A bitter harvest: ZigBee Green Power
ZigBee has been something of a contentious subject over the last few years or so. It has received some moderate attention at Incisor, but nothing sensational that would make us sit up and start taking notes. Arguably, a lot of the ZigBee news has been lacklustre and likewise, it has drawn some of us to several unfounded and premature conclusions, one of which might have been, “Could this be the last curtain call for ZigBee?” ZigBee isn’t necessarily a newbie wireless technology, but despite its longevity it still seems relatively new; if you like, it’s still wrapped up in its packaging.
ZigBee enters the healthcare market
ZigBee endeavours to address multiple low energy wireless solutions within health, home and building automation, along with a number of ‘coming soon’ applications. More recently, the ZigBee Alliance was endorsed by the Continua Health Alliance (continuaalliance.org), as it was suggested that ZigBee has “superior power efficiency and networking capabilities” (ZigBee Enters Health Care Market, Incisor July 2009). Nonetheless, it has been suggested that the technology isn’t as prolific as the ZigBee Alliance seems to suggest (zigbee.org). Likewise, some still argue that ZigBee continues to suffer from coexistence and interoperability issues which are plaguing many of its member companies.
The basic premise of any wireless product is to offer coexistence and interoperability with multiple manufacturers, but some reports have indicated that this simply doesn’t happen with ZigBee and ZigBee PRO or, at the very least, that some manufacturers are experiencing issues with what is perceived to be a proprietary technology rather than an industry recognised standard. Arguably controversial, and further heated by accusations from antagonists suggesting that the Alliance has self-declared the technology as a standard, yet it is still to be recognised by the IEC, ISO and so on. What some of you may not know is that ZigBee comprises two significant components, which make up its current solution and technology. The first is the radio, which is based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard; however, the majority of ZigBee’s technology is founded within a software protocol stack that sits on top of the radio – a fact that is often misunderstood and the mainstay upon which ZigBee’s IP is invested.
What’s that blip on our radar?
So, what brings ZigBee to our attention this month? The current blip on our short-range radar, is ZigBee’s most recent announcement (June 2009, zigbee.org) of its Green Power offering – a prophecy perhaps of an imminent bitter harvest. Having been featured within Incisor for two consecutive months now, we could speculate that the ZigBee Alliance’s marketing machine must be doing something right, right? Yes, the ZigBee Alliance announced a new feature set, namely the ZigBee Green Power specification, which is planned to be completed circa end of 2009. We pestered the Alliance for additional information and perhaps a sneak preview, but they were keeping their cards close to their chest. Nevertheless, the Alliance’s Kevin Schader, Director of Communications (and the PR group) was very supportive and provided a better perspective of the new feature set, albeit a helicopter view, as the scope was very new.
However, before we begin to broach the nature of the controversy that ensued following their announcement, let’s fill in some blanks for those who might be new to this particular topic. It seems traditional, as part of our ‘saving the world’ mantra, to throw a little ‘green’ into the product portfolio – after all it’s been the colour populating most of our headlines at Incisor over the past few months. Both classic Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are power hungry technologies and therefore often raise ‘green’ issues, but, then again, they do offer very different applications to those afforded by ZigBee. In more recent news, we have seen both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth strive to become greener in their applications and technologies. In the low power domain, a number of companies offer low energy solutions, which directly compete with ZigBee; for example, Z-Wave (from zen-sys.com) and EnOcean (enocean.com), which employs a number of clever energy harvesting techniques that date back to the early 1990s (EnOcean technology emerged from the Siemens group, where the spin-off company that became EnOcean GmbH had previously invented the technology). But ZigBee already boasts a low power theme and has proudly done so since its inception; however, with its Green Power specification it offers something a little different and this is where the controversy begins.
