User's Manual

ETRX358x-LRS and ETRX358x-LRS

2.6 The ZigBee Protocol

The ZigBee Protocol is a set of standards for wireless connectivity for use between any devices

over short to medium distances. The specification was originally ratified in December 2004, paving

the way for companies to start making low-power networks a reality.

ZigBee uses an IEEE 802.15.4 radio specification running on the 2.4GHz band, plus three

additional layers for networking, security and applications. What makes the specification unique is

its use of a mesh network architecture which, in bucket chain style, passes data from one node to

the next until it lands at its destination. The network is self-healing and adapts its routing as link

quality changes or nodes move. Furthermore, nodes can be defined as End Devices which do not

act as routers, but can therefore be put into a low-power sleep state.

The enhanced version of the ZigBee standard (or ZigBee 2006) was released in December 2006,

adding new features and improvements to the only global wireless communication standard

enabling the development of easily deployable low-cost, low-power, monitoring and control

products for homes, commercial buildings and industrial plant monitoring. In 2007 the ZigBee

Alliance introduced the PRO feature-set which offers advantages over earlier feature-sets,

including

• Truly self-healing mesh networking

• Messages can now travel up to 30 hops

• Source-Routing for improved point to multipoint message transmission

• Improved security including Trust-Centre link keys

• New message types and options

The Telegesis AT Command-set, which by default ships on all ETRX3 series products is based on

the ZigBee PRO feature-set. For more information on the Telegesis AT Command-set please refer

to the separate documentation at www.telegesis.com.