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ZigBee Low-Power Wireless Networking
asmithmd1 writes "Do you you have a great idea for a wireless device that really doesn't need the 1 Mbit/sec (and high power consumption) of Bluetooth? Well you will have a new choice soon, ZigBee. Zigbee is the trademark for IEEE 802.15 Personal Area network low data rate standard. Designed to run in low power 8 bit devices at data rates of 20k bits/second, a ZigBee node will run for months if not years on one set of batteries. With heavy hitters like Motorola and Phillips behind it and chips available soon for half the cost of bluetooth, it looks like it will become a reality."
But PDA syncing at 20kb/s wouldn't be bad if it could do it automatically & continuously when you are in range of the wireless network.
time to other devices (or vice/versa if it's a clock that set's itself from the Colorado time signal like mine)
I could see joysticks using this.
Light switches ala X-10.
Water meters, power meters, gas meters, wireless thermometers and other sensors.
VCR's could use it as an interface to allow configuration from a computer.
TV's could use it as a way to implement a universal RF remote control.
Apparently they already thought of some of these ideas.
From the ZigBee FAQ:
* Wireless home security
* Remote thermostats for air conditioner
* Remote lighting, drape controller
* Call button for elderly and disabled
* Universal remote controller to TV and radio
* Wireless keyboard, mouse and game pads
* Wireless smoke, CO detectors
* Industrial and building automation and control (lighting, etc.)
Then you could combine a few of these things to implement something the detects when it's too hot inside and it's colder outside and the humidity outside isn't too bad, turn on a fan. This is otherwise very complicated but hook up a few thermometers, a humidity sensor and a switch that are all accessible from a computer and it gets very easy.
set softtabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 expandtab nocp worlddomination
I can think of a lot that would only require 1 bit per second. A flow indicator on water,gas or electricity lines would tell the computer if there was flow on any particular line than if the computer knew by sensors on the users of that flow could determine if the flow was caused by a leak or short. The computer could either notify someone or take corrective action on it own. Automatic control of blinds by the need or lack of need of heat in that room. Automatic fans that would turn on if the outside temperature is less than the inside temperature and it is not raining . I could see a home with hundreds or thousands of sensors if they could be produce cheaply enough.
Talking on finding something; hopefully it could be used for a transmitter/receiver in my keychain, my PDA, my wallet, and my phone handset that I can use to triangulate their position when I want to find the darn things! Then I wouldn't spend so much time running around looking for them when I want to go out.
a.
This would ROCK at work. Most of our problems (production plant) stem from flexing and bending sensor wires. If we could just tie all the sensors on a machine into wireless interfaces, my job would be twice as easy... but... then they wouldn't need as many technicians.
Forget it, the idea stinks.