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Up until fairly recently ZigBee and WLAN together were believed by pundits
to be a low data rate and high data rate, respectively, replacement for Bluetooth.
Now, it appears ZigBee will be carving out a niche below and overlapping with
Bluetooth integration opportunities. As a cheaper to manufacture and simpler
to integrate platform, ZigBee is making rapid advancements. User groups are
still hashing out details, and like with Bluetooth, ZigBee will certainly undergo
a second round of specification tweaking once enough models are deployed in
consumer products to gain significant feedback.
Pricing appears to be in the $1 target range, which does make ZigBee more
attractive then Bluetooth where application do not require more than a few 10s
of kbps data. One big advantage ZigBee has over Bluetooth is a sleep mode that
keeps battery drain to a minimum and allows some applications to go for years
between battery changes. The links listed here will get you started in your
quest for ZigBee technology information.
According to the
ZigBee Alliance, it derives its name from the zigzag path
of bees that serves to signal a new food source to other members of the colony.
The bee's survival depends on the continuous communication of information between
every member of the colony.
Atmel | 408-441-0311 | San
Jose, CA Atmel's ZigBee-ready product line will include a complete ZigBee
and 802.15.4 solution of RF transceivers, tailored microcontrollers, and software
and reference designs.
Ember
(now Silicon Labs) 617-951-0200 | South Boston, MA Produces ZigBee
semiconductor products, software, and development tools.
FlexiPanel | +44 (0)
20 7524 7774 | London, U.K. Bluetooth & ZigBee remote control modules
for turnkey systems.
Freescale Semiconductor(now
NXP) | Austin, TX ZigBee-Ready Platforms.
GreenPeak Technologies
(now QORVO) | +31 30 262 1157 | The Netherlands | +1 512 464 1188 | USA A
fabless semiconductor, module and software company offering green ultra low
power wireless communication technology for sense and control applications.
GreenPeak's mesh networks are enabled by the use of energy harvesting devices
while not compromising in performance like range, data rate or reliability.
GreenPeak driven networks powered by energy harvesting bring true maintenance-free
operation.
Microchip | 480-792-7200
| Chandler, AZ ZigBee® protocol connectivity solutions including software &
RF transceivers.
NTS | 800-270-2516 | Culver
City, CA ZigBee testing and certification services.
QORVO | 833-641-3810
| Greensboro, NC RFICs and packaged modules used in cellular networks and
mobile phones, for wireless connectivity such as wireless LAN, GPS and Bluetooth,
cable modems and cable TV infrastructure, applications including military radar.
GaAs- and GaN-based power amplifiers, filters, switches, and FEMs used in smartphones,
WiFi wireless infrastructure equipment.
Radiocrafts AS | +47
970 86 676 | Norway Offers standard RF modules for operation in the license-free
ISM bands at 315 | 433 | 429 | 868 | 915 | 2450 MHz including ZigBee, provides
compact modules that are easy to integrate and easy to use, for shortest possible
time-to-market, for applications such as building and industrial automation,
telemetry, automated meter reading, home automation, wireless sensor networks,
asset tracking.
Radiotronix
(now Linx Technologies) | 405-794-7730 | Oklahoma City, OK A premier manufacturer
of high performance wireless embedded radio modules and network solutions design
platforms for applications in industrial, medical, commercial, automatic meter
reading (AMR) and wire replacement markets.
Renesas Technology Corp
| 408-382-7500 | San Jose, CA Fully-Integrated ZigBee-Compliant Platforms.
Silicon Labs | 877-444-3032
| Austin, TX Offers a family of optimized MCUs, development kits, modules
and software to simplify and speed development for 802.15.4 and ZigBee applications.
Telegesis | +44 (0)
1494 510199 | UK ZigBee products including modules & development kits.
Texas Instruments | Dallas,
TX RF/IF and ZigBee® Solutions.
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