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

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 802.15.4 Maintained and published by the ZigBee Alliance

Three Scenarios Watch Building Automation Wireless Stereo Headphones

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 25-250 Kbps

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

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

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

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

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)

Fin.

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