Technology: Wireless ZigBee Communications
Millions of sensors incorporating ZigBee technology will soon exist in both the industrial and enterprise markets. IntelliSensing's ZigBee-enabled sensors are engineered to allow businesses to automate, control, and wirelessly connect to their process measurement systems. This technology provides an opportunity for a high return on investment for the industrial user by enabling energy management, predictive maintenance, logistics management, and automation and control, all at a significantly lower cost than wired networks.
Users will benefit from ZigBee technology through the interoperability of every type of sensor, for the ultimate in wireless freedom, ease of use, and a high level of security. IntelliSensing's ZigBee-enabled sensors in the plant are expected to provide customers with simplified ways of interfacing with measurements of pressure, temperature, and flow.
The IEEE 802.15.4 Standard details the Physical Layer (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) specifications, and offers the building blocks for different types of networking known as “star, mesh, and cluster tree.” Network routing schemes are designed to ensure power conservation, and low latency through guaranteed time slots. Communication redundancy is a unique feature of the ZigBee network layer, eliminating “single point of failure” in mesh networks. Key features of the PHY include energy and link-quality detection, and clear channel assessment for improved coexistence with other wireless networks. The MAC specifies automatic packet acknowledgement, provides options for transmission in a range of pre-selected time intervals, and supports 128-bit AES security. The MAC and ZigBee application software is implemented in a code-efficient microcontroller that communicates digitally with the sensor data acquisition hardware.
The Z-Stack ZigBee Protocol Stack from Figure 8 Wireless is recognized as the leading solution for ZigBee network management. We combine the Z-Stack, IEEE 802.15.4 hardware from Freescale Semiconductor, and advanced sensor technology to offer a comprehensive ZigBee-enabled sensor solution.
We currently support the 2.4 GHz band for global markets, however the market-specific 915/868 MHz frequency bands will be available in the future.