Wireless Communications Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee
There are a number of wireless technologies in use for low- to high-bit-rate transmissions in residential, light commercial, commercial, andindustrial applications. These include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee.While many experts are predicting that one standard will outdo the other,this paper describes the benefits of these technologies and explains theunique position each has in the wireless spectrum. Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) is a high-frequency wireless local areanetwork (TechTarget). The Wi-Fi technology is rapidly gaining acceptance inmany companies as an alternative to a wired LAN and can also be installedfor a home network. Wi-Fi is specified in the IEEE 802.11b specificationand is part of a series of wireless specifications together with 802.11,802.11a, and 802.11g. All four standards use the Ethernet protocol andcarrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance for path sharing.Wi-Fi technology operates in the 2.4 GHz range offering data speeds up to11 megabits per second. The modulation method selected for 802.11b is knownas complementary code keying, which allows higher data speeds and is lesssusceptible to multipath-propagation interference than successors.
In the home control/home automation market, Wi-Fi is not a contenderbecause it is far too costly and far too complex. The maximum data rate for ZigBee technology is250 Kbps compared with only 1 Mbps for Bluetooth. For a typical cellphone application - providing hands-free phone use or connecting a laptopto GPRS for example - sufficient battery power must be on hand and this iswhere Bluetooth excels (ZigBee: Plugging the gap in Bluetooth and WiFi). Therefore, many experts expect Wi-Fi and ZigBee to coexist in manyindustrial strength applications. Industryexperts already expect that it will dominate inter-house communications asearly as 2008 (Kuchinskas, 2004). A frequency hop scheme allows devicesto communicate in areas with a great deal of electromagnetic interference. It is considered to be superior to X10 and infrared technologies,because it doesn't require a line of sight to communicate. Also, the ZigBee stack is small (28 KB)compared with the Bluetooth stack (250 KB). Connections can be point-to-point or multipoint. h is a specification that describes how devices such as mobilephones, computers, and personal digital assistants can be interconnectedusing a short-range wireless connection (TechTarget). According to author Adams (2003),Bluetooth is noted for its strengths in voice applications and higher-data-rate applications required by cell phones and headsets. Wi-Fi will be used either standalone or in conjunction with Zigbee for data-intensive industrialapplications. Built-in encryption and verification is provided.
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