IDC has extended its range of Zigbee wireless mesh networking products, with the introduction of the ZB110, a multifunctional wireless device designed for a wide variety of applications in logistics, personnel tracking and asset management. The ZB110 is available in a choice of enclosures, and features a customisable keypad with up to 6- keys. It includes valuable options, such as a built-in positional location engine and an internal programmable electronic accelerometer which provides remote notification when movement is detected.

The ZB110 is the latest introduction to IDC’s ZB family of Zigbee modules, which includes Ethernet and serial gateways, routers, micro- controller and handheld devices, These devices provide a comprehensive single source for complete wireless solutions, ranging from simple cable elimination to large- scale, site- wide telemetry systems in a distributed control system architecture.

Designed for operation with IEEE 802.15.4 wireless access points & sensor networking, the ZB110 provides secure and robust two- way communications up to 100m between nodes, with routing over multiple nodes for larger networks and longer distances. Additional security and redundancy is provided with encryption and alternative routing of messages in the event of a single node failure.

In common with all of IDC’s Zigbee products, the ZB110 is an extremely low power device that can remain dormant for long periods, and then “wake up” on an event- driven basis, or at pre-programmed intervals. The unit provides a True System on Chip Solution (SoC), integrating the latest industry- leading CC2420 RF Transceiver and the TI-Zigbee stack, one of the first to be certified for the Zigbee 2006 specification. This certification ensures that products developed on this platform will be fully interoperable with other platforms that have been Zigbee 2006 certified.

The ZB110 offers users flexible configuration via six customisable keys, and options such as a new small electronic accelerometer, which measures travel in all three directions, and an optional built-in position location engine, which calculates its position relative to fixed access points by triangulation, using a distributed computational algorithm developed by IDC. Other options include a temperature/humidity sensor and internal sounder.

To support the development and integration of the ZB110, and all other Zigbee modules in its range, IDC has developed client server applications, which include the ZBServer for web services integration, “over the air” programming, data logging, and OPC connectivity for SCADA integration.

About Zigbee Zigbee is a full- blown telemetry system in its own right, with the ability to provide wireless personal area networking (WPAN) i.e. digital radio connections between computers and related devices, such as sensors. This kind of network eliminates the use of physical data buses such as USB and Ethernet cables. As such, Zigbee it is the ideal system to provide the copper-less warehouse or factory.

Another major advantage of Zigbee is that the technology provides an intelligent distributed architecture employing peer- to- peer communications protocol, instead of the traditional client-server, or master-slave relationships found in standard PLC networks. As a result, Zigbee offers the ability for a network of intelligent modules to communicate and interact with each other, with no requirement for a centralised master controller or PLC.

For further information contact: Peter Hadley, IDC Ltd, Keynes House, Chester Park, Alfreton Road, Derby. DE21 4AS. Tel: +44 (0) 1332 604 030 Fax: +44 (0) 1332 604 031. E-mail: sales@idc.gb.com Website: www.idc.gb.com

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