Engineers Garage

  • Projects and Tutorials
    • Electronic Projects
      • 8051
      • Arduino
      • ARM
      • AVR
      • PIC
      • Raspberry pi
      • STM32
    • Tutorials
    • Circuit Design
    • Project Videos
    • Components
  • Articles
    • Tech Articles
    • Insight
    • Invention Stories
    • How to
    • What Is
  • News
    • Electronic Products News
    • DIY Reviews
    • Guest Post
  • Forums
    • EDABoard.com
    • Electro-Tech-Online
    • EG Forum Archive
  • Digi-Key Store
    • Cables, Wires
    • Connectors, Interconnect
    • Discrete
    • Electromechanical
    • Embedded Computers
    • Enclosures, Hardware, Office
    • Integrated Circuits (ICs)
    • Isolators
    • LED/Optoelectronics
    • Passive
    • Power, Circuit Protection
    • Programmers
    • RF, Wireless
    • Semiconductors
    • Sensors, Transducers
    • Test Products
    • Tools
  • EE Resources
    • DesignFast
    • LEAP Awards
    • Oscilloscope Product Finder
    • White Papers
    • Webinars
  • EE Learning Center
    • Design Guides
      • WiFi & the IOT Design Guide
      • Microcontrollers Design Guide
      • State of the Art Inductors Design Guide
  • Women in Engineering

Difference between Bluetooth and Zigbee Technologies

By Ashutosh Bhatt

Bluetooth protocol is not much encouraged for long duration applications due to power consumption limitations. Hence, for small gadgets which run on battery or limited power source, a new wireless data transfer protocol was needed which could manage working with low power consumption. To fulfill these requirements, a protocol named Zigbee was announced just at the time when Bluetooth was getting popular i.e. in 1999. However, Zigbee caught attention for commercial applications around 2005.
 
Interestingly, these ISM band using protocols, Bluetooth and Zigbee, though defined in the same IEEE specification of 802.15, are very dissimilar at various grounds. This article will detail with some of the common and uncommon differences between bluetooth and zigbee protocols.
1. Origin: Bluetooth was launched in the year 1994 by German telecom giant Ericsson while Zigbee was devised in the year 1998. The name Bluetooth has been derived from popular European unification king, Harald Blatand while Zigbee gets its name from the dance movements of a honeybee.
 
2. IEEE Standards: Bluetooth, though not under IEEE now, was defined under 802.15.1 standard while Zigbee is defined under IEEE 802.15.4 standard.
 
3. Management Alliances: Zigbee is managed by Zigbee Alliance which tests and certifies Zigbee based devices. All Zigbee based protocols get standardized under IEEE. On the other hands, Bluetooth is managed for standards and device by a single body: Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group). 
 
4. Protocol Updates: Bluetooth has been updated under version 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 4.0 etc while Zigbee received updates in 2004, 2006 and 2007. Now Zigbee exists in two types: Zigbee and Zigbee Pro which are different in terms of addressing algorithms.
 
5. Frequency: Bluetooth works under 2.4 GHz while Wi-Fi works at 868 MHz, 915 MHz and 2.4 MHz frequencies.
 
6. Channel Bandwidth: Bluetooth based channel consume bandwidths upto 1MHz while Zigbee based networks consume bandwidths of 0.3MHz, 0.6 MHz and 2 MHz depending upon the frequency at which networks are communicating.
 
7. Type of Computer Network: Zigbee has been designed to communicate under Personal Area Network whereas Bluetooth based communication   serves for Wide PAN (WPAN).
 
8. Maximum number of cell nodes: In Bluetooth, upto 8 cell nodes can be connected to each other while in Zigbee more than 65,000 cell nodes can be connected together.
 
9. Range: Bluetooth based networks can exist upto 10m, while Wi-Fi based networks can exist from 10-100meters.
 
10. Self Healing Networks: Self Healing networks are those where networking is not disturbed if one node gets damaged. In self healing networks,     the nodes neighboring the damaged node will create a reverting loop, thus preventing any information to be sent to the damaged/non working node. This keeps the network up and makes it more stable.
 
Zigbee based systems are inherently known to keep up with self-healing network technology while Bluetooth doesn’t have this technology  defined in it, though adaptations and research are being made for this.
 
11. Network Topologies: Bluetooth network can be established in a point to point master-slave method, master and upto 7 slave piconet networks and scatter net (linking two or more piconets). 
 
On the other hand, Zigbee devices can be networked in star, mesh and other generic topologies. Various Zigbee based network topologies can    be connected to each other in form of a cluster.  Any Zigbee network would have three types of nodes: Zigbee Coordinator, Zigbee Router andZigbee Endpoint.
 
12. DataTransfer Rates: Bluetooth based networks have maximum data transfer rates of upto 1Mbps while in Zigbee, data transfer rates are upto   250Kbps.
 
13. Spread Spectrum Techniques: Spread Spectrum techniques count for the processes through which a signal is spread over frequency domain.This is done so as to accommodate more signals, increase signal security, reduce signal interference etc. Almost all wireless network protocols have defined some type of spread spectrum technique.
 
Bluetooth works on Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum technique while Zigbee uses Direct Spread Spectrum technique. In Frequency hopping, the carrier signal is made to vary in terms of frequencies while in direct spread spectrum; the original signal is mixed and extracted from a pseudo   random code at transmitter and receiver, respectively.
 
14. Energy Consumption:  For any network, power consumption depends on the type of data being exchanged, distance between transmitter and receiver, desired power to be retained by signal and other factors.
 
