Comprehensive Performance Analysis of Zigbee Communication: An Experimental Approach with XBee S2C Module.

Area of Science:

• Wireless Communication
• Network Engineering
• Internet of Things (IoT)

Background:

• Wireless communication technologies like Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4) are crucial for industrial and medical applications.
• Zigbee performance is influenced by parameters including transmission power, encryption, and deployment environment.
• Optimized network deployment requires understanding trade-offs in metrics like packet delivery ratio (PDR), power consumption, and latency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct an extensive performance analysis of encrypted and unencrypted Zigbee networks.
• To evaluate the impact of transmission power on PDR and network lifetime.
• To quantify trade-offs between multi-hop communication, data encryption, latency, range, and throughput.

Main Methods:

• Real-world testbed deployment for Zigbee performance evaluation in indoor and outdoor scenarios.
• Analysis of key performance metrics: PDR, power consumption, network lifetime, link quality, latency, and throughput.
• Development of an algorithm to estimate network lifetime based on measured current consumption.

Main Results:

• Identified optimal Zigbee transmission power levels balancing PDR and network longevity.
• Quantified the impact of data encryption on Zigbee network performance metrics.
• Characterized trade-offs associated with multi-hop communication in terms of latency, range, and throughput.

Conclusions:

• The study provides critical insights into Zigbee network optimization for diverse applications.
• Understanding performance trade-offs is essential for efficient Zigbee network design and deployment.
• This research facilitates informed decisions for maximizing Zigbee network efficiency and lifespan.