IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee: A Conceptual Study

Abstract: Networked Control Systems (NCSs) are distributed control systems where sensors, actuators, and controllers are interconnected by communication networks with its protocol followed by them. The general term used for these types of network is wireless sensor network. The use of Wireless sensor network infrastructure requires the ZigBee and IEEE 802.15.4 are standards-based protocols which defines the physical and MAC layers, network and application layers. For sensor network applications, the major criteria are the long life battery based nodes with the low cost and also that must support to the wireless mesh network concept for the compatibility of the different and multiple application environment. In this paper the conceptual study of IEEE 802.15.4 standard and ZigBee standard based wireless sensor network is discussed.

Keywords: IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee, ZigBee Protocol Stack, ZigBee Topologies