xbee
Zigbee and Xbee
ZigBee is a standard defined by the IEEE ( Institure of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) back in 1998. When a group of big guy say WiFi and Bluetooth might not be suitable enough for some applications, they started to define new protocol, new standard. ZigBee aim to have lower data rate compared to Bluetooth, at 250Kbps (Bluetooth is 1Mbps back then, now is higher with EDR-Enhanced Data Rate). More importantly, ZigBee aims for lower power applications which should offer years (2 to 3 years) of operation on non-rechargeable battery and it can connect to more nodes (2 ^ 16 = 16-bit address > 65,000); while Bluetooth only offers 8 devices connection in piconet. ZigBee designed for control and monitor while Bluetooth for cable replacement. ZigBee uses RF (Radio Frequency) to communicate. There are 3 frequencies available, 2.4GHz – which we are using in Malaysia (this is actually world wide frequency and it is sharing with Bluetooth and WiFi), 915MHz – For America, forbiden in Malaysia and the last frequency is 868MHz – For Europe, again forbiden in Malaysia too. So what the hack for me to know all these technical stuff? OK, you can forget about it, let’s talk about XBee.
XBee is a product name , not a standard. OK, so what is the different between standard and product? Standard is like WiFi, product is like modem from Aztech or linksys. So why is XBee being used widely and mistakenly as ZigBee? One of the reasons is XBee is low cost and easy to use, therefore it gains the popularity, further making it to have a equal sign between these 2 words. XBee = ZigBee.
XBee is a product series (brand) name from Digi International. Currently (2013), there are XBee Series 1 (802.15.4), Series 2(ZigBee compliance) and XBee-Wifi. And this might surprise you, The XBee and XBee Pro that you are using today is not fully ZigBee standard compliance, if you are using Series 1. Again, what does that mean? It means XBee that you are using nowsaday cannot
ZigBee is a standard defined by the IEEE ( Institure of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) back in 1998. When a group of big guy say WiFi and Bluetooth might not be suitable enough for some applications, they started to define new protocol, new standard. ZigBee aim to have lower data rate compared to Bluetooth, at 250Kbps (Bluetooth is 1Mbps back then, now is higher with EDR-Enhanced Data Rate). More importantly, ZigBee aims for lower power applications which should offer years (2 to 3 years) of operation on non-rechargeable battery and it can connect to more nodes (2 ^ 16 = 16-bit address > 65,000); while Bluetooth only offers 8 devices connection in piconet. ZigBee designed for control and monitor while Bluetooth for cable replacement. ZigBee uses RF (Radio Frequency) to communicate. There are 3 frequencies available, 2.4GHz – which we are using in Malaysia (this is actually world wide frequency and it is sharing with Bluetooth and WiFi), 915MHz – For America, forbiden in Malaysia and the last frequency is 868MHz – For Europe, again forbiden in Malaysia too. So what the hack for me to know all these technical stuff? OK, you can forget about it, let’s talk about XBee.
XBee is a product name , not a standard. OK, so what is the different between standard and product? Standard is like WiFi, product is like modem from Aztech or linksys. So why is XBee being used widely and mistakenly as ZigBee? One of the reasons is XBee is low cost and easy to use, therefore it gains the popularity, further making it to have a equal sign between these 2 words. XBee = ZigBee.
XBee is a product series (brand) name from Digi International. Currently (2013), there are XBee Series 1 (802.15.4), Series 2(ZigBee compliance) and XBee-Wifi. And this might surprise you, The XBee and XBee Pro that you are using today is not fully ZigBee standard compliance, if you are using Series 1. Again, what does that mean? It means XBee that you are using nowsaday cannot