There will be an array of short-range wireless technologies on view at the exhibition in Munich, but at least one market watcher believs that Zigbee is the one to watch.
In-Stat believes that because of the clarity of the Zigbee standard, the organisational strength of the Zigbee Alliance and the involvement of several of the world's largest semiconductor companies, the wireless networking technology will dominant the mesh networks market.
Wireless mesh networks are a mosaic of proprietary and non-proprietary implementations. The IEEE 802.15.4 Working Group was designed to create unified standards for short-range, self-configuring mesh networks.
Zigbee is a networking layer that is built on top of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. The Zigbee Alliance is an organisation that has been the keeper of the Zigbee standard and is an open community of 200 companies that is charged with the promotion of the technology and testing of equipment.
"Zigbee is designed to create interoperability among silicon vendors and facilitate common software and profile platforms for end-users in specific applications," said Chris Kissel, In-Stat analyst. "The addition of Zigbee to 802.15.4 gives an OEM or other end-user the assurance of multiple sources of silicon."
In 2006, In-Stat estimates between 4.5 million and 10.5 million Zigbee RF components will be sold. Commercial building control is, and will continue to be, the largest 802.15.4/Zigbee application.
For more details about Zigbee see here