one. ZIGBEE wireless technology is a blockbuster
Zigbee is a new, low-power, low-cost, low-complexity, low-speed short-range wireless network communication technology. It is also a hot spot for embedded applications.

The characteristics of Zigbee mainly include the following aspects:
1. Low power consumption. In low-power standby mode, two AA batteries can support one node to work for 6 to 24 months, or even longer. This is the outstanding advantage of Zigbee. In comparison, Bluetooth can work for weeks and WiFi can work for hours.
2. low cost. By greatly simplifying the protocol (less than 1/10 of Bluetooth), the requirements for the communication controller are reduced. According to the prediction analysis, based on the 8051 8-bit microcontroller, the full-function master node requires 32KB of code, and there are fewer sub-function nodes. To 4KB code, and Zigbee protocol royalty-free.
3. low rate. Zigbee works at a communication rate of 250kbps, which meets the application requirements of low-rate data transmission.
4. up close. The transmission range is generally between 10 and 100m, and can also be increased to 1 to 3km after increasing the RF transmission power. This refers to the distance between adjacent nodes. If relayed by routing and inter-node communication, the transmission distance will be farther.
5. short delay. The response speed of Zigbee is relatively fast. Generally, it only takes 15ms to switch from sleep to working state, and it only takes 30ms for nodes to connect to the network, which further saves power. In comparison, Bluetooth takes 3~10 s and WiFi takes 3 s.
6. high capacity. Zigbee can use star, sheet and mesh network structures, and one master node manages several sub-nodes, and one master node can manage up to 254 sub-nodes; at the same time, the master node can also be managed by the upper-layer network node, which can form up to 65,000 sub-nodes. A large network of nodes.
7. High security. Zigbee provides a three-level security mode, including no security settings, the use of access control lists (ACL) to prevent unauthorized access to data, and symmetric ciphers using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES128) to flexibly determine its security properties. 

8. License-exempt frequency bands. Using direct sequence spread spectrum in the Industrial Scientific Medical 2.4GHz (Global) (ISM) band.

On the basis of ZIGBEE 2004 (ZIGBEE 1.0) launched in 2004, ZIGBEEZ launched a more powerful ZIGBEE2006 protocol stack a few years ago, adding ZIGBEE PRO extended instruction set, and more powerful functions;
according to expert analysis, ZIGBEE technology will be used in wireless data transmission. ,Wireless sensor network, wireless real-time positioning, radio frequency identification, digital home, security monitoring, wireless keyboard, wireless remote control, wireless meter reading, automotive electronics, medical electronics, industrial automation, etc. have been widely used, there is currently a slogan” WIRELESS ANY WHERE", to achieve the goal of this slogan, the wide application of zigbee technology may be an important premise;
it is precisely because ZIGBEE has broad market prospects that it has attracted the favor of many manufacturers around the world, and they have launched various ZIGBEE Wireless chips, wireless single-chip microcomputers, and ZIGBEE development systems have formed a market situation where a hundred flowers are blooming.
In this situation, it is very beneficial to reduce the price of chips, enrich the application software of ZIGBEE technology, and speed up the popularization of ZIGBEE technology; Among the most advanced technologies and manufacturers, who can win in the fierce competition, there are few articles on the Internet about it. As the saying goes, the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. Kou" We are willing to come out and talk about our views:

two. Where is the focus of ZIGBEE fighting?
Since ZIGBEE technology is currently the hottest trend in embedded applications, many companies around the world have been investing in this market one after another. There are various ZIGBEE technical solutions on the market. From our professional point of view, the main key points are as follows;

1. Compete to use their own microprocessors
This is because the providers of each solution (here mainly refers to ZIGBEE chip suppliers) are all pursuing the word "profit". These manufacturers, in order to sell their own microprocessors, They did everything possible to sell their own company's hardware platform and their own compiling and debugging systems. Like FREESCAL, they sell their own 68 series processors and use the MC1321X single chip with 68 microprocessors as the core. System, EMBER company, also uses its own 16BIT RISC processor; TI also hopes to sell its own CC2420+MSP430 system;

2.
The core of ZIGBEE technology is tens of thousands of lines of ZIGBEE/802.15.4 C51 source code. These source codes cooperate with the core of ZIGBEE wireless microcontroller to complete data package sending and receiving, verification, various network topologies, routing For complex functions such as computing, it is precisely because this protocol stack is the core of ZIGBEE technology that everyone competes fiercely;

3. The final cost of the competition chip
ZIGBEE is a very widely used technology. As far as silicon wafers are concerned, the cost is very low. The key is that a large number of customers are required for wide application. Only by producing a large quantity can the cost be reduced, so everyone must come up with the price of the chip. The future target chip price of ZIGBEE is less than one dollar. Who can do it here?

