Studio Progettazioni Elettroniche

The new version of the ZigBee ^TM Standard has been released!

Last Dicember 2006 has been released for public domain the new ZigBee ^TM Standard specifications under the name "ZigBee - 2006". The specs are downloadable, subject to registration, from the ZigBee Alliance site www.zigbee.org or using the following direct link http://www.zigbee.org/en/spec_download/download_request.asp.

This new version introduces imortant improvements like, among others:

Groups of devices – The designer may setup "group" of devices, but, at the same time, letting a single device to be part of more than one group. So, pressing a single switch button all the lights in an house, in a single flat or in a single room, could be switched off.

Improved mantainance – This new standard version foresees the poosibility to prevent mulfunctions of a single node in the net, allowing its substitution or reparing, storing its configuration on a neighboring node and recalling it after a new power up.

Targeted Broadcast – Sending commands in broadcasting mode can be performed towards a specific device typology, i.e. routers, "awake" or "sleeping" devices. So, RAM memory amount may be reduced, lowering, at the same time, the cost of components.

Over-the-Air Setup – This new function paves the way to new setup tools making easier adding new nodes to the net. The setup tool (the so called "commissioning tool") may be used by the installer both to defined the "binding" to specific devices and to modify the net on a wider scale.