EnOcean is synonymous with energy harvesting
EnOcean is primarily the proponent company offering energy harvesting techniques and commercial solutions in over 100,000 buildings. The technology dates back to early 1990s where Siemens originally conceived the technology and, with over a decade’s experience, the company has accumulated numerous patents that not only detail techniques, but extend to some fundamental applications, several of which are publicly available on their website (see enocean.com/en/products-technology, courtesy of Graham Martin, Chairman, EnOcean Alliance). At Incisor, we also became privy to other numerous patents, which baffled us somewhat as to how ZigBee could possibly move forward with any energy harvesting solution whilst EnOcean had it so well-covered and protected. So, we caught up with Graham Martin, EnOcean’s Alliance Chairman who couldn’t publicly offer us any comment, although he did support his perspective on the issue with some comprehensive reference material.
In starting to write this story we made several assumptions based on initial information, but looking more closely at the press releases and following up on a number of pertinent questions to the ZigBee Alliance with a ‘pull no punches’ stance, we eventually arrived at a very different conclusion. Inevitably, we were caught up in the furore of the ZigBee Alliance venturing into developing energy harvesting technology and trampling all over EnOcean’s well-established IP territory. Crikey, it’s all too easy to wag the proverbial finger, as was initially the case with ZigBee’s new Green Power specification, where the Alliance allegedly purported energy harvesting techniques, offering a new generation of batteryless ZigBee products; something which was ringing a familiar bell – reminding us perhaps of the very same energy harvesting techniques first presented by EnOcean and quite clearly now a bone of contention between the two companies.
IP infringement – that’s just suicide!
Neither the ZigBee Alliance, nor any other company for that matter, could afford a battle in court surrounding IP infringement – no-one would be that stupid, right? But let’s take a closer look at the Alliance’s press release: dated, June 29, 2009 (also available on its website) which states “The ZigBee Alliance, ... today announced development of the ZigBee Green Power feature set to establish a global standard technology for self-powered devices operating through energy harvesting techniques. These devices will communicate seamlessly with existing ZigBee and ZigBee PRO networks and will enable maintenance free, environmentally friendly products that eliminate the need for wires and batteries.” Let’s translate this into English!
The first point in the release is the definition of a new feature set, which will establish a global standard for self-powering devices – doesn’t sound like anyone is developing any new technology here! When we asked Alliance execs to clarify, they intimated that their software protocol stack, the part of the ZigBee offering that they have heavily invested in, would be modified to support energy-harvesting-enabled devices. Eh? What? What did we miss? Surely, you’re developing new technology and techniques that are going to conflict with existing IP, right? Well, apparently, not! Instead, Kevin Schader, Director of Communications, ZigBee Alliance confirms “ZigBee Green Power is an enhancement to the ZigBee and ZigBee PRO [protocol] stacks.” Schader continues to explain, “It will allow energy harvesting devices, regardless of manufacturer, to join a ZigBee network.”
What, another protocol stack?
Naturally, many antagonists would be raising some inevitable issues regarding another change to the protocol stack, as ZigBee has already suffered from some backwards incompatibility problems with its early stacks. But, with the delivery of its new feature set, it’s certainly going to be one to watch. Schader was quick to remark “ZigBee Green Power is backward compatible with existing ZigBee devices and networks.” Presumably, the Alliance can’t afford another faux-pas whilst maintaining and promoting a technology to a diverse market. It seems the ZigBee Alliance is working towards some kind of wireless utopia in enabling its devices to extend and connect with energy-harvesting-enabled devices. Dare we say, it’s offering an outstretched arm to technologies such as EnOcean?
It seems that many analysts initially reacted to ZigBee’s press release with the attitude that it was nothing less than a corporate suicide note, but let’s recall an old saying, “there is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary” (Brendan Behan). Was lack of tenacity and ability to focus on anything other than the PR ‘headline’ reason enough for others to wonder if ZigBee was writing theirs? It seems a shallow pool for Zigbee’s PR to drown in. Nonetheless, when actually taking the time to read the press release in full, alongside unequivocal support from the Alliance and applying a generous measure of good common sense it seems ZigBee’s Green Power feature set is merely an enhancement to their protocol stack which, in turn, the Alliance hopes will support a global ecosystem of multiple products from multiple manufacturers. Anyhow, we shall be watching ZigBee’s evolution of its Green Power offering very closely, along with monitoring EnOcean’s reaction.
