Chapter 19 - Non-IP Smart Object Technologies

Abstract

Before the consensus to adopt IP for smart objects became a reality, several non-IP solutions were developed and deployed and are still being deployed. This chapter overviews two such protocol specifications, the ZigBee and Z-Wave, both of which have been developed for specific low-power, short-range, and low-bit-rate radios, and have smart objects as their main application areas. The ZigBee specification, developed by the ZigBee Alliance, is based on the IEEE 802.15.4 radio standard and provides a set of mechanisms for creating networks of nodes as well as the establishment of applications on top of the network. The ZigBee specification is owned by the ZigBee Alliance, and vendors need to join the alliance to commercialize ZigBee technology. Z-Wave is another specification for low-power communication in wireless smart object systems, which is patented and owned by the Z-Wave Alliance. Z-Wave specifies an entire network stack from the physical layer to the application layer. The application layers are tailored to specific market segments such as home automation or energy management. Neither ZigBee nor Z-Wave is compatible with IP, which is a significant problem for emerging systems that need to integrate with IP-based networks and services. There is no way for the ZigBee network and the IP-based services to communicate except through custom gateways. To alleviate these problems, ZigBee will move toward an IP-based infrastructure for the latest application profile for smart energy metering. By incorporating IP into the ZigBee architecture, it hopes that existing ZigBee applications will be able to run over IP instead of over the custom NWK layer in the current ZigBee specification, and thus reduce the cost of integrating with existing IP networks.