The Zigbee Alliance expects to release a new version of the wireless smart-grid standard in the second half of the year with a more polished, commercial edition of the standard by mid 2011.
ZigBee is expected to be included in 100 million radio chips this year
The low-power wireless technology has become increasingly popular in the smart grid, shipping inside 20 million radio chips last year and projected to be included in 100 million this year.
Development of new versions, however, has been slow due to the number of companies and government officials now involved in their approval.
The alliance is now on track to unveil a reasonably solid version of the new standard before the end of the year, said Adrian Tuck, CEO of Tendril Networks and vice chairman of the alliance. A more finalized edition should be complete during the first half of 2011, he said at the GreenNet conference in San Francisco.
Zigbee’s popularity has been driven by its simplicity and low energy use. Batteries in a Zigbee device last for years, not hours. That’s because unlike the wireless technologies Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, it transmits at lower data rates, sending only basic commands, such as on and off. It also is less expensive.
Zigbee is expected to be the protocol used in many smart meters to create home networks and communicate with thermostats, lighting, air conditioners and appliances. The aim is to will let people better manage their energy use even when outside the home.
The new version has an IP-based energy management technology that will expand its use, the alliance says.
The first version of ZigBee became available in May 2008 and is primarily used in commercial and industrial systems, such as alarm and monitoring equipment, and in custom home-automation systems
The alliance has more than 350 members, including Intel and Cypress Semiconductor.
Posted by Mark Boslet 