4. Comparing the convenience of development tools and the low price of development tools (including development software)
ZIGBEE is a very complex technology. Development tools and software require a lot of manpower and material resources to develop, which will inevitably lead to expensive development tools. Then, Whose development tools are cheap, easy to use, and rich in software can win more customer support and be more competitive;

three. Competitiveness comparison of ZIGBEE solutions of major ZIGBEE chip suppliers

At present, the main ZIGBEE chip providers (2.4GHZ) on the market mainly include:
TI/CHIPCON, EMBER(ST), JENNIC (Jie Li), FREESCALE, MICROCHIP;
there are three ways to provide ZIGBEE technology:
ZIGBEE RF+MCU For example : TI CC2420+MSP430
FREESCLAE MC13XX+GT60
MICROCHIP MJ2440+PIC MCU

Single-chip integrated SOC such as: TI CC2430/CC2431 (8051 core)
FREESCALE MC1321X
EM250
single-chip built-in ZIGBEE protocol stack + external chip JENNIC SOC + EEPROM
EMBER 260 + MCU
The main four companies are analyzed according to the above aspects as follows:
A. Microprocessor:
Except for CC2430/CC2431, the other four companies use their own microprocessors, only CC2430/CC2431 uses the standard 8051 processor;

The score: CC2430/CC2431 wins;

Because: the 8051 microprocessor was born more than 30 years ago, and it is currently the most popular in China. Colleges and secondary schools have a wide range of courses, various reference books, and there are everywhere. The development software KEIL and IAR have long been familiar to everyone and are the easiest to use. ;
Some people say that 8051 is "old", and I'm afraid it can't take on this important task, and some people say that 8051 will generate digital noise and affect wireless communication.... From an expert's point of view, these are all claims that have no scientific basis; With the development of chip technology, today's 8051 has already been reborn, which is only a small part of the system-on-chip (SoC), and has made a qualitative leap in terms of low power consumption, high speed, and low noise. The 8051 core of CC2430/CC2431 has undergone It is specially designed to work perfectly with the 2.4GHZ ZIGBEE wireless transceiver circuit, and will never have any impact on high-frequency wireless communication due to the high-speed operation of its 8051 core;

The advantages of adopting slave 8051 for users are as follows:
1. There is no need to re-learn the structure principle of the microprocessor, and there is no need to re-familiarize with the compiling/debugging tools;
2. 2. There is no need to relearn the I/O, timer, A/D, PWM, watchdog, etc. of the SoC;
2. If you do not have the foundation of MCU, it is very easy to learn, and it is easy to find people for advice and communication;
from a technical point of view, the core of ZIGBEE technology is software, if the MCU is 8051, then ZIGBEE is just a bunch of software composed of C51 codes ;Whether it is wireless data transmission, routing algorithm, network topology.... It is a combination of various functions, code combination, if anyone is familiar with C51 programming, it is easy to be familiar with the code of ZIGBEE, and at the same time combine their own application code and ZIGBEE in At the same time;
this corresponds to the engineers who entered the wireless field for the first time. If they choose a processor that they are not familiar with, when developing, they must face the complex ZIGBEE wireless communication protocol, the ultra-high frequency hardware environment, and the complete unfamiliarity. The instruction system and hardware platform of ZIGBEE are undoubtedly "worse" for the development of ZIGBEE;

b. ZIGBEE protocol stack
At present, TI provides CC2430/CC2431 ZIGBEE2006 protocol stack. The original price of the complete protocol stack is 100,000 RMB. It is now open for free download. This is a huge and amazing move. Although the open download protocol stack is a library file, it is a complete Features, including a full-featured protocol stack for mesh network topology, from 100,000 to zero, leaving other rivals far behind, at the same time, ZIGBEE2007 and ZIGBEE PRO protocol stacks will also be developed for free download in the near future;
if teaching research is required, Shenzhen Wireless Valley can also provide a simplified version of the protocol stack of all C51 source codes;

