As introduced in other articles on this site, zigbee is a short-distance wireless communication technology, which is characterized by flexible networking, easy use, reliable operation, and low price. In many IoT applications, ZigBee is used for communication. In some terminals of functional home appliances, including some IoT solutions converged through gateways, ZigBee is used in downlink communication. ZigBee technology is a short-distance, low-speed Power-consuming wireless communication technology is characterized by short distance, low complexity, self-organization, low power consumption, and low data rate.
There are three main networking methods of zigbee network topology. Let’s talk about them one by one. The three networking methods of zigbee network topology:
1. Tree topology
The tree topology includes a Co-ordinator and a series of Router and End Device nodes. Co-ordinator connects a series of Routers and End Devices, and its sub-node Routers can also connect a series of Routers and End Devices. This can be repeated for multiple levels. The structure of the tree topology is shown in the figure below:
have to be aware of is:
Co-ordinator and Router nodes can contain their own child nodes.
End Device cannot have its own child nodes.
Nodes with the same parent node are called sibling nodes
Nodes with the same grandparent node are called cousin nodes.
Communication rules in tree topology:
Each node can only communicate with its parent node and child nodes.
If data needs to be sent from one node to another, the information is passed up the path of the tree to the nearest ancestor node and then down to the destination node.
The disadvantage of this topology is that there is only one routing channel for information. In addition, the routing of information is handled by the protocol stack layer, and the entire routing process is completely transparent to the application layer.
2. Star topology
It is the simplest form of topology. It contains a Co-ordinator node and a series of End Device nodes. Each End Device node can only communicate with the Co-ordinator node. If communication is required between two End Device nodes, information must be forwarded through the Co-ordinator node.
3. Mesh topology
Mesh topology includes a Co-ordinator and a series of Routers and End Devices. This form of network topology is the same as a tree topology; please refer to the tree network topology mentioned above. However, mesh network topology has more flexible information routing rules, and routing nodes can communicate directly with each other when possible. This routing mechanism makes the communication of information more efficient, and means that once a problem occurs on one routing path, the information can be automatically transmitted along other routing paths. A schematic diagram of a mesh topology is shown below:
Usually in the implementation of supporting mesh network, the network layer will provide corresponding route exploration function. This feature allows the network layer to find the optimal path for information transmission. It should be noted that the above-mentioned features are all implemented by the network layer, and the application layer does not need any participation.
The above is the relevant introduction to ” zigbee network topology “, I hope it will be helpful to you! Although ZigBee can reach hundreds of meters in point-to-point open scenes, in some application scenarios, such as smart parking scenarios, when a large object like a car blocks the signal, the signal attenuation will be very severe, and the compatibility of different ZigBee chips is poor. ZigBee network is more flexible and difficult to maintain.