Talking Up Low-Cost, Low-Power Wireless

Wireless standard called ZigBee is not as fast as Bluetooth but works across longer distances and costs less.

SAN FRANCISCO--A standard for low-voltage, low-power chips for wireless devices will push the concept of ubiquitous computing from theory to reality in homes, offices, and even cars, an executive from Koninklijke Philips Electronics said here Monday.

One of the emerging standards in the move toward a wireless world is an approach called ZigBee. ZigBee, formerly known by several other names, including HomeRF Lite, is a wireless technology focused on low-cost, low-power applications that is expected to cost only about $2 per module by next year, said Fred M. Boekhorst, vice president of Philips Research, in a keynote address at the 2002 International Solid-State Circuits Conference.

ZigBee will run at speeds ranging from 10 kilobits per second up to 115.2 kbps, which at the top end is about twice the speed of a dial-up modem, but only a fraction of the speed of Bluetooth, another wireless technology that has drawn a lot of attention in the past few years.

ZigBee will have range of 10 meters (33 feet) to 75 meters, longer than that of Bluetooth. As for power consumption, ZigBee's wireless modules are expected to last between six months and two years if powered by a pair of AA batteries, Boekhorst said.

ZigBee modules, which will operate over radio frequencies, will feature an integrated antenna, frequency control, and a small integrated battery, Boekhorst said.

"This has to be a radio so cheap, so small, that it can be used in anything," he said.

The first products using the ZigBee standard are expected to become available this year, according to the ZigBee Alliance Web site. Members of the alliance include Philips, Motorola, and L.M. Ericsson Telephone.