What is a ZigBee? What the technology can do

To connect smart home devices together, you need a suitable communication protocol. Besides Z-Wave, EnOcean or Bluetooth Smart, ZigBee is also a protocol that is mainly used for energy-efficient transmission of small amounts of data. ZigBee is also used in the lighting systems of Philips and Ikea.

What is ZigBee

ZigBee is an energy-efficient wireless protocol. This is used in the field of smart home devices and offers several advantages.

1. ZigBee is primarily designed to exchange a small amount of data with minimal energy consumption. So it is designed to connect products together at a short distance. However, you can use a bridge to extend the range.
2. This is necessary if you want smart home devices to communicate with each other. It is also used in embedded devices and in the field of the Internet of Things.
3. Known products that use the communication protocol are the lighting systems Hue from Philips and Tradfri from IKEA.
4. With ZigBee, the products can communicate wirelessly with each other. Thereby, especially the application possibilities are versatile. The system is therefore suitable both for new buildings and for the retrofitting of an existing network of ZigBee products.
5. Since the protocol is very power-efficient and works with small data packets, the standard is also suitable for the transmission of sensor data for battery and battery-powered devices.
6. The control of ZigBee devices is done via a radio control center, this can be both a bridge and a gateway. With the help of a suitable app, it is then possible to set up the network according to your wishes.