March
2005, Issue 176
Zeroing
in on ZigBee (Part 2)
Chipsets
and Source Code
SIMPLE
PROTOCOL
ZigBee
exhibits robust, reliable communications through an
auto-configuring mesh network architecture. You’ll soon
be able to concentrate on the application by relying
on ZigBee to provide the transceiver, RF channel, and
protocol. This is achieved with only one transceiver
IC incorporating the physical layer and software on
the microcontroller that provides part of the medium
access controller and higher layers. These layers coexist
with the application running in the same code space.
The
protocol is simple and efficient. You can use a medium-powered,
8-bit microcontroller. As little as 16 KB of flash memory
is required for a simple device. ZigBee was designed
for extremely long battery life. It will eventually
enable home automation, cable replacement, and industrial
sensors.
