1. Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Wibree: A Comparison of WPAN Technologies
John Kooker
CSE 237A
November 20, 2008

2. Background Bluetooth IEEE 802.15.1
Developed and licensed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG)
Wibree
Being adopted into Bluetooth specification
New name: Bluetooth Low Energy Technology
ZigBee
IEEE
Maintained and published by the ZigBee Alliance

3. Three Scenarios
Watch
Building
Automation
Wireless Stereo
Headphones

4. Side By Side Bluetooth Wibree ZigBee Band 2.4GHz
2.4GHz, 868MHz, 915MHz
Antenna/HW
Shared
Independent
Power
100 mW
~10 mW
30 mW
Target Battery Life
Days – months
1-2 years
6 months – 2 years
Range
10-30 m
10 m
10-75 m
Data Rate
1-3 Mbps
1 Mbps
Kbps

5. Side By Side, continued Bluetooth Wibree ZigBee Component Cost $3$2
Network Topologies
Ad hoc, point to point, star
Mesh, ad hoc, star
Security
128-bit encryption
Time to Wake and Transmit 3s
TBA
15ms

6. Watch Caller ID display for mobile phone Solution: Size Battery Life
Small amounts of data
1-to-1 communication
Solution:

7. Building Automation
Installing lighting control in an existing building
Already wired for power
Mesh network for resilience
Limited data transfer
Solution:

8. Wireless Stereo Headphones
Listening to uncompressed, stereo audio
1.4 Mbps
Close range
Recharge every several days
Solution:

9. Conclusion, and the Future!
ZigBee used to be the clear choice for very low power, low latency, low data rate, mostly asleep devices.
Preliminary designs for Bluetooth Low Energy Technology are just now being released. Bluetooth with integrated Wibree may steal that momentum (in non-mesh networks).
“Coming soon” for 2 years
Bluetooth is growing into a family of specs
3.0 adds High Speed (UWB)

10. Fin.

11. Sources
[1] Ciardiello, T., "Wireless communications for industrial control and monitoring," Computing & Control Engineering Journal , vol.16, no.2, pp , April-May 2005
URL:
[2] Evans-Pughe, C., "Bzzzz zzz [ZigBee wireless standard]," IEE Review , vol.49, no.3, pp , March 2003
URL:
[3] Home networking with Zigbee
[4] ZigBee Wireless Networking Overview
[5] Alternatives for Short Range Low Power Wireless Communications
[6] Nick Baker, "ZigBee and Bluetooth: Strenghts and Weaknesses for Industrial Applications"
[7] Bluetooth.com, "Compare with Other Technologies,"
[8] Mike Foley, "The new wireless frontier,"
[9] Bluetooth.com, "Market potential for Bluetooth low energy technology,"
[10] Bluetooth.com, "Technical Comparison,"
[11] Jackson, Donny, "More than a Flash in the Pan,"
[12] Smith, Brad, "Bluetooth Umbrella Covers Low-Power Wibree,"