You see, all this wireless stuff can be exciting and is certainly not for the faint hearted!
by Dean Anthony Gratton
Click here to download the issue where this article appears
ZigBee enters the healthcare market
ZigBee endeavours to address multiple low energy wireless solutions within health, home and building automation, along with a number of ‘coming soon’ applications. More recently, the ZigBee Alliance was endorsed by the Continua Health Alliance (continuaalliance.org), as it was suggested that ZigBee has “superior power efficiency and networking capabilities” (ZigBee Enters Health Care Market, Incisor July 2009). Nonetheless, it has been suggested that the technology isn’t as prolific as the ZigBee Alliance seems to suggest (zigbee.org). Likewise, some still argue that ZigBee continues to suffer from coexistence and interoperability issues which are plaguing many of its member companies.
The basic premise of any wireless product is to offer coexistence and interoperability with multiple manufacturers, but some reports have indicated that this simply doesn’t happen with ZigBee and ZigBee PRO or, at the very least, that some manufacturers are experiencing issues with what is perceived to be a proprietary technology rather than an industry recognised standard. Arguably controversial, and further heated by accusations from antagonists suggesting that the Alliance has self-declared the technology as a standard, yet it is still to be recognised by the IEC, ISO and so on. What some of you may not know is that ZigBee comprises two significant components, which make up its current solution and technology. The first is the radio, which is based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard; however, the majority of ZigBee’s technology is founded within a software protocol stack that sits on top of the radio – a fact that is often misunderstood and the mainstay upon which ZigBee’s IP is invested.
What’s that blip on our radar?
So, what brings ZigBee to our attention this month? The current blip on our short-range radar, is ZigBee’s most recent announcement (June 2009, zigbee.org) of its Green Power offering – a prophecy perhaps of an imminent bitter harvest. Having been featured within Incisor for two consecutive months now, we could speculate that the ZigBee Alliance’s marketing machine must be doing something right, right? Yes, the ZigBee Alliance announced a new feature set, namely the ZigBee Green Power specification, which is planned to be completed circa end of 2009. We pestered the Alliance for additional information and perhaps a sneak preview, but they were keeping their cards close to their chest. Nevertheless, the Alliance’s Kevin Schader, Director of Communications (and the PR group) was very supportive and provided a better perspective of the new feature set, albeit a helicopter view, as the scope was very new.
However, before we begin to broach the nature of the controversy that ensued following their announcement, let’s fill in some blanks for those who might be new to this particular topic. It seems traditional, as part of our ‘saving the world’ mantra, to throw a little ‘green’ into the product portfolio – after all it’s been the colour populating most of our headlines at Incisor over the past few months. Both classic Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are power hungry technologies and therefore often raise ‘green’ issues, but, then again, they do offer very different applications to those afforded by ZigBee. In more recent news, we have seen both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth strive to become greener in their applications and technologies. In the low power domain, a number of companies offer low energy solutions, which directly compete with ZigBee; for example, Z-Wave (from zen-sys.com) and EnOcean (enocean.com), which employs a number of clever energy harvesting techniques that date back to the early 1990s (EnOcean technology emerged from the Siemens group, where the spin-off company that became EnOcean GmbH had previously invented the technology). But ZigBee already boasts a low power theme and has proudly done so since its inception; however, with its Green Power specification it offers something a little different and this is where the controversy begins.
EnOcean is synonymous with energy harvesting
EnOcean is primarily the proponent company offering energy harvesting techniques and commercial solutions in over 100,000 buildings. The technology dates back to early 1990s where Siemens originally conceived the technology and, with over a decade’s experience, the company has accumulated numerous patents that not only detail techniques, but extend to some fundamental applications, several of which are publicly available on their website (see enocean.com/en/products-technology, courtesy of Graham Martin, Chairman, EnOcean Alliance). At Incisor, we also became privy to other numerous patents, which baffled us somewhat as to how ZigBee could possibly move forward with any energy harvesting solution whilst EnOcean had it so well-covered and protected. So, we caught up with Graham Martin, EnOcean’s Alliance Chairman who couldn’t publicly offer us any comment, although he did support his perspective on the issue with some comprehensive reference material.
