While ZigBee itself is not new, having been officially ratified as a standard on Dec. 14, 2004, what is new is that certification of products based on this specification are now under way. The promise of ZigBee-compliant products hitting store shelves later this year now looms large. With ZigBee poised to reach this next major milestone, productization, the push is on to make the standard's progress known to the world.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance (www.ZigBee.org), regarding his thoughts on certification and the road the standard has taken to get to this point. Here is a snippet of that conversation.

Q: How has the vision of ZigBee changed over the years?

A: It hasn't. Since the inception of the ZigBee Alliance, the organization has remained singularly focused and committed to one vision — creating a specification for wireless sensor and control networks.

Q: How robust is the ZigBee standard?

A: It's extremely robust and was specifically designed that way. From day one, the ZigBee Alliance called on its member companies to actively contribute to creating the specification. As opposed to other standards efforts, decisions were not made by an elite group of member companies, but rather by all member companies. Consequently, the standard is well tested and a true amalgam of the best ideas and technology.

Q: What's happening with the ZigBee standard today?

A: Since making the specification publicly available to product manufacturers, OEMs, research institutions and software developers, there has been a tremendous amount of global interest. Within the first six months, nearly 15,000 download requests were processed. In 2005 alone, we announced six ZigBee network-compliant platforms and in excess of two million ZigBee radio chips were sold — more than any other radio technology in this space. Our attention has now turned to standard compliance and certification.

Q: What is the ZigBee Alliance certification testing program?

A: It consists of three test programs for manufacturers, OEMs and developers, which are conducted in one of two third-party test houses. The “ZigBee-compliant platform” program tests modules or platforms that are intended to be used as building blocks for end products. The “ZigBee certified” program tests apply to end products built on a ZigBee-compliant platform using a ZigBee public application profile. Lastly, the “ZigBee network-capable” tests products built on a ZigBee-compliant platform but using a non-public or “private” ZigBee application profile.

In addition to certification, interoperability of ZigBee networks is assured via regularly scheduled ZigFests, where companies come together to test their respective products for interoperability with competitors. We encourage companies to participate in the ZigFests before and after completion of certification testing.

Q: What does the future hold?

A: One of our forthcoming goals is to investigate potential partnerships with other installed technologies such as Backnet. ZigBee won't replace existing wired sensor networks like this, but it will expand their reach. So, for example, you might see a network set up such that it starts with wired technology and terminates with wireless, without having to do any translation in between. Additionally, we will be working on writing test specifications for new applications.