A Technical Overview

ZigBee RF4CE advances IEEE 802.15.4 standard by appending a network layer and public application profiles. Characteristics of ZigBee RF4CE are as follows:

• Operation in 2.4 GHz frequency band according to IEEE 802.15.4
• Channel agile solution operating in three channels
• Incorporates power management mechanism for all device classes
• Discovery and pairing mechanisms with full application confirmation
• Multiple star topology with inter-PAN(personal area network) communication
• Various transmission options including unicast, broadcast, acknowledged, unacknowledged, secured and un-secured.
• Security key generation mechanism.
• Utilizes the industry standard AES-128 security scheme.
• First public application profile targeted towards remote control applications.
• Allows for manufacturer specific profiles to be added.

Let me explain these characteristics more in detail. RF4CE PAN is composed of two types of devices: target and controller devices. Target device sets up a network and becomes the coordinator of that PAN. Controller device can join to the network built by pairing with the target device. Multiple ZigBee RF4CE PANs engender a ZigBee RF4CE network and are able to communicate each other. Controller first switches to the channel, assumes the PAN identifier of the destination. After pairing process, it uses provided network address to authenticate itself to the target device. One multi-function controller can be utilized to command multiple devices. It can register itself to multiple PANs as it is seen in the figure below:


 

ZigBee RF4CE architecture can be drawn as follows:

Each layer trusts on one layer below and serve to the upper layer. Layout for these layers is originated from the open systems interconnection (OSI) seven layer network model. Physical layer and medium access control layer are based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard. Network layer offers two services: network layer data service and network layer management service. Network protocol data units can be sent and received over medium access control data service by the network layer data service. Service discovery, pairing, impairing, receiver control, device initialization and attribute manipulations are checked and conducted by the network layer management service.