In starting to write this story we made several assumptions based on initial information, but looking more closely at the press releases and following up on a number of pertinent questions to the ZigBee Alliance with a ‘pull no punches’ stance, we eventually arrived at a very different conclusion. Inevitably, we were caught up in the furore of the ZigBee Alliance venturing into developing energy harvesting technology and trampling all over EnOcean’s well-established IP territory. Crikey, it’s all too easy to wag the proverbial finger, as was initially the case with ZigBee’s new Green Power specification, where the Alliance allegedly purported energy harvesting techniques, offering a new generation of batteryless ZigBee products; something which was ringing a familiar bell – reminding us perhaps of the very same energy harvesting techniques first presented by EnOcean and quite clearly now a bone of contention between the two companies.
IP infringement – that’s just suicide!
Neither the ZigBee Alliance, nor any other company for that matter, could afford a battle in court surrounding IP infringement – no-one would be that stupid, right? But let’s take a closer look at the Alliance’s press release: dated, June 29, 2009 (also available on its website) which states “The ZigBee Alliance, ... today announced development of the ZigBee Green Power feature set to establish a global standard technology for self-powered devices operating through energy harvesting techniques. These devices will communicate seamlessly with existing ZigBee and ZigBee PRO networks and will enable maintenance free, environmentally friendly products that eliminate the need for wires and batteries.” Let’s translate this into English!
The first point in the release is the definition of a new feature set, which will establish a global standard for self-powering devices – doesn’t sound like anyone is developing any new technology here! When we asked Alliance execs to clarify, they intimated that their software protocol stack, the part of the ZigBee offering that they have heavily invested in, would be modified to support energy-harvesting-enabled devices. Eh? What? What did we miss? Surely, you’re developing new technology and techniques that are going to conflict with existing IP, right? Well, apparently, not! Instead, Kevin Schader, Director of Communications, ZigBee Alliance confirms “ZigBee Green Power is an enhancement to the ZigBee and ZigBee PRO [protocol] stacks.” Schader continues to explain, “It will allow energy harvesting devices, regardless of manufacturer, to join a ZigBee network.”
What, another protocol stack?
Naturally, many antagonists would be raising some inevitable issues regarding another change to the protocol stack, as ZigBee has already suffered from some backwards incompatibility problems with its early stacks. But, with the delivery of its new feature set, it’s certainly going to be one to watch. Schader was quick to remark “ZigBee Green Power is backward compatible with existing ZigBee devices and networks.” Presumably, the Alliance can’t afford another faux-pas whilst maintaining and promoting a technology to a diverse market. It seems the ZigBee Alliance is working towards some kind of wireless utopia in enabling its devices to extend and connect with energy-harvesting-enabled devices. Dare we say, it’s offering an outstretched arm to technologies such as EnOcean?
It seems that many analysts initially reacted to ZigBee’s press release with the attitude that it was nothing less than a corporate suicide note, but let’s recall an old saying, “there is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary” (Brendan Behan). Was lack of tenacity and ability to focus on anything other than the PR ‘headline’ reason enough for others to wonder if ZigBee was writing theirs? It seems a shallow pool for Zigbee’s PR to drown in. Nonetheless, when actually taking the time to read the press release in full, alongside unequivocal support from the Alliance and applying a generous measure of good common sense it seems ZigBee’s Green Power feature set is merely an enhancement to their protocol stack which, in turn, the Alliance hopes will support a global ecosystem of multiple products from multiple manufacturers. Anyhow, we shall be watching ZigBee’s evolution of its Green Power offering very closely, along with monitoring EnOcean’s reaction.
You see, all this wireless stuff can be exciting and is certainly not for the faint hearted!
by Dean Anthony Gratton
Click here to download the issue where this article appears
Labels: Bluetooth, EnOcean, Low Energy, WPAN, ZigBee
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