Definitions
ZigBee protocol
XBee/XBee-PRO® S2C ZigBee® RF Module
307
Node
Description
End device
End devices must always interact with their parent to receive or transmit data. (See
the "Joining" in the following table.) They are intended to sleep periodically and
therefore have no routing capacity. An end device can be a source or destination for
data packets but cannot route packets. End devices can be battery-powered and offer
low-power operation.
n
Several end devices can operate in one PAN
n
Can be a data packet source and destination
n
All messages are relayed through a coordinator or router
n
Lower power modes
ZigBee protocol
Protocol
Description
PAN
Personal Area Network - A data communication network that includes a
coordinator and one or more routers/end devices.
Joining
The process of a node becoming part of a ZigBee PAN. A node becomes part of
a network by joining to a coordinator or a router (that has previously joined to
the network). During the process of joining, the node that allowed joining (the
parent) assigns a 16-bit address to the joining node (the child).
Network address
The 16-bit address assigned to a node after it has joined to another node. The
coordinator always has a network address of 0.
Operating channel The frequency selected for data communications between nodes. The
operating channel is selected by the coordinator on power-up.
Energy scan
A scan of RF channels that detects the amount of energy present on the
selected channels. The coordinator uses the energy scan to determine the
operating channel.
Route request
Broadcast transmission sent by a coordinator or router throughout the
network in attempt to establish a route to a destination node.
Route reply
Unicast transmission sent back to the originator of the route request. It is
initiated by a node when it receives a route request packet and its address
matches the Destination Address in the route request packet.
Route reply
The process of establishing a route to a destination node when one does not
exist in the Routing Table. It is based on the Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector
routing (AODV) protocol.
ZigBee stack
ZigBee is a published specification set of high-level communication protocols for
use with small, low- power modules. The ZigBee stack provides a layer of
network functionality on top of the 802.15.4 specification.
For example, the mesh and routing capabilities available to ZigBee solutions
are absent in the 802.15.4 protocol.