Product design: ZigBee specification, platforms released to all

San Ramon, CAZigBee 2006 specification and first four platforms supporting it are now available to the public for use in products that leverage ZigBee technology, the ZigBee Alliance has announced. ZigBee Alliance released the latest specification to members in September. The move brings to 34 the total number of ZigBee compliant platforms OEMs can use to develop product designs having ZigBee technology features.

The first platforms implementing the 2006 ZigBee specification and passing independent testing by one of two ZigBee-qualified testing labs are from Ember , Freescale Semiconductor , Integration Associates , and Texas Instruments . The Alliance requires at least three independent implementations to prove a specification revision and demonstrate interoperability to ensure the quality of future ZigBee products.

Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance cited the development as “an important step in providing a networking foundation for OEMs to develop a variety of products that offer more control for customers and businesses.” He noted that with the certification of the four platforms, “it made perfect sense for us to post the latest version of ZigBee earlier than our original Q1 2007 date.”

Click here to download a free copy of the specification.

Click here for information on the upcoming ZigBee developers conference, set for April 3-5, 2007, in San Diego.

Read more from Control Engineering about ZigBee activities:

—Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Jeanine Katzel , senior editor