Several others are as follows:
FREESCALE BEE KIT 3 months automatic expiration (need to buy genuine $1200 to use);
EMBERR ZIGBEE 2006 offer: $10,000
MICROCHIP free source code, however, only supports PIC and MJ2440 chips; (the The protocol stack has not been updated since 2007)

This rating: CC2430 wins:

c. The final cost of ZIGBEE chip
CC2430 and CC2431 are all solutions, the only one including FLASH memory + MCU + ZIGBEE RF fully integrated, a real single-chip solution;
JENNIC's "MCU" only has ROM (read only memory), and there is no storage inside the chip. In the place of the user program, the system must add an EEPROM, and all your programs must be stored in the external EEPROM. If you use such a wireless single chip, the biggest problem is that you cannot encrypt the code you developed yourself. The external EEPROM can easily obtain the code you have worked so hard to develop;
the single chip of FREESCALE is packaged together with two silicon chips and SIP technology. In the case of mass production, it must not compete with
the single chip solution; It is inevitable for CC2430 to win, because only CC2430 can really solve the battle with one chip! ! Chip prices must be the lowest!

D. The convenience of development tools and the low price of development tools (including development software)
CC2430 The original development tool CC2430ZDK was quoted at US$10,000, and it is currently down to US$2,000. However, the domestic wireless Valley Technology Co., Ltd. has put its entry-level full set of CC2430/ CC2431 development tools (including emulator, simplified ZIGBEE protocol stack, three ZIGBEE wireless modules compatible with ZIGBEE2006, a full set of development software CD-ROM, supporting Beihang official textbook) C51RF-3-CS has been reduced to more than RMB 1,000;
compared with other solutions , easy to develop, CC2430/CC2431 is the performance of the development system, easy to use, with full free ZIGBEE 2006, ZIGBEE2007 protocol stack including the new ZIGBEE EPRO instruction set and other new advanced functions;
Shenzhen Wireless Valley Technology Co., Ltd. is the first domestically invested in ZIGBEE technology development The pioneer of ZIGBEE launched the first CC2430/CC2431 development system in China with CHIPCON two years ago. It is the largest provider of ZIGBEE development systems in China. At present, it has a large number of customers at home and abroad. At the same time, it can use ZIGBEE technology to provide users with powerful Strong technical support, their ZIGBEE products have been equipped in batches with relevant laboratories of key universities such as Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Chengdu University of Electronic Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen University, etc., and their series of ZIGBEE textbooks.
Wireless Valley Technology also combines domestic development of ZIGBEE To meet the needs of teaching experiments, we have launched a full series of JKS teaching platforms, C51RF-WSN and other wireless sensor network teaching/development platforms, and applied ZIGBEE to the practice of developing wireless sensors;
after years of hard work and innovation, Shenzhen Wireless Valley Technology Co., Ltd. It not only launched a variety of advanced zigbee teaching platforms and development tools, but also cooperated with Beihang, a well-known embedded textbook publisher in China, and published a series of wireless single-chip technology books. The textbook has been published 6 books, and has been used by many domestic universities and occupations. selected by the college as teaching materials;
The third book in this series, "Introduction to ZIGBEE Wireless Network and Practical Combat", is the first practical ZIGBEE textbook in China, including a detailed introduction to CC2430 in Chinese, an introduction to ZIGBEE technology, and an introduction to C51RF-3 development tools. The sixth book of this series, " ZIGBEE2006
Wireless Network and Wireless Positioning Practice" has also been published. This book is the first domestic monograph and practical teaching material on ZIGBEE2006 and wireless positioning. Detailed discussion How to use ZIGBEE2006 and CC2431 to achieve wireless positioning, including a lot of experiments and C51 source code, can help readers get started with the latest ZIGBEE2006 and wireless positioning technology;

In this competition, CC2430/CC2431 still wins

Four. Conclusion: To
sum up, using general-purpose MCU, free and fully open full-function protocol stack, truly low-cost single-chip, cheap and high-performance localized development system, various learning materials and training that are easily available, who will be in the future ZIGBEE technology competition? Who will be the "king" and who will be the "kou" can be judged by yourself.