ZigBee group stamps 13 telecom products

The ZigBee Alliance, the group promoting the ZigBee wireless standard for smart grid applications, has announced certification of 13 products from three different companies, including Italian service provider Telecom Italia. The products constitute the first wave certified under the ZigBee Telecom Services standard banner.

The certified products include one from ETRI, six from OKI and seven from Telecom Italia.

· ETRI – ETRI VoZ is a platform for headsets, microphones and speakers enabling basic voice communications, and additional audio input/output ports, environmental sensors, multipurpose push buttons and a general-purpose module interface are included.

· OKI – OKI Access Point serves as the gateway between an advertising/information delivery service network and other networks where information delivery service is offered.

· OKI – OKI Information Node stores push- or pull-based advertising/information provided to people using a mobile device participating in an advertising/information delivery service network.

· OKI – OKI Information Terminal provides an interface to a mobile device as part of an advertising/information delivery service network.

· OKI – OKI RSSI Anchor Node is the base device designed for deployment in areas needing a location-finding service network.

· OKI – OKI RSSI Location Node is designed for use in mobile devices that will direct people to a specific location as apart of any location-finding service network.

· OKI – OKI RSSI Location Gateway collects information to determine where a person using an RSSI location node–equipped mobile device is located as part of any location-finding service network.

· Telecom Italia – Telecom Italia Information Node delivers information to any ZigBee product and is ideally suited for the delivery of advertising to consumers in defined areas.

· Telecom Italia – Telecom Italia Access Point provides a gateway interface to other ZigBee networks between a remote application and local ZigBee devices, sending and forwarding information on request for push- or pull-based proximity advertising services.

· Telecom Italia – Telecom Italia Eureka is an identification service ideally suited to find hospital instrumentation and people featuring an easy-to-use and fully customizable graphical user interface.

· Telecom Italia – Telecom Italia RSSI Anchor Node is a non-mobile product allowing the location of other devices to be identified and located using RSSI.

· Telecom Italia – Telecom Italia RSSI Location Node allows mobile devices to be located using a centralized location algorithm while also discovering nearby anchor nodes to create a RSSI location gateway allowing exact locations of devices or people to be determined.

· Telecom Italia – Telecom Italia Test Harness tests new ZigBee Telecom Services products under development to ensure the compliance to the standard.

The certifications represent a step forward in the attempt to make ZigBee a more broadly applicable wireless technology. While the ZigBee Alliance reviously has certified smart grid and home automation products, the ZigBee Telecom Services standard pushes its work into the realm of mobile network operators and other companies that might have a specific focus on location-based services or construction of local area wireless sensor networks. Potential applications include gaming, content delivery and mobile payments.

West Technology Research Solutions last month issued a report that concluded the wireless sensor network components market, which includes technologies like ZigBee, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, showed strength during the first quarter of this year.
These ZigBee Telecom Services certifications come about two months after the ZigBee Alliance also sought to broaden its work through a partnership with the Wi-Fi Alliance. However, at the same time, new low-power Wi-Fi options could eat into potential ZigBee opportunities, WTRS recently said in a separate report.