigBee strong points.

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks | 11

Comparisons with Bluetooth

Because of its reliance on beacon-beaconless/active-sleep modes latency
can be critical in ZigBee. When a ZigBee device is off, nothing runs except
its clock at 32kHz. Low latency the time it takes the network to wake up
and respond is therefore imperative. ZigBees latency is 15 milliseconds,
while Bluetooths is three seconds. ZigBee networks can consist of over 250
devices, while Bluetooth can support only eight. With ZigBee batteries can
run for years, while Bluetooth has to be recharged as often as every day.
Admittedly, ZigBee boasts less bandwidth than Bluetooth, but then it doesnt
need it.
Ultimately, comparison between ZigBee and Bluetooth is not itself a valuable
exercise. Although they share the 2.4GHz frequency band and both are
wireless technologies, they have little else in common. The difference in
ranges 75-100 metres for ZigBee, 10 for Bluetooth is attributable to the
very purposes for which they were designed. The same is true of ZigBees
low data rate and transmission of small packet devices as against Bluetooths
higher data rate (1Mbit) and transmission of large packet devices. Designed
to replace cables in the home and office, connecting and synchronising
computers, PDAs, etc., Bluetooth is a useful mobile technology. ZigBee
focuses on large-scale automation and remote control.
In fact, it makes more practical sense to address ways in which the two
technologies complement each other possibly within the same LAM to meet
an even wider range of applications.
Another, more legitimate, point of interest concerns another kind of wireless
technology WiFi and whether ZigBee can coexist comfortably with it in the
2.4GHz frequency band.

ZigBee and other wireless technologies

Market Name

ZigBeeTM

Standard

802.15.4

GSM/GPRS
CDMA/1xRTT

Wi-FiTM

BluetoothTM

802.11b

802.15.1

Application
Focus

Monitoring &
Control

White Area
Voice & Data

Web, Email,
Video

Cable
Replacement

System
Resources

4KB - 32KB

16MB

1MB

16KB

Battery
Life (days)

100 - 1,000

1-7

.5 - 5

1-7

Network
Size

Unlimited

32

Bandwidth
(KB/s)

20 - 250

124 - 68

11,000

720

Transmission
Range (meters)

1 - 100

1,000

1 - 100

1 - 10

Reliability,
Power, Cost

Reach, Quality

Speed,
Flexibility

Cost,
Convenience

Success
Metrics

12 | Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks

Coexistence with WiFi

The 2.4 GHz band, which ranges from 2400 MHz to 2483.5 MHz, is a
worldwide band allocated to wireless LAN devices governed by IEEE 802
standards:
IEEE 802.11 WiFi standard
802.15.1 Bluetooth
802.15.4 ZigBee.
The three standards cover local area networks and metropolitan area
networks carrying variably sized packets. They determine the number of
channels that devices can use within the 2.4GHz band and at first sight they
appear to coexist happily. ZigBee devices can access up to 16 different
5MHz channels (nos. 11-26) within the 2.4 GHz band, almost all of which
do not overlap with channels used by 802.11 and WiFi. Whats more, as
considered above, ZigBee automatically retransmits data end-to-end in the
event of interference. And even then, very little data is retransmitted. With its
exclusive focus on sensors and controls, ZigBee should not be affected by
similar wireless technologies with different purposes.
Yet concerns have been voiced that despite efforts made by standardisation
bodies to ensure smooth coexistence, communication technologies
transmitting at very different power levels could interfere with each other.
Questions have in particular been raised over how WiFi might affect ZigBee
when both are transmitting in the same channel with WiFi transmissions
taking place at a much higher power rating.

The IEEE 802.15.4 systems can coexist with other standards as the channels do not
directly coincide with WiFi channels.
802.15.4TM
12 13
14 15
16
17
18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
11
2405 2410 2415 2420 2425 2430 2435 2440 2445 2450 2455 24602465 2470 2475 2480

802.11b/g
1
2412

802.15.1

2400

6
2437

11
2462

2483.5

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks | 13

Schneider Electrics Innovation Department addressed the issue of

interference in a series of measurements in real-world and laboratory
test environments in 2005 and 2006. The first set of measurements used
first-generation ZigBee chipsets, which obviously presented inferior RF
performance characteristics to todays.
The first test was a physical characterisation test to evaluate how much
interference IEEE 802.15.4s PHY layer could tolerate from IEEE 802.11b
transceiver interference. The second test was conducted on a real-world
Modbus serial line application. Its aim was to assess how the full IEEE
802.15.4 transceiver (including MAC layer) was affected by IEEE 802.11b.
The third test addressed a real-world ZigBee lighting application in a very
functional way in which an IEEE 802.15.4 transceiver acted as a switch, an
IEEE 802.15.4 as a lamp and an 802.11 WiFi interferer.
Initial results prompted two installation recommendations from Schneider
Electric, formulated as safe values in the knowledge that less stringent
requirements would often suffice in the real world.
The recommendations were:

Daintree Networks interference test setup

B
50cm
5cm

C
1m

D
5m

ZigBee Device

The distance from WiFi interferers to ZigBee nodes should be at least

2 meters.
The frequency offset between both networks should be at least 30 MHz.

