A Review of high speed data communication over Zigbee Networks

Abstract

The cellular network was a natural extension of the wired telephony network that became pervasive during the mid-20th century. As the need for mobility and the cost of laying new wires increased, the motivation for a personal connection independent of location to that network also increased. Coverage of large area is provided through (1-2km) cells that cooperate with their neighbors to create a seemingly seamless network. ZigBee is an established for wireless personal area networking (WPAN), i.e., digital radio connections between computers and related devices. This kind of network eliminates use of physical data buses like USB and Ethernet cables. The devices could include telephones, hand-held digital assistants, sensors and controls located within a few meters of each other. ZigBee is one of the global standards of communication protocol formulated by the relevant task force under the IEEE 802.15.4.[2] The fourth in the series, WPAN Low Rate/ZigBee is the newest and provides specifications for devices that have low data rates, consume very low power and are thus characterized by long battery life. Other standards like Bluetooth and IrDA address high data rate applications such as voice, video and LAN communications.  
The IEEE 802.11 working group for WLANs is formed to create a wireless local area network standard. Whereas IEEE 802.11 was concerned with features such as Ethernet matching speed, long range(100m), complexity to handle seamless roaming, message forwarding, and data throughput of 2-11Mbps, WPANs are focused on a space around a person or object  that typically extends up to 10m in all directions. WPAN‟s are currently defined three classes of WPANs that are differentiated by data rate, battery drain and quality of service(QoS). The high data rate WPAN(IEEE 802.15.3) is suitable for multimedia applications that require very high QoS. Medium rate WPANs (IEEE 802.15.1/Blueetooth) will handle a variety of tasks ranging from cell phones to PDA communications and have QoS suitable for voice communications.