The difference between Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ZigBee in IoT applications

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The difference between Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ZigBee in IoT applications [Copy link]

As the low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN) market expands, there are more options for low-power protocols for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In this article, we compare Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with ZigBee so you can better understand which wireless protocol to use on your connected devices. In simple terms, Bluetooth is near-field communication and ZigBee is local area network. For more in-depth differences, continue reading below. Differences between Bluetooth and BLE Bluetooth has two branches: classic Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy. The reason why classic Bluetooth technology can't compare to ZigBee is power consumption. If the application needs to use the battery for a long time, classic Bluetooth technology is not enough. Traditional Bluetooth design recommends using 1 watt of power consumption. When it comes to wireless IoT applications, that's a lot. Both BLE and ZigBee use between 10 and 100 milliwatts (mW), which is 10 to 100 times what classic Bluetooth recommends you design for. However, BLE does have a comparison to ZigBee, which we’ll discuss in this article. Bluetooth Low Energy BLE Bluetooth Low Energy is a personal area network (PAN), so it has a much shorter range than ZigBee. Its purpose is to be able to connect to devices that are near the user. Bluetooth Low Energy has a shorter range than ZigBee, but it also has a higher data rate. Classic Bluetooth has a data rate between 1 and 3 Mbit/s, while BLE has a data rate of 1 Mbit/s. When they are not working, they are in a “sleeping” state, which requires less data to be transmitted, and because it uses less power, ZigBee does not have this feature. Currently, Bluetooth Low Energy is also supported by many operating systems, including Android, iOS, Windows 8/10 and IOS X, areas that ZigBee has not yet entered. If the user has a smartphone and wants to connect to the device at a close distance, Bluetooth Low Energy can do this. However, for high-density nodes or remote applications, Bluetooth is not a good choice. The case of Bluetooth Low Energy In a relatively closed small space, Bluetooth Low Energy is an ideal choice, such as a car. Bluetooth Low Energy can make cars more "intelligent". Basically, cars now have popularized car-mounted Bluetooth devices, which receive mobile phone signals through Bluetooth modules, so that you can answer calls through the car hands-free, thereby freeing your hands and reducing the occurrence of traffic accidents. Bluetooth Low Energy is also used in shared bicycles. The code scanning unlocking function of shared bicycles uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology. ZigBee ZigBee is a mesh networking protocol designed for transmitting small amounts of data over medium distances. It operates on a mesh topology network, which means that information from a single sensor node is transmitted to a gateway in a mesh pattern. Despite its wider application, ZigBee is still fairly limited and is not the best choice for highly instrumented installations such as industrial IoT applications. Due to the mesh topology of the ZigBee network, it has higher latency, which can cause congestion when multiple nodes try to reach the gateway through a single node. Because of this, ZigBee does not work well in densely populated situations, such as in factories. ZigBee faces more competition in mobile devices, large parking lots, etc., and is not very popular in budget-friendly environments. Application of ZigBee in Smart Home Think about it: you can load the ZigBee system through portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, and when you walk into the front door, ZigBee will automatically do something: turn on your favorite music, turn on the lights, turn on the air conditioner, humidifier, etc. When you leave, ZigBee devices can automatically shut down all automated devices to save energy and money. Overall, the application of ZigBee in smart home is still very exciting. Comparison chart: Bluetooth (BLE) and ZigBee Summary BLE and ZigBee actually complement each other. Some people choose low-power Bluetooth when building IoT applications, while others prefer ZigBee. Only last year, ZigBee and Bluetooth began to compete in this field. But some developers have found that the combination of BLE and ZigBee can form a very powerful wireless personal and local area network device.