Bluetooth is a protocol known for exchanging almost all types of data such as text, multimedia. On the contrast, Zigbee protocol is precisely for operational instructions and not much variety of data is known to be exchanged using it.
 
Obviously, Zigbee consumes significantly less power than its Bluetooth counterpart. Usually, Zigbee devices are 2.5-3 times more efficient than those working at Bluetooth.
 
15. Applications: Zigbee based systems are designed for wireless networking among sensors and is more preferred for devices which are smaller in size and consume less energy. TV remote controls, SCADA system sensor, medical instruments etc. are some areas where Zigbee based networking are done.
 
Bluetooth based applications are primarily in computer peripherals such as wireless keyboards, mouse, headsets etc. Also, some wireless remotes or gesture controlled gadgets use Bluetooth to exchange data.

 

 


Filed Under: How to
Tagged With: bluetooth, wireless communication, zigbee
 

Questions related to this article?
👉Ask and discuss on EDAboard.com and Electro-Tech-Online.com forums.



Tell Us What You Think!! Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

HAVE A QUESTION?

Have a technical question about an article or other engineering questions? Check out our engineering forums EDABoard.com and Electro-Tech-Online.com where you can get those questions asked and answered by your peers!


Featured Tutorials

  • PS2 Keyboard To Store Text In SD Card Using Arduino Circuit Setup On Breadboard
    How To Use PS2 Keyboard To Store Text In SD Card Using Arduino- (Part 42/49)
  • Wireless Path Tracking System Using Mouse, XBee And Arduino Circuit Setup On Breadboard
    How To Make A Wireless Path Tracking System Using Mouse, XBee And Arduino- (Part 43/49)
  • How to Make a Wireless Keyboard Using Xbee with Arduino- (Part 44/49)
  • Making Phone Call From GSM Module Using Arduino Circuit Setup On Breadboard
    How to Make Phonecall From GSM Module Using Arduino- (Part 45/49)
  • How to Make a Call using Keyboard, GSM Module and Arduino
    How To Make A Call Using Keyboard, GSM Module And Arduino- (Part 46/49)
  • Receiving SMS Using GSM Module With Arduino Prototype
    How to Receive SMS Using GSM Module with Arduino- (Part 47/49)

Stay Up To Date

Newsletter Signup

Sign up and receive our weekly newsletter for latest Tech articles, Electronics Projects, Tutorial series and other insightful tech content.

EE Training Center Classrooms

EE Classrooms

Recent Articles

  • Renesas delivers intelligent sensor solutions for IoT applications
  • Microchip Technology releases AVR-IoT Cellular Mini Development Board
  • Qualcomm acquires Cellwize to accelerate 5G adoption and spur infrastructure innovation
  • MediaTek’s chipset offers high-performance option for 5G smartphones
  • Nexperia’s new level translators support legacy and future mobile SIM cards

Most Popular

5G 555 timer circuit 8051 ai Arduino atmega16 automotive avr bluetooth dc motor display Electronic Part Electronic Parts Fujitsu ic infineontechnologies integratedcircuit Intel IoT ir lcd led maximintegratedproducts microchip microchiptechnology Microchip Technology microcontroller microcontrollers mosfet motor powermanagement Raspberry Pi remote renesaselectronics renesaselectronicscorporation Research samsung semiconductor sensor software STMicroelectronics switch Technology vishayintertechnology wireless

RSS EDABOARD.com Discussions

  • DC Motor Speed Control
  • D Flip Flop frequency divider
  • FPGA LVDS with separate clock
  • How do you find the angle made by two isosceles triangles in a kite?
  • Limits of duty cycle for ICM7555 IC?

RSS Electro-Tech-Online.com Discussions

  • Are Cross-wind compensation and Road crown compensation functions inputs to LKA function?
  • we are facing an issue with one-wire communication by using DS2485
  • RF modules which can handle high number of bytes per second
  • Component identification.
  • Flickering (candle) LED to trigger 555
Engineers Garage
  • Analog IC TIps
  • Connector Tips
  • DesignFast
  • EDABoard Forums
  • EE World Online
  • Electro-Tech-Online Forums
  • Microcontroller Tips
  • Power Electronic Tips
  • Sensor Tips
  • Test and Measurement Tips
  • 5G Technology World
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Engineers Garage

  • Projects and Tutorials
    • Electronic Projects
      • 8051
      • Arduino
      • ARM
      • AVR
      • PIC
      • Raspberry pi
      • STM32
    • Tutorials
    • Circuit Design
    • Project Videos
    • Components
  • Articles
    • Tech Articles
    • Insight
    • Invention Stories
    • How to
    • What Is
  • News
    • Electronic Products News
    • DIY Reviews
    • Guest Post
  • Forums
    • EDABoard.com
    • Electro-Tech-Online
    • EG Forum Archive
  • Digi-Key Store
    • Cables, Wires
    • Connectors, Interconnect
    • Discrete
    • Electromechanical
    • Embedded Computers
    • Enclosures, Hardware, Office
    • Integrated Circuits (ICs)
    • Isolators
    • LED/Optoelectronics
    • Passive
    • Power, Circuit Protection
    • Programmers
    • RF, Wireless
    • Semiconductors
    • Sensors, Transducers
    • Test Products
    • Tools
  • EE Resources
    • DesignFast
    • LEAP Awards
    • Oscilloscope Product Finder
    • White Papers
    • Webinars
  • EE Learning Center
    • Design Guides
      • WiFi & the IOT Design Guide
      • Microcontrollers Design Guide
      • State of the Art Inductors Design Guide
  • Women in Engineering