14 | Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks

Interferer

ZigBee chipsets evolved from 2006 and the protocol could mitigate
interference at application level more effectively. Consequently, there was a
need to revisit these results in the light of up-to-date hardware and protocol
stacks. In 2007 ZigBee Alliance member, Daintree Networks, analysed traffic
at the Hanover Fair where several WiFi networks were operating on several
channels and a ZigBee network on channel 17 overlapped adjacent WiFi
activity.
At network layer level, Daintree Networks found first a 2% packet loss rate,
then a 0% loss, which underlined the importance of mitigated interference in
the later-generation protocol stack. A subsequent Daintree laboratory test to
assess ZigBee behaviour in the presence of heavy WiFi traffic showed that
although no data packets were lost, there was an impact on latency.
In the light of the above, and other, tests, ZigBee can safely be said to
operate satisfactorily in the presence of WiFi interference attributable to the
real-world applications for which it is currently used, e.g. web browsing,
file transfer, and audio and video streaming. ZigBee packets can, however,
experience higher (i.e. slower) latency due to the higher number of
retransmissions. Thus, although ZigBee/WiFi coexistence has theoretical
limits highlighted in laboratory experiments, real-world traffic today does not
reach those limits. In a word, WiFi interference is not an issue for ZigBee
applications which benefit homes, buildings, and industrial facilities.

Schneider Electric Modbus serial line interference test

PC RJ45
FTP Server

D1 = 4 - 8

IEE 802.11b
Access Point
Crossover
Ethernet Cable

F1

d = 0,5 - 4m
(0,5m step)

PC RS232

IEE 802.15.4
Receiver
(coordinator)

RS232

F2
D

F2

IEE 802.15.4
Transmitter
(Router)

RS232
<-->
RS485
RS4855

D3 = 6.5m

TeSys U

F1
D2 = 11.2m

IEE 802.11b
Gateway

RJ45

PC

Crossover FTP Client

Ethernet Cable

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks | 15

Zigbees Practical
Applications

In industrial automation, ZigBee strengthens the reliability of manufacturing

and process systems. Its continuous monitoring of critical equipment is a
valuable aid in asset management. It reduces energy costs by helping to
optimise processes and identifying inefficiencies and underperformance.
In the home, lighting, heating and cooling systems can be managed, with
automated control of different systems improving conservation, convenience
and safety. Households benefit from comprehensive electric, water and gas
utility data and optimise their consumption of natural resources.
In automated buildings ZigBee helps optimise HVAC management and
allocate utility costs equitably based on actual consumption. Data can be
networked and integrated from different access control points, while wireless
monitoring networks strengthen the surveillance of premises.
Since work first began on ZigBee in the late 1990s, it has evolved into a
mainstream technology. It is now the chosen low-power wireless standard for
advanced metering and home area networks. But it does not appear to be
stopping there: chipsets using ZigBee specifications accounted for 75% of
the 802.15.4 units shipped in 2009. It was in that same year that the ZigBee
Alliance announced it was developing the ZigBee Green Power feature set to
establish a global, standard technology for self-powered devices operating
through energy harvesting techniques.
ZigBees wireless open standard technology is asserting itself globally as
the energy management and efficiency technology of choice. ZigBee is
playing a major role in how energy is priced and used, giving consumers and
companies the chance to play a role in energy conservation. And with billions
being invested in smart grid programmes as part of efforts to control global
warming, ZigBee has a promising future. .

16 | Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks

Conclusion
Schneider Electric is one of the leading companies that is further
exploiting ZigBees potential for remote-controlled industrial
applications. Remote control device commands are nothing new
indeed, they are an established component of modern production
facilities. Yet users still have to contend with device failures, some
50% of which are reported to be due to batteries running low or out.
The question does not even arise with Schneider Electrics newly
developed Harmony XB5R, the first industrial pushbutton switch of its
kind which the company unveiled in May 2011.
XB5R operates without wires or batteries and delivers unprecedented
flexibility and mobility, enabling operators to remotely control
machines at ranges of up to 25 meters. It improves the control of
machines and processes anytime and literally anywhere, because
the devices on the ZigBee mesh network can communicate through
walls, floors and doors. Whats more a single receiver can be paired
to up to 32 transmitters. XB5R is particularly effective in the control
of conveyance machines in automotive, mining, and logistics
applications and palletizers and bottling machines in the food and
beverage industry, as it is possible to pair up to 32 transmitters to a
single receiver!
XB5R cuts installation costs by 20% and gives manufacturers fresh
scope for control system design that incorporates ultra-low energy
usage and no wires. The environmental gains are clear, too: it
saves energy and reduces pollutions as there are no batteries to be
disposed of. And saves raw materials by helping to reduce copper
use in manufacturing and possibly phasing it out altogether in sensorbased industrial control systems.
The ZigBee-based Harmony XB5R is helping Schneider Electric to act
on its commitment to innovative sustainable solutions that contribute
to safeguarding the environment and shaping a new future for the
generations to come.
.

Setting Standards for Energy-Efficient Control Networks | 17

 2011Schneider Electric, All Rights Reserved.

Schneider Electric Industries SAS

Head Office
35 rue Joseph Monier
92506 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex- France
Tel.: +33 (0)1 41 20 70 00
www.schneider-electric.com
WP40110601EN

06/2011